Trading Up For Sammy Watkins?
April 5th, 2014
This insanity was predicted on NFL Network
NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, teamed up with Charles Davis to dissect and predict their top 10 picks in the 2014 NFL Draft yesterday.
Jeremiah, like Joe, believes the Rams are eager to hear their phone ring with offers for the No. 2 overall pick.
In this NFL Network video, Jeremiah says the Rams’ will get those frantic calls and it will be the Buccaneers with the most to offer. And Tampa Bay’s target, per Jeremiah? It’s Sammy Watkins, the expected slam-dunk Pro Bowl wide receiver out of Clemson.
Now Joe finds this wacky, not to mention Bryan Fischer’s belief in the same poppycock in his latest for NFL.com, as well as his projected likelihood the Bucs could draft Texas A&M monster receiver Mike Evans at No. 7 overall.
Yes, the Bucs need help at receiver, but there are supposed to be three rounds worth of strong receivers in this draft. Tampa Bay can fill its need later, if they are good evaluators. Plus, the Bucs have Vincent Jackson in place, and two good pass catching tight ends. And we know Jeff Tedford has a thing for multiple tight ends in the passing game.
Sure, a lethal receiver, like Watkins could be, would be a glorious gift to Bucs fans. But Joe’s far more concerned with who’s going to be throwing the ball and leading the offense. If the Bucs are going to make a bold move and trade up, it’s not going to be for a receiver, not in this draft.
April 5th, 2014 at 7:46 pm
With Sammy Watkins having drug arrest while in college, I’m not sure that he’d be the type of player that Lovie would want to bring in to replace Mike Williams.
April 5th, 2014 at 7:47 pm
He`s worth trading up for true playmaker.
April 5th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
We have to be able to score points in this league and division def cant do it all.
April 5th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
He will be a game-changer, Evans too…Can’t wait
April 5th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
Get over it waterboy he`s a top five pick.
April 5th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
hard to believe Charles Davis is part of this nonsense ….
April 5th, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Sammy sammy sammy
April 5th, 2014 at 7:59 pm
sammy or johnny
April 5th, 2014 at 8:05 pm
Sammy @ 7 or trade back for more picks and select Brandin Cooks . .
April 5th, 2014 at 8:08 pm
I am so paranoid about the draft now that the Bucs have traded Mike Williams. The easy thing to do now is assume that they must take either Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans with the 7Th pick. I’m not so sure! What I am sure about is they will not be trading up – too many needs and not enough picks in the deepest draft in a decade.
The thing that keeps ringing in my ear is Licht saying that they believe there may be a franchise QB in the draft and it’s not who everybody is thinking about. Then there are the planned visits. Why would you bring in players scheduled to go in the late 1st round if you didn’t think under some scenario, you might be interested?
The Wild card in this draft in my opinion is not the Texans, it’s the Browns who have the 4th and 26th picks. The Browns are likely to take a safe pick at #4 and trade back into the top ten to get a QB. Or maybe they took Manziel at #4 and want to trade back to pair Evans with him.That trade spot is ideally the Bucs at #7 – the team most likely to trade down and Evans and a premium QB is likely to be available at #7.The Bucs could take Derek Carr, Brandin Cooks, CJ Moseley, Dee Ford (coming in for a visit), Kelvin Benjamin, or a top OG/OT with the 26th pick, plus get a 2nd and a 4th round pick.
I’ve already admitted to being paranoid and perhaps a little crazy too, but this is a draft where anything can happen……….except us trading up!
April 5th, 2014 at 8:09 pm
The Bucs our team. I predict will draft a QB in 2015, not in this one.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:09 pm
HELL NAH!!!
April 5th, 2014 at 8:16 pm
I would not trade up for anyone. Either stay put or trade down. Someone with great upside and value will be there at 7 besides a QB. Whether it be Watkins, Mack, Barr, Evans, Mathews, Ebron. We already have a starting QB and a (in Joe’s words) damn good backup. So we are good right? We can get us someone who can make an immediate impact now. You know ROTY sh|t. Like Lavonte David and Doug Martin did.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:19 pm
There certainly isn’t any QB’s in this draft worth trading up for. Not in this draft.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:19 pm
I’m not big on trading up but he is one of the rare players that I would be ok with. Depending on the price, they may be able to trade with St.Louis(who is looking to shop the pick but currently do not have a partner yet). Any qb we get this year would be on the bench for the first year. So it’s ok for them to wait and get a qb later.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:21 pm
Lovie Smith has no history of taking a receiver in the first round, let alone trading up for one.
