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If you want to see what a terrible 2017 NFL mock draft looks like, look no further than Todd McShay’s contribution to the canon today. ESPN’s second-most famous draftnik went a full three rounds for every NFL team, giving those teams the players he thinks they should take.
The results are not pretty when it comes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Round 1 (19): Garett Bolles, OT, Utah
Round 2 (50): Marcus Maye, S, Florida
Round 3 (84): Sidney Jones, CB, Washington
I struggled with the Bucs' first-round pick. Bolles' inexperience and durability issues are scary, but he's the most athletic tackle prospect in this class, and Tampa needs an upgrade at that position. The Bucs signed safety J.J. Wilcox in free agency but could use a player like Maye, who's extremely reliable against the run and had good ball production in coverage, with 17 pass breakups and five interceptions. Jones looked like a first-round pick before he tore his Achilles at his pro day. He recently told ESPN's Matt Bowen he'll be back on the field in six months. If that turns out to be true and he returns to his old form, he'd be a steal in Round 3.
Quite frankly: this draft would be absolutely terrible. Arguably all three players are massively overdrafted, but of the three, only one fills an actual need. The Bucs could certainly use some depth at cornerback, and some would argue they need an upgrade along the offensive line (they would disagree with that assessment), but to call those needs would be a massive overstatement.
And even the one player who does fill a need, second-round safety Marcus Maye, is not really a great fit. The Bucs already have three safeties who are good against the run and less reliable in coverage. They don’t need a fourth.
Meanwhile, this would leave the Bucs without a single upgrade to any skill position in the first three rounds. I guess Cameron Brate is going to be the only tight end catching passes this year.
If the Bucs do what McShay here did, they’ll be walking out of the draft with three players who don’t really fill a need, and who weren’t the best players on the board when they picked. Ridiculous.