A team with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, coming off a strong finish to his rookie season, should have felt set at receiver.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are fine making their strengths stronger.
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The Buccaneers had a somewhat surprising pick at No. 19 in the NFL Draft, ignoring needs such as cornerback to take Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka. That certainly will help Baker Mayfield, who is coming off a big season.
Egbuka is considered a polished product coming out of Ohio State, which has produced a number of stars at receiver the past few years. He was very productive in college. He holds the Ohio State career record with 205 receptions, which is saying something considering the receiver talent to come through the program.
It’s a forward-looking move by the Buccaneers. Evans is coming off another 1,000-yard season, but he’ll be 32 years old this upcoming season. Godwin is coming off a season-ending ankle injury, and has a torn ACL in his past as well. Egbuka will have a tough time getting targets this season in the offense, especially when considering the presence of tight end Cade Otton and running back Bucky Irving, but he can be a valuable piece in the future.
It’s often said that reaching for needs and ignoring the best player available is a bad way to go about drafting in the NFL. The Buccaneers had no problem taking the best player available at No. 19, even though it wasn’t an immediate need at all.
