NFL Draft 2019: Tampa Bay Buccaneers full mock draft
By Joe Romano
Round 1 – Pick 5
Devin White, LB, LSU
Tampa Bay can go in a handful of ways with their first selection. With the amount of talent on the defensive side of the ball in the 2019 NFL Draft class, it opens a lot of doors for this team. In this mock draft the first four picks went as expected with Kyler Murray, Nick Bosa, Quiennen Williams and Josh Allen. That leaves Tampa Bay with their top option, LSU linebacker Devin White.
It is no secret that the Buccaneers are head over heels for the rangy linebacker. Todd Bowles sees him as a leader for the defense and a perfect compliment to veteran Lavonte David. White can step in and immediately replace the loss of Kwon Alexander in Tampa’s new odd man front.
On the field White’s progression from 2017 to 2018 made him a top five player in the class. He worked on the cerebral part of the game, making his athleticism all the more terrifying for opposing defenses. A speedy linebacker like White, who can bring it to anyone in front of him, is the ideal NFL linebacker in 2019.
Tampa’s new defense is going to need more linebackers. The addition of Deone Bucannon gives them an option but he is not an every down defender. White and David give Tampa an elite duo in the middle that will not be a liability in either run stopping or pass coverage. The only problem is that Oakland apparently has eyes for White, which would hurt the Buccaneers draft. Even in that scenario it leaves one of Quiennen Williams and Josh Allen on the board who I’m sure the Tampa Bay front office would be fine with as a consolation prize.