The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have all the attention at the NFL Combine. The team comes into Indianapolis as the owners of the No. 1 overall pick and plenty of roster holes to fill. They could keep the pick and draft a quarterback, something most expect them to do, or they could trade down for help on the offensive line and running back position. Head coach Lovie Smith took the podium during the scouting combine and hinted that Tampa Bay would be aiming to grab a quarterback No. 1 overall.
Smith will be watching closely as Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are expected to throw at this year's combine, something most top quarterback prospects decline to do until their Pro Day. Smith wants to get to know both quarterbacks, but appears to be favoring Winston, not at all concerned about his recent off-the-field issues.
"Let's talk about the elephant in the room," Smith said, via ESPN.com. "He's been accused of a crime. There's an allegation. I have faith in our court system. He went through it. He went through the school justice system, and he was cleared. He went through our court system and he was cleared, exonerated. I would like to think that when people go through that, that you wouldn't bring that up the rest of your life on a 21-year-old, you wouldn't bring that up. We've already done a lot of research. We're going to do a lot more research on both guys. From what I know right now, yeah, we're OK with where he is."
The Buccaneers released former starter Josh McCown making all signs point to a quarterback in the draft. However, Smith is not ready to completely give up on Mike Glennon just yet. Trade rumors continue to circle around the quarterback, Smith sounded like he was very confident in the potential of Glennon to be a franchise quarterback if that is the direction Tampa Bay was heading in.
"Yeah, I think you can definitely say that Mike can be the quarterback that can play at a high level in this league," Smith said when asked if Glennon can be a franchise quarterback. "And I mean, we only have one quarterback on our roster. If you look at the comments I've made about him, yes, I think he can be that guy."
With the Buccaneers favoring Winston at the top spot, the competition will be high for the No. 2 pick as a number of teams like Mariota for their new starting quarterback. The Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets have all been linked to the reigning Heisman trophy winner and would be willing to trade up once the Buccaneers make their selection.
