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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked out of day two of the 2017 NFL draft with three new players: safety Justin Evans, wide receiver Chris Godwin and linebacker Kendell Beckwith.
Bucs fans were pretty clear on second-round pick Justin Evans: 56% gave him a B in our poll, and another 17% an A. That’s a pretty good grade for a player most people seem to not be all that familiar with.
Chris Godwin got even better reviews, with 48% giving that pick an A and 37% a B. Kendell Beckwith got significantly less enthusiastic reviews, with a plurality of 41% grading that pick a C and another 20% a D—though at least 22% thought it was worth a B.
Those evaluations more or less fit with what the draftniks though, too. SB Nation’s Dan Kadar wasn’t overly impressed with the value the Bucs got in the draft—in particular with Justin Evans. The result: a C- for day two. Booooooo.
The Buccaneers had to get a safety this draft, and Evans is an aggressive tackler with solid range. I viewed him more as a third round player. He should start for Tampa Bay, but he needs to get more consistent as a tackler.
Godwin really came on late in the draft process thanks to some excellent workout numbers. He might not be a No. 1 wideout, but for the Buccaneers he doesn’t have to be. Beckwith would have gone higher in the draft had he not tore his ACL in November. He’s good at coming up against the run and could be used in a pinch playing outside. He’s not much dropping back in coverage, so he might only be a two-down player.
One interesting trend, the draftniks like Beckwith a lot more than Bucs fans do. That’s true for CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, too. He gave Beckwith a B, Godwin a B-, and Evans a B+.
Evans gets some pretty solid reviews in general, anyway. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke gave him a B, while giving a B+ to Godwin and a C to Beckwith. Fox Sports’ Dieter Kurtenbach even gave Evans an A, while giving a C to the Bucs for Godwin, and an A for Beckwith.
In all, then, somewhat mixed reviews for the Bucs, but more good than bad, I’d say. Of course, all of these grades don’t really mean all that much: we won’t actually know how well they did until in a year or three or four, when all of these players will have shown who they actually are.