NFL Draft 2018: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-round mock

Round 2 – Pick 38

Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

This is why a team would be smart to wait on running backs. This is a deep position class behind top guy Saquon Barkley. Tampa Bay is one of the teams atop round two that will likely be looking for a running back. This is the spot where that third tier of backs can come off the board. For this draft it came down to Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson and Georgia’s Nick Chubb. I went with Chubb. There are too many simliarities to Peyton Barber, Tampa’s incumbent back, with Johnson.

Chubb will first need to check off that he is healthy at the combine. He suffered a devastating knee injury in his sophomore season, two years ago. Outside of the medicals there is not much as a runner that Chubb cannot do.

The first thing that pops on film is his balance. He excels at getting skinny through the hole, taking what is there and finishing through contact. Chubb may not be the fastest but before his injury he was a freak athlete. It would not surprise me to see him outperform expectations in Indianapolis.

With Tampa cutting Doug Martin, Chubb would be an excellent fill-in. The team still has Charles Sims to lean on in passing situation, not Chubb’s strong suit. However, the team would be getting a back that can be a work horse and take pressure of Jameis Winston and the passing game.