Every Monday for more than two months leading up to the NFL Draft, Buccaneers.com published a weekly Mock Draft Roundup, which was a collection of analysts' opinions of what the team would do with their first-round draft pick. In the final Mock Draft Roundup, 17 experts were polled. After the dust has settled, just one of them accurately predicted the Buccaneers' first-round pick.
Two high-profile analysts, ESPN's Todd McShay and NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah, were able to correctly predict the position the Bucs would take in the first round, but missed the mark by listed Miami's David Njoku as the pick. CBS' Jared Dubin hit the nail on the head, projecting O.J. Howard to the Bucs at No. 19. Dubin had Njoku as his pick early on, but flipped to Howard in the middle of April.
Howard was widely considered to be a top-ten pick and many were surprised to see him still available at No. 19. A few experts, including McShay himself, had projected Howard to the Bucs in early mock drafts, but as Draft Day got closer, Howard's stock rose as high as No. 5 on some analysts' boards. Bleacher Report's Bret Sobleski and Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds had also linked Howard to the Bucs at a point in time.
The fans had an opportunity to make their voices heard, with a poll accompanying the Mock Draft Roundup each week. There were more than 30,000 votes cast, and less than five percent of the voters believed the Bucs would take a tight end in Round 1. Running back pulled in 40 percent of the vote, followed by wide receiver and defensive end.
For every Mock Draft Roundup leading up to the Draft, follow the links below.
> The Final Mock Draft Roundup
> Mock Draft Roundup, 13.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 12.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 11.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 10.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 9.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 8.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 7.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 6.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 5.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 4.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 3.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 2.0
> Mock Draft Roundup, 1.0
