With the trade of Mike Williams to the Buffalo Bills, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seem more likely than ever to target a wide receiver with the No. 7 pick in the first round.
Tampa Bay had the league's most anemic passing game as it was last season, and outside of Vincent Jackson, they now have no proven wide receivers on their roster.
Clemson's Sammy Watkins and Texas A&M's Mike Evans are the top two wide receivers in the draft, but Watkins seems likely to be gone when the Bucs make their first selection unless they trade up. Taking Evans at No. 7 might be a tad high, but he definitely has the measurables: At 6-foot-4 3/4 and 231 pounds, he ran a 4.53 40 at February's NFL Scouting Combine. Pairing him with Jackson (6-5, 230) would give the Bucs one of the league's most physically imposing wide-receiver duos.
In addition, Jackson, 31, could serve as a mentor to Evans and show him how to be a go-to receiver. In that scenario, Evans, who needs time to become a more well-rounded receiver, would take over for Jackson as the No. 1 guy in two or three seasons.
The Bucs signed free-agent Josh McCown to be their starting quarterback, and McCown worked well with two big receivers in Chicago last season in Brandon Marshall (6-4, 230) and Alshon Jeffery (6-3, 216).
Picking up a receiver or two in later rounds also makes sense for Tampa Bay. This is a deep draft for the position, and new coach Lovie Smith should be able to find talented prospects who could play as rookies in the middle rounds.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
