The 2022 NFL Draft is just three weeks away and draft needs across the league are coming into focus. With the 27th pick in this year's draft, the Bucs will once again have the luxury of picking a player based on wants rather than needs.
Following a flurry of free agent signings, the Bucs have added depth, versatility and returned some of their key players. There are still questions to be answered on the defensive line including if cornerstone Ndamukong Suh will return for the 2022 season. With the status of tight end Rob Gronkowski also in limbo, draft experts see the Buccaneers adding a tight end in the first round.
Draft pundits are starting to go multiple different directions for the Buccaneers in the first round. Could the Buccaneers once again get a first round star from Washington? It's worked out well with defensive tackle Vita Vea and pass rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Good Morning Football analyst Peter Schrager predicts the Bucs take cornerback Kyler Gordon from Washington, who has incredible athleticism and polished technique.
Not a single draft expert agrees on who the Bucs will take in this week's mock draft roundup. See below for a full list of potential picks from experts across the league.
NFL Network
- Pick: CB Kyler Gordon, Washington
- Comments: The Bucs went with a Washington defender (Joe Tryon-Shoyinka) in the first round last year. Run it back here. Gordon is a former competitive dancer who uses his martial arts background for preparation on the field. He has a lot of fans around the league and may end up hearing his name called before his more heralded teammate, Trent McDuffie.
CBS Sports
- Pick: OL Zion Johnson, Boston College
- Comments: The Bucs are probably live to go any number of different directions here, but they draft a guard to replace the other of the two they lost this offseason.
- Pick: S Daxton Hill, Michigan
- Comments: Hill is part of a Wolverines defense that could end up seeing three players go in Round 1 next spring. He's underrated nationally but watch him play and it becomes clear pretty quickly that he's in the running for one of the best defensive backs in this class. He's listed as a safety but he can line up anywhere.
Pro Football Network
- Pick: TE Trey McBride, Colorado State
- Comments: Rarely this cycle has a tight end gone in Round 1 of mock drafts. But if any tight end is going to sneak into the first-round conversation, it's Colorado State's Trey McBride. McBride has run away with the TE1 mantle with the same speed he mustered at his pro day (a 4.56 40-yard dash). McBride has the necessary athleticism, and he's also tough and sure-handed amidst contact. He can be a steady threat up the middle of the field on Day 1.
Sports Illustrated
- Pick: DT Devonte Wyatt, Georgia
- Comments: He gets penetration against sliding fronts right off the snap. Using his hands, he breaks free when attacking upfield by using a rip move or double hand swipe. - Scouting Report Blurb on DT Devonte Wyatt, Georgia
- Pick: DT Travis Jones, Conneticut
- Comments: Travis Jones has the size, power and athleticism to be a forceful disruptor in the NFL. His stock has risen as much as any prospect throughout the pre-draft process. His rise began with a standout performance in Mobile, AL at the Reece's Senior Bowl, where Jones went out of his way to make life extremely difficult on a number of accomplished interior offensive linemen. He followed up his dominant Senior Bowl performance with an even more impressive display at the NFL combine, where Jones clocked a 4.92 40-yard-dash time, a 7.33 3-cone, and 110" broad jump. In terms of athletic testing for his position, those scores rank him 48th out of 1325 defensive tackle prospects evaluated at the combine between 1987-2022.