Especially in a draft very deep at WR. Who knows but seems unlikely. He did trade for Brandon Marshall back when I was begging the rock star to.
One of the big 3 QB’s or Carr. Then wideout in the second and one more round.
Interesting article on Carr today. Apparently his first year he played in a pro style offense and did very well.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:24 pm
I get so frustrated when I see a kid like Seantrel Henderson (IMO the 2014 Version of Vontaze Burfict/Alex Boone). With eminence talent, and physical attributes-seemly throw away his once promising career. Hopefully if we draft him in the 6th or 7th round, offensive line coach George Warhop can mold ’em. Because without a shadow of doubt the talent is there.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:29 pm
Everyone wants to trade down which will make it hard and you won’t get a ton in return thus making it less likely because you won’t get much value anyway.
At least if you believe all the smoke and ‘reports’
April 5th, 2014 at 8:30 pm
No thank you would rather take Evans at #7
April 5th, 2014 at 8:33 pm
“Everyone wants to trade down”
Mort that because they only have 5 picks, or 6 now that MW is gone.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Id love sammy but not at the cost of extra picks. If he were there at 7 id explore possibly trading down one pick to let someone else get him then take evans. If not take one of the two at 7.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:54 pm
If Sammy is there @ 7 we get him if not we get Evans and get a different speed receiver later. Don’t lose anymore draft picks. We can go ahead and compare jackson and Evans to Marshall and Jeffery and we know how good they turned out. You never know, Evans could possibly turn out better than Watkins ever will. I love the fact that we might get Watkins but if he’s taken and Evans is there still, that’s not to shabby.
April 5th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Just throwing this out there. Not implying anything, just an honest question.
Yes, Evans is the second-best WR in the draft. Is he a reach at No. 7? Is he that much better than Marqise Lee?
April 5th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
no trade down unless to take a qb lower. need to keep the value. also love the trade down, then trade down again. we need good players not fringe. also love the comments about trading next year’s 1 for a 2 this year. what a waste.
April 5th, 2014 at 9:05 pm
also, screw chicago. we need to strive to be better than chicago. they had 2 weak teams in the division in the vikings and lions especially compared to the 3 teams in our division.
April 5th, 2014 at 9:09 pm
That would be great to have Watkins or Evans, but who is going to throw them the ball?
April 5th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
@joe yes he is better than Lee. @eric Lovie is not in charge of the draft, Licht is.
April 5th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
Stay at 7 there’s plenty of good players that we can use with the 7th pick
April 5th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
Sammy or mike all day
April 5th, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Look at the falcons trade up for jones Sammy is an imitate impact player plus a special returner
April 5th, 2014 at 9:27 pm
mike evans all day
April 5th, 2014 at 9:30 pm
What if Houston takes a QB we go #2 and get Clowney or Watkins bam watch the stadium get filled for years
April 5th, 2014 at 9:35 pm
We just don’t have the ammo to trade up. We need every pick we have to help with our terrible depth (how many picks from 2009-2012 that should now be coming into their prime do we still have? VERY FEW!)
We could trade down a few slots still get Lee or Benjamin and Yancey the guard in round two. We should be able to get a fourth or fifth round pick and we could still have a very productive draft and offseason! IMO
April 5th, 2014 at 9:36 pm
Trade back and load up on WRs all day long with every pick. Odds are, at least two of them will pan out as starters. Done. Next?
April 5th, 2014 at 9:38 pm
Please stop it buc fans Barr or Carr will never be taken in the top 10.
Barr could be the bust of the draft.
Buclist
1. Manziel
2. Mack
3. Watkins
4. Bortles
April 5th, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Eric Says
“Lovie Smith has no history of taking a receiver in the first round, let alone trading up for one…Especially in a draft very deep at WR.”
Exactly what I have been trying to tell people for weeks. Lovie will not take a WR in the first round. He has taken 3 in the second round though. That’s where he’ll do it.
He also has not taken a QB, but that was because the bears traded for one.
April 5th, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Interesting, the same could be said of QB about deep. Garoppollo, Mettenberger, Murray, McCarron, and possibly Carr will all be there from rounds 2-4. However, the Bucs signed McCown and still have the promising Glennon. Even a lot of experts say QB is not the biggest need.
