Better Value outside of the QB in the Draft - Could Spell Trouble for the Bucs

Many pundits think there are no franchise quarterbacks in the 2014 NFL draft.  Franchise quarterback meaning the ability to turn a franchise around today.  Here's a link to an article that has Mike Mayock's quote and a video of Heath Evans along with Brian Baldinger discussing this idea: No Franchise QB's .

"There are three quarterbacks that people think may be top 10 picks," Mayock said on NFL Network's "Path to the Draft," referring to Bridgewater, Bortles and Manziel. "However, the positional draft, the non-quarterback draft, is the best draft I've seen in 10 years."

What does this mean for the Bucs?

That quarterbacks may fall to them, but it those quarterbacks may need time to develop.  The Bucs already have a young quarterback to develop right now.  So having a first round pick sit for a year or two seems to work contrary to the meme that the Bucs want to be relevant now.  Also, Licht has a quarterback in mind outside of the top three picks of Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles.

In the chart above, NFL.com has provided us a quick look at team needs.  It is a little out of date as you can see one of the Bucs' needs is an OT.  Of the six teams ahead of us, four of them need quarterbacks.  Houston could pass on the quarterbacks in order to grab the best talent in the draft in DE Jadeveon Clowney.  Also, consider they have the first pick in the second round, the Texans could also have a chance at Derek Carr.  Jacksonville has re-signed Chad Henne for two years.  The Browns still have Brian Hoyer for one more year.  No one really knows what Oakland is doing.  The Minnesota Vikings would be interested in another quarterback, but they have two already with Christian Ponder and Matt Cassell.  The latter re-signed with the team for two more years.  But it is not those teams that scare me most.  It is one of the teams that do not want a quarterback ahead of us.  In particular, the St. Louis Rams.

Let us assume no one ahead of us picks a quarterback.  What can that look like?

1.        Houston - DE Clowney

2.       St. Louis - WR Watkins

3.       Jacksonville - OT Greg Robinson

4.       Cleveland - DE Mack

5.       Oakland - DE Barr

6.       Atlanta - OT Matthews

7.       Tampa Bay - ?

If this were to happen, then it would just suck.  St. Louis can still pick up good talent in tackle because Taylor Lewan from Michigan would probably still be available at #13.  But let us hope that the Rams' need for a safety outweighs the need for a WR because they can draft an OT at #2 and a safety at #13 with Clinton-Dix.  Yet, I would probably want to trade back from seven if no quarterbacks are chosen because only one other team would probably draft a quarterback after the #7 pick, which would be the Vikings.

I really want Watkins, but with recent news of how none of the top three quarterbacks are not worth drafting that early may scare off desperate teams to draft prudently.  Should that happen, then Watkins will not be available to the Bucs at #7.  Fortunately, there are a couple of teams ahead of us that are desperate for a quarterback.  As the draft looms near, there will be a lot of information that will be storming from many pundits.  The only silver lining I can provide is that most of our needs have been addressed during free agency and there are a lot of wide receivers available in the first round.

What say you, Bucs Nation, if the aforementioned mock occurs, then who would you draft or would you trade down?  And if you trade down, which player(s) are you trying to trade down for?