Which is why they don't need to make the flashy pick in the draft to sell tickets. LT is not a position of need for this team, so Matt Kalil would make no sense for the Bucs. Moving players out of position hardly ever works in the NFL, and they have invested enough money into the OL. Justin Blackmon doesn't make sense for the team because we just signed Vincent Jackson. Morris Claiborne is at a position of need, but man-to-man corners don't always work in the cover 2 defense. Ronde Barber isn't a man-to-man corner, and he has been the backbone to our secondary for years. He is probably the most disciplined zone corner to ever play the game. Brian Kelly was another good corner in the cover 2, and these guys weren't 1st round picks. The need to draft a CB @5 this year isn't a priority with Barber, Talib, Wright, Gaiter, Lewis, and Biggers on the roster. Barber and Wright will be the starters if Talib is suspended, but it wouldn't hurt to draft a CB sometime after the 1st round. Trent Richardson is not a need for this team, and would be a luxury pick. Plus the RB's in the 2nd round will have 1st round value.

The Bucs trading with the Jags in the 1st round makes a lot of sense. The Jags have been rumored in drafting a CB with their pick, but Gilmore seems to be a reach and Jacksonville does need to make the flashy pick this year. Jags also need LT and WR, so trading ahead of St. Louis will put them in a good position. Now the Bucs greatest need is at LB, and Kuechly is the best LB in the draft. He has been rated as a top 5 player in the draft by a lot of "draft guru's." Teams just don't draft MLB's that high, so moving down would justify picking him a little lower. He is a high character guy with leadership attributes that this teams needs, and what coach Shiano is looking for in his players.

Luke Kuechly led the nation with an astounding 191 tackles (102 solo) during the season, averaging nearly 16 tackles per game. Kuechly compiled his stats in the 12-game regular season, as the team finished with a 4-8 record and was ineligible for post-season play. He still almost broke the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) single-season tackle record (193, set by Lawrence Flugence in a 14-game season) and did break the single season tackles-per-game record with 15.9 (previously held by Rick Sherrod with a 15.6 average over a 10-game season).

Kuechly broke the BC and ACC career tackle records with 532 tackles, eclipsing the previous record of 524 held by Stephen Boyd and only 13 tackles short of the NCAA FBS record held by Tim McGarigle. He also broke the BC and ACC single-season tackle records, records that he had set the year before. On December 4, Dick Butkus personally presented the 2011 Butkus Award to Kuechly at the Boston College team banquet a week before the expected formal announcement of the recipient. Kuechly went on to win the Lombardi Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for 2011.