But WR depth has recently been bulldozed by L&L and now the Bucs are going into the draft with only one proven WR. It went from a slight need of a good slot receiver to arguably one of the biggest needs. It’s almost certain Evans will be there @7, may even last to the mid-1st round. Instead of trading UP and possibly giving up the farm for Sammy, the Bucs could trade DOWN and GAIN picks while still picking up a stud WR in Evans. Still lack a 4th rounder and as I said before, it would be like having two Vincent Jacksons on the field.
April 5th, 2014 at 10:00 pm
NFLosophy wrote an excellent piece on John Football recently. I strongly urge everyone (especially Joes) to take the time to thoroughly read it. Makes many great points and provides video evidence.
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
Putting that “Don’t believe the hype” catchphrase and NFLosophy in the same sentence is hilarious. –Joe
April 5th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
love to have sammy or mike e but we have to trade back as many times as we can and get bodies. we have to draft 2 guards 2 wideouts and a TE. If we trade back with San Fran and bag their 2 seconds we will be in solid shape. We would have 3 second rounds picks and I think our new GM wont blow many pics.
April 5th, 2014 at 10:27 pm
I really he the bucs don’t jump up to get Watkins – if he is there take him- if not oh we’ll get Evans- THERE IS NOT A BIG GAP IN TALENT BETWEEN WATKINS AND EVANS people!
April 5th, 2014 at 10:34 pm
Maybe with Watkins and Vjax my grandmother could throw it up and be successful if she had time to throw.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:06 pm
I am a Public Enemy fan.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:11 pm
NFLosophy needs to learn to be more efficient in his writing. Way too wordy and repetitive.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:13 pm
Evans @ 7!
April 5th, 2014 at 11:25 pm
I watched film on Evans, and as good as he was I could only focus on Johnny. Then I watched Watkins and feel we need to get him at all cost
April 5th, 2014 at 11:36 pm
Just a question here..Let’s say Sammy Watkins gets passed the raiders at 5..Chances of this are very low but crazier things have happened in the draft before so i would not rule this out completely. I read somewhere that ATL’s Roddy White is in his 30s now right? And he was really badly injured last season.. I know ATL has much pressing issues on offense line/defensive line along with their LB corps, but what if someway..They decide, “screw it! Tampa’s going to get a deadly weapon if we let this guy slip by..Let’s make our offense more potent and take him ourselves!” And they draft SW. JULIO JONES & SAMMY WATKINS in ATL’s colors. i’m just thinking crazy but that’s possible right??
April 5th, 2014 at 11:37 pm
Blake bortals at 7.remember who called it.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
Bortles or Johnny.and I by season tickets.I will bet a lot of money they draft Bortles.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
Johnny Football or Sammy. If neither are there at 7, trade down, but I vote no on proposition trade up.
April 5th, 2014 at 11:44 pm
to trade up the bucs would have to put up a combo of picks together to go up. Too many BPA’s to take at 7 or even better yet trade down and get more pick(s) and BPA.
This is a DEEP WR draft no need to sell the future (additional picks/players lost/traded in this draft) to reach
April 5th, 2014 at 11:48 pm
Hey BuccaneerBonzai incase u haven’t heard we do not hv a no 2 reciever a no 3 reciever nor do we hv any depth at WR. We hv to pluck 2 starters out of this draft. Evans should b there at 7 and I’m not so sure Watkins will have a better career than him. That’s the problem w trading Mike Williams. We all knew we needed another WR in this draft but now that we hv traded williams everyone and their mother knows we need a reciever. Getting Evans at 7 is not a slam dunk either. Now that teams know we are desperate for a reciever a team may make a play for Evans and trade up. I hv been hearing how interested the Lions and Giants are in Evans. I know we don’t hv many draft picks and would not want to lose any more picks but we may hv to if we want to secure one of the two top wideouts.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:20 am
Look, our O line is all pass defenders….now we need a road grader for our talented core of RB’s…..and ROBINSON fits the part and makes perfect sense if we’re going to trade up!
Im good with Watkins, Ebron and Evans….but dmn, Robinson is where the magic is while in the trenches!!!
April 6th, 2014 at 12:44 am
I want Watkins to be the pick, but not at the expense of moving up. There are so man stud WR in this draft
Evans
Benjamin
Lee
Beckham Jr.
