The SB Nation blogger mock draft is under way, and I had the opportunity to make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first selection -- before I knew of the Mike Williams release. Not that this influenced this pick: Sammy Watkins was available, and that's a slam-dunk selection for the Bucs with or without Williams on the team. As it happens, it's without Williams.
Dan Kadar had this to say about the pick:
Although Watkins may not be A.J. Green or Julio Jones, he's certainly the best wide receiver in the draft since them. There's nothing wrong with getting one of the elite players in the draft with the seventh pick. That's right, elite. That overused draft term that can seemingly apply to anyone (other than Joe Flacco). Watkins gets that label, and a corresponding high ranking, because he's a player with few weaknesses. He can beat defenders over the top, sharply cut off his routes to get open underneath and even line up as a gadget player. His hands are pretty good too. Yeah, elite.
Sammy Watkins is nearly the perfect pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at this point, unless they really like one of the available quarterbacks. In this mock draft, all three of the top QBs were off the board already. Watkins will just have to make Josh McCown (or a later draft pick) look better -- and he certainly has all the tools to do so.
In reality, it seems unlikely that Watkins would be available this late, and Mike Evans would be a more likely pick. As the best receiver in the class, Watkins has generally been mocked anywhere from number two (to the St. Louis Rams) to number five (to the Oakland Raiders), and only a good run of quarterbacks can drop him far enough for the Buccaneers to have a shot at him.
Head on over to Mocking the Draft to see what else I had to say about this pick.