COLUMN: No, the Bucs won’t pick a QB in the first round
So, there’s been quite a few mock drafts tabbing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to pick a certain quarterback from Kentucky. Everyone seems to think the Bucs are searching for Tom Brady’s heir and that they want to do so as soon as possible — everyone except the Bucs, that is.
With how the offseason has gone, it doesn’t seem as if Tampa Bay is looking to find its long-term option in the draft. The signing of Baker Mayfield seems to indicate that the team has no intention to tank like some have wanted them to, it also speaks volumes about the way the team is handling Kyle Trask — it doesn’t want Trask to guide them to a top pick, it wants Trask to win.
On top of that, the team has plenty of other needs elsewhere that typically come before a franchise QB slots into place. If the Bucs were to pick Will Levis in the 2023 draft, there wouldn’t be anyone to protect him, as Tampa Bay recently cut Donovan Smith and has no one to fill the position at the moment. The secondary has also been depleted, and the Bucs could also address that with the first pick, too. There’s too much to do outside the position to either trade up for or to pick Will Levis. The infrastructure isn’t there, and I think Jason Licht knows that, too.
Now, just because the Bucs won’t go QB in the first round doesn’t mean they won’t go QB at all.
The team seems to have at least a notable interest in Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, who it’s bringing in for at top-40 visit. Early indications were that Hooker would be a Day 2 or Day 3 pick, which the Bucs could capitalize on, but recent mocks and rumors after the combine have Hooker climbing.
There is also, of course, room for a very late pick at the QB position. Brock Purdy’s impressive play will have shifted the viewpoint on that sort of thing pretty significantly, and Licht has done similar things before, so that could be an option for the team, too.
Bottom line: Yes, the Bucs will eventually need a stable player at the quarterback position. No, they will not draft a quarterback in the first round — not Will Levis, not Hendon Hooker and certainly not anyone else.