Cooks
Mathews
and on and on, that we can afford to wait for a WR if need be. Hit the trenches with our first pick.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:45 am
There is something to be said about having a complete defense. Locking up a solid front four would pretty much complete the defense. The Donald kid would make one heck of a disruption in the middle. Can you imagine McCoy and Donald causing something similar to Sapp/McFarland?
April 6th, 2014 at 12:46 am
we need a dynamic playmaker. that is watkins or manziel. we don’t need evans, he is not worth it. we NEED a qb in the first and get a wr in the 2nd or third.
and lmao at all the people saying let’s keep trading down and pick up more picks, it’s a deep draft. so by your logic, let’s trade back until we have 15-18 7th rounders. the draft is deep and we need bodies, right?
April 6th, 2014 at 12:48 am
I think any one of those guys would actually be an upgrade over Mike Williams, and I’m not a Williams hater. He was probably my favorite buc released this off season.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:48 am
a wr can be had after the draft during the second free agency. a good qb will not get released.
screw defense, we need offense.
April 6th, 2014 at 1:30 am
Agree Joe. They’re not trading up in the draft for anything. We don’t have enough picks in a deep deep draft. Giving them up would be silly
April 6th, 2014 at 3:50 am
I’m into it. Sure, there are other WR’s available, but these big, beastly play makers are difference makers. We need to lock up our Megatron/Dez/Julio, because we certainly don’t have our Tom Brady who can make use of nobodies.
April 6th, 2014 at 7:14 am
Take a WR at #2? In a draft that’s supposedly deep in WRs?
This is about as dumb as wanting to take Trent Richardson so high a couple years back….
I’ll pass on more Clemson trash.
Their biggest claim to fame in the NFL right now is CJ Spiller. Meh.
April 6th, 2014 at 7:54 am
There is an almost zero chance we trade up for a wide receiver this draft. Any move we make to trade up will almost certaintly involve a next year’s 1st or 2nd and if our QB situation this year does not work out and our record puts us in any draft position below 3, we will need that ammo to move up next year.
April 6th, 2014 at 9:09 am
The Bucs will not trade up unless some team is willing to take practically nothing (our first and a sixth or seventh). And I truly doubt that the Bucs will even ask.
They will, however, entertain offers for moving down in the first and/or second round. It won’t matter who ‘falls’ to them, they are not going to take a QB with the #7. Several people, in here, keeping harping on the fact that “Lovie doesn’t draft WRs in the first round”. Well, apparently, that goes for QBs also. And since there is no ‘franchise’ quality QB in this years’ draft, AND Licht is all about ‘value’…
April 6th, 2014 at 9:30 am
Oh for God’s sake! Does anyone listen to Lovie Smith? He has already said you “build a team from the front to the back.”
The way I interpret that statement and the moves the Bucs have already made in Free Agency is that Tampa will likely draft either an offensive or defensive lineman with the #7 pick.
To put it even more simply, take any quarterback you care to pick out, put him behind a weak offensive line and all you have is a man on the run. And, no one not Fran Tarkenton, who invented the notion of a “scrambling quarterback,” or Joe’s second coming in Johnny Football and expect to get much done.
Look for the Bucs to grab a blue chip offensive or defensive lineman at #7. Or, Tampa might trade down for a later first round pick to grab a “light blue chip” offensive or defensive lineman plus a later round pick they’ll use to cull the long list of wide receivers in this draft.
April 6th, 2014 at 9:41 am
That last post from Hawk made a lot of sense, l felt like I wrote it.lol The Bucs will prob take a QB in this draft but I doubt it will be at #7 cause no QB in this draft is worth taking that high. If they end up taking a QB in the 1st RD, it will be due to trading down from #7 or trading up from the 2nd RD to the bottom of the first.
April 6th, 2014 at 9:53 am
I like the above comparison of Johnny toTarkenton, because that’s who he most reminds me of. A smallish QB that scrambles around like crazy. Fran got away with that in the 70’s and was very successful but NFL players are much bigger and faster now. Johnny won’t last 3 years running around like that in today’s NFL.
