Evolving Mock Drafts & Searching For ‘Ball Hawks’  Road to the Draft | Tampa Bay Buccaneers - podcast episode cover

Evolving Mock Drafts & Searching For ‘Ball Hawks’ Road to the Draft | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mar 13, 20258 min
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Episode description

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wide Receiver Mike Evans was mic'd up for Week 18's victory against the New Orleans Saints. Hear from Mike as he secures his 11th 1,000 yard season & the Bucs clinch the NFC South for the 4th straight year.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Welcome into the next edition of Road to the Draft Casey Phillips Herbs staff writer Breed Dix. In this edition, we are doing a mock draft, which might as well be called the useless mock draft by the time. We're doing this today because this is the chair much of doing these around free agency, because everything can turn on

a dime. So between the time of you completing this mock draft and of shooting this right now, everything has changed across the entire league and including for the Buccaneers. But of course on the Buccaneer side, it's for very exciting reasons. We have now, of course signed several guys from the team this last season and a new edition.

We've made a lot of changes. So tell me first and foremost about the things that are going to be relevant on this mock draft based on this what's changed, what's not and what did you decide you wanted to focus on today.

Speaker 2

So I'm going to focus on the quarterbacks. I had them both high, and then I'm also going to go into the edge rushers, and again I'll talk about it a little bit of how those things could have changed. Because both my number two pick and my number six pick, if I were to redo them all today, that would not be the same. So obviously I have cam Ward

in my mock going number one to the Titans. But both cam Ward and Shoudar Sanders are the top quarterback prospects in this draft, and a lot has been made about neither one of them participated in the throwing portion

at the Combine. Didn't participate in the drills, and people are kind of making a big deal of that, But also really, for the better part of the last decade, quarterbacks have not been participating in those drills of the Combine really, probably other than C. J. Stroud, who had one of the most phenomenal throwing sessions in Combine history.

But I had cam Ward going number one to the Titans, and kind of he's just the guy that has really powerful arm, twitchy release, can sidestep edge rushers to escape, and he's kind of that consensus overall top QB prospect. And then I had Shaudor Sanders going to the Raiders at six. Now, granted I did this mock last week, so this was before Gino Smith has reunited with Pete Carroll. But the thing with Sanders is the timing, the accuracy,

the precision. He has a really high football IQ advanced fundamentals, So I really liked him going to the Raiders, but obviously I think the Saints could also be a great fit for him. Learning under Kellen Moore that played a big role in the development of Dak Prescott in Dallas and then kind of moving into the edge rusher. So I have the Bucks taking an edge rusher at nineteen. So I'm gonna kind of go through some of the edges and how they've changed. There is a lack of

consensus in this draft. Edges are all over the place. You have some that are in the top ten and some mocks not even in the first round and others. But kind of one of the main similarities that you will see in drafts is Abdual Carter going in the top three. I had him going number two to the Browns. Again, did this mock last week, so this was.

Speaker 1

Before certain the Browns.

Speaker 2

Made Miles Garrett the highest paid non quarterback in NFL history. Love that for my mock, so obviously they might go a different route. But he is one of the most elite star power athletes in this draft, along with the Unicorn wide receiver, cornerback in Travis Hunter, but Bill Carter, the thing that sets him apart is the explosion off the line, his feel in the trenches, and kind of that the rare closing burst that he has. So I had him going number two, and then number seven. I

have Jalen Walker going to the Jets. I think he's a guy that Aaron Glenn is going to be able to maximize kind of that hybrid tweeterer skill set that he has. He's an off ball linebacker but also has an advanced kind of past rush skill set wins with suddenness, So I think he's gonna be could be a key to kind of elevating the Jets defense. And then I have Mike Green going to the Saints, which.

Speaker 1

I'm sure Bucks fans are not excited about the idea yet.

Speaker 2

So he led the FBS in sacks last season, has a lot of production, and the thing with him is the power the Ford charge keeps his legs churning. But the thing with Mike Green also is kind of there's been some things with the size that kind of is a lot you'll hear guys that are a little bit undersized, but also there's been some question marks regarding the character and kind of his departure from Virginia. So he is definitely one of those players that has a high upside

with his skill set. But teams are going to have to vet Mike Green. But all of those guys are people that continue to kind of rise. But also when you look at Shamar Stewart James Pierce Junior, they're both guys that also have risen a lot. So if all of that happens, then it could very well be possible that I have Mikeel Williams being available for the Bucks at nineteen. So the Bucks did add hasan reddick, We did sign him. Michel Williams is just a guy that

fits that buccaneer's prototypical mold. And one of the things that Todd Bowles really emphasized at the combine is getting ballhawks at all three levels of the defense, and in particular he emphasized for defensive linemen, guys that down passes, guys that get strip sacks. You turn on Mikil Williams tape and that is all he does. He fights through every single play, he finishes sacks. If he can't get there,

he's throwing up his arms to bat down balls. But also it's no secret that Todd Bowles likes to move his edgewashers around. You had Calidejia Kansi. That's dropping back in coverage, and most of the time, if you see that happening, you're thinking something's wrong or someone's misinassignment. But Mickel Williams is the guy that lined up everywhere from

a three technique to a wide nine. He can rush from a two point stance, three point stance, but as a guy that just loves football, fights through every single rap and I think he could play a key role in kind of elevating and both during the Bucks defense.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and like you said, I mean, even though the Bucks have signed to Son Reddick, We've seen several different years where Jason light loves to address positions both in free agency and the draft where maybe the Bucks signed someone in free agency and so you thought they weren't going to draft that position high and they still did that. It's like he loves to try to address it from both sides. And so I don't think that a signing of any kind in free agency is a guarantee you

won't see the Bucks take that position. Maybe it affects exactly how high or low they draft that position. But whenever you can address it in both, it really leaves you that opportunity to just take the player you're most excited about if you've been able to address major holes in free agency as well, so well a well.

Speaker 2

Rounded player too. I mean, the run defense has kind of been the Bucks going card with guys like Vitavea, guys like College. You can't see, but mcu Williams thirty percent of his tackles resultant in a loss. So not only is he adept at getting to the quarterback, finishing sacks, wrecking havoc from that aspect, but also he's effective against the run and he's bringing guys down. He has that quick diagnosed disibility and he gets there.

Speaker 1

Yep.

Speaker 2

So just all all the way around, he's a guy that and again and a lot of mocks he's in the top ten, so we might be a little bit.

Speaker 1

You know, you love to be asked, pira, your mocks breed likes to take what she thinks is what the Bucks most need instead of exactly what's going to be there. But it's all right, we love it anyway, We're here for it. So of course, like we just talked about.

There are about infinity more mock drafts left that will now, of course take into consideration everything that has happened in the free agency world, so definitely make sure you stay tuned for future road to the drafts, future mock drafts as well, and that's going to do it for us on this edition.

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