ROUND 1 IS IN THE BOOKS!

After a crazy night of twists and turns, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not have came away from that first round with the offensive tackle that everyone thought they would, but they did come away with a top ten talent with their 19th pick. They had the surprising choice between edge rusher Nolan Smith from Georgia or the disruptive interior defensive lineman Calijah Kancey from Pittsburgh. They chose the “undersized” tackle that some have compared to the Rams Aaron Donald. Even though the Bucs could use an edge rusher, Jason Licht thinks domiant interior pass rushers are just too hard to find.

Hence the Kancey pick.

With that need taken care of, the Bucs now enter Day 2 with needs at offensive line, safety, edge rusher and tight end. However, at this point, it appears the Bucs are satisfied with drafting the best player available rather than drafting for need. That could open things up a little bit. With the players still left on the board, the Buccaneers could take a running back, a cornerback or even a quarterback. Anything is on the table today. That’s why I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a list of Day 2 prospects that the could be available to the Bucs with their 50th and 82nd picks. With that being said, let’s take a look at them.

#1: G Cody Mauch, North Dakota State

Guard may be one of the deepest positions on the Buccaneers roster, but that doesn’t mean they won’t address it if the right player is still available. If they had their choice, they would probably like to have O’Cyrus Torrence from Florida, but I just don’t see him falling all the way to that 50th pick. Mauch, on the other hand, could still be on the board and he is the epitome of what Jason Licht looks for in offensive line prospects. He’s a small school guy with long, flowing hair and a real nasty streak as a blocker. Sounds like he’d fit right in with this Bucs o-line. If he’s still sitting there when Tampa Bay goes on the clock at #50, don’t be surprised if he’s the pick.

#2: TE Darnell Washington, Georgia

Sure, the Bucs double-dipped at tight end in last year’s draft, and it paid off handsomely with Cade Otton and Ko Kieft. That won’t stop them from taking one of the best tight end prospects in this draft if he’s still available. Washington is a freakish athlete with freakish size and freakish abilities, all of which make him quite possibly the most complete tight end in this very deep tight end draft class. Tampa Bay will be running a ton of 12-personnel (two tight end) formations under new offensive coordinator Dave Canales. They have the pass-catcher in Otton and the blocker in Kieft. Now they need a dual-threat guy. Washington is just that. If he’s there at #50, then expect the Bucs to pull the trigger.

#3 Edge Derick Hall, Auburn

Even though they got their interior pass rusher yesterday in Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, the Bucs still need an outside edge rusher. There’s a few guys still on the board that make sense for Tampa Bay, but Hall might be the best fit for what they’re looking for in this draft. He’s a Shaq Barrett clone who’s not only a dangerous pass rusher, but a productive run defender as well. That’s exactly what Todd Bowles wants in his outside linebackers.

#4 RB Zach Charbonnet, UCLA

Rachaad White might be the Bucs #1 running back on the depth chart right now, but is he ready to take on the workhorse load of the Buccaneers run game? Even after signing Chase Edmonds in free agency, they still need to add another back to the stable and they will probably do it in this draft. The only question is, when will it happen? My personal opinion is that they’ll wait until Day 3 to grab a running back. However, if Charbonnet is still on the board at #50, they might go ahead and make the leap. He possesses the traits that the Buccaneers RB room doesn’t at the moment…size. All of the backs on Tampa Bay’s roster right now are under 6′ tall and under 215lbs. Charbonnet is 6’1″/220lbs and knows how to use it. His combination of size, power, strength, balance and vision could end up being too tempting for the Buccaneers to pass up in the second round.

#5: S Brian Branch, Alabama

Safety is another big need for the Buccaneers, but this is a fairly deep safety class. It wouldn’t even shock me to see the Bucs double-dip at the position in this draft. If that’s the case, they could grab one on Day 2 and Day 3. There are plenty of solid prospects left on the board that are worthy of a Day 2 pick. In fact, at least one of them should’ve been a Day 1 pick. Yet somehow, Branch fell out of that first round and is still sitting there on the board. If whatever the reason is that has caused him to fall this far continues to cause teams to pass him up, and by some miracle he’s still there at the 50th pick, the Bucs might just roll the dice. The thought of teaming Branch up with Antoine Winfield Jr. and Ryan Neal in their secondary might just be enough to make Tampa Bay gamble with their second round pick.

WILDCARD: QB

Jason Licht and the Bucs continue to say that they are content with Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield battling it out in training camp for the starting QB job. They passed up on Kentucky’s Will Levis in the first round. Then again, so did every other team. The question is, will they do it again if he continues to fall? Another question could be what if Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker falls down to that 50th pick? No, Tampa Bay doesn’t necessarily “need” a quarterback. On the other hand, they are one of the only teams in the league who have never drafted a franchise quarterback. If either of those guys are available when the Bucs go on the clock and they feel like they are in fact a “that guy“, are they going to pass up on that opportunity? I’m not so sure.