Todd McShay's 2016 NFL Mock draft gives Buccaneers a Ronde Barber successor

Vernon Hargreaves III has been a popular pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in mock drafts. ESPN's Todd McShay concurs, and slots him to the Bucs in his latest mock. Over Shaq Lawson, who he has going 11th, and over Noah Spence, who's the 20th pick in his mock.

It's not often the best pure cover corner in the draft falls to No. 9 overall, but here we are. Hargreaves wins in man-to-man coverage with elite quickness and footwork, and he showed off excellent ball skills during his time at Florida (10 career interceptions in 37 games). Playing in a division against Cam Newton, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, the Bucs need to continue to upgrade their secondary.

Hargreaves has good, but not dominant tape. He measured in relatively small at 5'10 4/8" and tested relatively slow with a 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. That fits the tape, too: he doesn't appear to have great deep speed, and can lose against bigger receivers on the outside. That's going to be a problem in a division that features Kelvin Benjamin and Julio Jones.

That said, Hargreaves also showed off his explosiveness at the combine in his position group, with top-five performances in the vertical and broad jumps, and the third-best time in the 20-yard shuttle. The fact that the did that at 204 lbs. is even more impressive, suggesting that he can maintain his explosiveness with a somewhat bulky frame. That explosive transition from backpedal to breaking on the ball is going to get Hargreaves a lot of interceptions in the NFL, even if he gets beat deep a little too easily.

There's no question that Hargreaves would be a valuable addition for the Bucs. He'd be a capable slot cornerback as a rookie, and could play on the outside in the red zone -- though whether he can start on the outside at the start of his career remains to be seen. In some ways he's reminiscent of Ronde Barber: a little undersized and perhaps lacking in deep speed, but a quality technician with an explosive transition who will always compete for the ball.