In his latest mock draft, Todd McShay has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing on Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel to select receiver Mike Evans, with Sammy Watkins already off the board.
The Bucs are doing their due diligence in looking at the top QBs in this draft, but I think it's much more likely that they'll take a quarterback on Day 2 rather than at No. 7 overall, given that they already have Josh McCown and Mike Glennon in house. There is a significant talent drop-off after Vincent Jackson on Tampa Bay's wide receiver depth chart, and Mike Evans would provide another big target for McCown, who had success last season with the Bears throwing to a pair of big receivers in Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. Evans is a proven downfield threat who is great at hauling in 50-50 balls.
Mike Evans is quickly becoming the odds-one favorite to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first-round pick come May. Evans is the second-best receiver in the draft, behind Sammy Watkins, who is usually gone by the Bucs' pick in mock drafts. While Evans has a lot of similarities to Vincent Jackson, that's not really a bad thing: he's younger and faster, and I'm not sure how anyone can complain about having two large downfield threats on the field.
Moreover, Evans displays a little more explosion than Jackson, and is surprisingly nimble after the catch. He isn't quite the exciting, "speed in space" player some other receivers in this draft are, but he'd represent an immediate (and massive) upgrade at a position of need.
Of course, this does require passing on Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel, as well as Derek Carr in this specific mock draft. That's a bit of a leap: the Bucs have brought in both Bridgewater and Manziel for pre-draft visits, and have made it clear that they want a quarterback. While I don't think Manziel is a great fit for Jeff Tedford's offense, and Teddy Bridgewater does have some size and arm strength concerns, the Bucs would at least consider them for the seventh overall pick.
After all, while they may wait until the second round, later-round picks succeed significantly less often than high first-round picks. Who's to say that guy you really like at quarterback will still be there once your second-round pick rolls around?
But McShay doesn't even have the Bucs picking a quarterback in the second round, as he thinks they'll go with Missouri DE Kony Ealy. You know, the guy Stephen White really doesn't like. I'm not as down on Ealy, but I don't think he's a great talent either. And that leaves the Bucs once again with no depth at guard, while continuing to pass on quarterbacks. I'm actually not even sure Ealy is the best available player at that point. That's just something I really can't see.