Two weeks ago at the owners meetings in Palm Beach, Bucs coach Todd Bowles admitted that even though he is a defensive guy, he has learned that in the NFL you have to score points.
To do that, he said, you have to have weapons. So if a beastly receiver slides to the Bucs at No. 19 overall in the draft next week, Bowles said he’d likely take the receiver over a defensive player.
Tectonic plates rumbled deep in the Earth’s core upon this declaration.
At this same media availability, Bowles also raved about wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who Bowles expects big things in his second season.
“I think when he got hurt early [in the season], kind of set him back a little bit,” Bowles said. “So he’s [then] behind mentally when he got back. Once he caught up mentally, he really started to show himself and become a true leader over there.”
Bowles especially liked the way McMillan tried to lead the offense when both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin went down.
“He became one of our guys,” Bowles said. “And you know, he blossomed from there. He’s a heck of a football player. As long as he takes care of his body, we expect from he will even be better this year.”
So that brings Joe back to drafting a receiver at No. 19. It’s not a crazy thought, but certainly not a need. This is one reason why Joe is so intrigued by Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka. The guy is a total Chris Godwin clone and Bowles also admitted in Palm Beach he’s uncertain about Godwin’s availability Week 1.
Joe guesses the Bucs would have to be really in love with Egbuka and still guessing about Godwin’s readiness for AC/DC-loving Bucs general manager Jason Licht to pull the trigger on a receiver in the first round.
(If the video of Egbuka doesn’t appear below, click here.)