April 6th, 2014 at 10:24 am
I like Brandin Cooks at #7 if Watkins is off the board. I also like trading up to get Watkins as long as we don’t give up the farm. I like the idea of trading down as there may be a player that another team really wants. By trading down we get a good player that they have targeted plus another good player or two. The possibilities are endless, can’t wait to see how this pans out!!! 🙂
April 6th, 2014 at 10:29 am
This is a no brainer… We should trade up and grab Sammy Watkins which is the type of player this franchise has never seen before… Sure looks like the next Julio jones.. Speaking of Julio, atl made a bold trade up to grab him when he was drafted and it worked out pretty well so far.. I can’t see us passing up on that opportunity to trade up to 2 and grab a game changer that we really need… Let’s see how it unfolds…..
April 6th, 2014 at 10:39 am
The rams will stay put and draft Manziel. Why not, Bradford sucks.
April 6th, 2014 at 11:37 am
Trade down and grab Brandin Cooks
April 6th, 2014 at 11:38 am
JWBucs Says:
April 6th, 2014 at 9:53 am
“I like the above comparison of Johnny toTarkenton, because that’s who he most reminds me of. A smallish QB that scrambles around like crazy. Fran got away with that in the 70′s and was very successful but NFL players are much bigger and faster now. Johnny won’t last 3 years running around like that in today’s NFL.”
WTF…I’ve watched many 70’s football highlights and it’s the other way around. Manziel would not last a full season in the 70’s. He’d get broken in half.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
RJBucnut Says
“Hey BuccaneerBonzai in case u haven’t heard we do not have a no 2 reciever a no 3 reciever nor do we hv any depth at WR. We have to pluck 2 starters out of this draft.“
That’s where you are mistaken. We can draft one in the 2nd round and rely on others for that #3 spot. Don’t forget, the Bucs have two pass catching tight ends that can work the slot in a pinch. Wright actually IS a WR.
I’m not saying the Bucs will not draft two WRs, I’m just saying they do not have to.
They can sort through the UDFA for a couple potential 3rds while using the TEs to easy pressure.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
@RJBucnut
Also, it doesn’t really matter what we think they SHOULD do. It matters what they actually do.
And I’m predicting they will not go after a WR in the first round. You can argue if I’m right or wrong, but there’s really not point to it, since you really will not know I’m right until the first round happens.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Rick in Ft. Myers Says
“Oh for God’s sake! Does anyone listen to Lovie Smith? He has already said you “build a team from the front to the back.”
The way I interpret that statement and the moves the Bucs have already made in Free Agency is that Tampa will likely draft either an offensive or defensive lineman with the #7 pick. “
It won’t be a defensive lineman unless Clowney falls to us, maybe not even then. I don’t think Lovie has given up on Clayborn and Gholston. I think the two are going to fight for that second starting DE spot.
Michael Johnson starts on the other side and the DTs are set. I also wouldn’t rule out Greg Spence as working his way back up to a starting role over the next couple years.
So it won’t be defensive line. I DO think there is a solid chance for oline, but every time Lovie drafted oline they were busts, so that scares me a tiny bit.
Still, teams that have the best olines have them because they drafted in the first round usually.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
I would be happy standing pat and taking oline if one falls to us, or QB if there is no oline.
I still think Joe is wrong about Johnny. I think the target is Carr.
April 6th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Sorry, I meant Akeem Spence (don’t know where my head is,lol)
April 6th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Do you want to be the Detroit Lions? A great WR does not a great team make.
How many of the top 10 did those NFL guys get right LAST year? The answer if I recall correctly, is 1.
April 6th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Hell yeah this’ll be just like when the lions drafted Calvin Johnson and won all those superbowls!
April 6th, 2014 at 10:06 pm
that is why we need watkins and not evans 🙂
or manziel, of course.
April 6th, 2014 at 11:02 pm
Buc1987
LOL all highlights look good. In the 70’s there wasn’t a single 300 lb player in the league. D-lineman went 250 to 270, LB’ s 200 to 220 and they weren’t nearly as fast as today’s players. Our own DE HOF’er Lee Roy Selmon who was listed at 263 lbs, actually played at about 245 lbs.
April 7th, 2014 at 12:28 am
Any QB drafted in the 1st rd is going to need time to develop… same can be said for those in later rounds. Why obsess over reaching for a QB when there will be so many starting quality players available at other positions.
Drafting per need as opposed to best available gets you in trouble Joe…
April 7th, 2014 at 2:15 am
and it is your opinion who the best available is.
April 7th, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Maybe trading down and picking up Carr?
April 7th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
it’s Aaron Donald. Don’t screw this up Lovie