Lovie Smith has remained relatively coy on the draft plans for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is unclear exactly where Tampa Bay will set their focus with the No. 1 pick after making key offseason moves to fill needs. Outside of a defensive tackle, wide receiver and possibly a running back, how does Tampa Bay use that first-round pick? Smith hints that it might not be how everyone thinks.
After signing Josh McCown at the start of free agency, the Buccaneers looked set at quarterback. They had the proven veteran who was very successful filling in for Jay Cutler last season. They had an emerging rookie who exceled in his opportunity to start last year after the release of Josh Freeman. However, Smith made comments that indicated he was not entirely satisfied with his options, hinting that the team might make moves to draft a quarterback in the first round. Now, Smith is going back on that idea.
"You want to keep that option open of course,'' Smith said, via the Tampa Bay Tribune, "because there are some good quarterbacks in this draft. That has been documented. But just looking at our roster right now - and we had a good chance to see our guys in action (at our minicamp) last week - Josh McCown is a good quarterback that could lead us to a lot of victories. And Mike Glennon is an excellent quarterback. And Mike Kafka is good. We feel pretty good about our guys that we have right now even though there are a lot of good options at the QB position."
Smith might be endorsing his quarterback options right now, but do not put it past him to draft early and get his "guy" in for the future. NFL.com speculated that Smith brought in McCown because his familiarity with the quarterback and will also be looking to draft his own option to develop for the future, leaving Glennon out in the cold. The Tampa Bay Tribune notes that a trade is not entirely out of the question.
Right now, ESPN Mock Draft after reporting that right now the Buccaneers are projected to take a wide receiver in Mike Evans after letting go of Mike Williams. That would certainly not be a bad move so the Buccaneers can bring on another quarterback in a later round. Tampa Bay set themselves up well in free agency making anything possible in the draft. Smith wants someone ready-to-play with that first-round pick and right now no quarterback is a guarantee, leaving a specialty player the smart choice.