The Bucs will choose between three different prospects, if we can believe today's mock drafts: Aaron Donald, Mike Evans and Johnny Manziel are the only prospects I've seen mocked to the Bucs in mock drafts posted or updated today. Interesting development.
Mike Evans - 6 mock drafts
The boring, conventional, reliable pick. Mike Evans would be a great fit with the Bucs, assuming they want big-bodied wide receivers who excel at contested catches. Jeff Tedford may prefer quicker receivers with the ability to rack up yards after catch, but he'll just have to settle for the second-best receiver in the draft instead. The Texas A&M prospect should give the Bucs offense a much-needed boost.
The six draftniks who have the Bucs taking Mike Evans are Mike Mayock (passing on Johnny Manziel), John McClain, Peter Schrager, Greg Gabriel (also passing on Manziel), Dane Brugler, Pete Prisco and Ben Volin.
Johnny Manziel - 5 mock drafts
Johnny Manziel would make some sense, though I wouldn't be overly excited about him. He's a tremendous talent as an improvisational player, and the key to his NFL success will be whether his offensive coordinator can harness that skill while limiting the negative plays. Something no one ever managed to do with Michael Vick or Vince Young, but that Bill Walsh did get out of Steve Young, and various coaches managed to get out of Jeff Garcia in various degrees. That's a big gamble with a top pick, however, and I wouldn't be too certain that Manziel will be able to make the transition successfully.
Still, a slew of analysts predict Johnny Manziel will become a Tampa Bay Buccaneer today. Daniel Jeremiah has the Bucs picking Manziel over Jake Matthews, with Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins off the board. Josh Norris thinks they'll pick the Texas A&M quarterback with Jake Matthews still available. Evan Silva has them taking Manziel over Aaron Donald and (again) Jake Matthews. Matthew Fairburn only has them passing Aaron Donald for Manziel. Charlie Campbell does the same thing.
Mel Kiper's analysis is on point and describes why the Bucs could draft Manziel:
Here's the big splash. While the addition of Josh McCown has many saying QB isn't a big need, you need to realize the Bucs basically have a half season of good play in Chicago -- with some really good weapons, mind you -- to point to for McCown, and just a decent rookie campaign from Mike Glennon to point to at the position. Should that really inspire confidence? Manziel brings a high ceiling at the most important position, plenty of excitement to the franchise, and he also joins a roster that is in really good shape on defense, and has enough weapons on offense to ease his transition.
That's pretty much correct. McCown is a temporary, stop-gap starter and Manziel would be the future -- if the Bucs see him that way.
Aaron Donald - 4 mock drafts
Strangely enough, we have four mock drafts that have the Buccaneers selecting Aaron Donald. I'm still not buying that. While Donald is an excellent fit with Lovie Smith's defense, he doesn't fill a need, and won't be displacing Gerald McCoy, either. If the Bucs pick him, they'll have to fill their needs later in the draft, which is far from ideal.
Still, four analysts have the Bucs picking the Pittsburgh defensive tackle. Todd McShay thinks he'll be their pick over Johnny Manziel, as do Bob McGinn and Russ Lande. Only The Guardian (yes, The Guardian) has Manziel off the board when the Bucs pick Donald.