2015 NFL Draft: Pick By Pick Mock With Tampa Bay Buccaneers At No. 4

By Rick Stavig @rickstavig on October 29, 2014

In the latest pick-by-pick mock draft of the 2015 NFL Draft, three players are off the board. The Oakland Raiders took Leonard Williams (DE/DT, Southern Cal) first, the New York Jets took Marcus Mariota (QB, Oregon) second and the Jacksonville Jaguars picked Cedric Ogbuehi (OT, Texas A&M) third. With the fourth pick of the draft, who do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select?

Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama.

If you go look at pretty much any other mock out there, nine times out of ten you’ll see the Bucs projected to take a QB. I can’t say that’s a wild idea or that I necessarily disagree. This franchise is clearly pointing in a direction of a total rebuild and were looking to dump numerous high priced vets at the trade deadline. Naturally, in a rebuild like this, you tend to start with a QB; a new face of the franchise moving forward.

Call me crazy, but I’m not ready to give up on incumbent starter Mike Glennon. It’s only his second year and the numbers he’s put up aren’t that bad. In 18 starts he’s thrown for 3,765 yards to go along with a solid 27/13 TD to INT ratio and a QB rating of 84.3. And don’t forget he’s in his third different offense in the last three years. He absolutely needs to improve his accuracy but he’s got good size (6-foot 6, 225-pounds), good arm strength and can make all the throws necessary.

No, I haven’t forgotten the Bucs just drafted two wide receivers this past May in Mike Evans (7th overall) and Robert Herron (185th), and that both have shown glimpses of a talented future, particularly the former. Plus there’s star WR Vincent Jackson who’s caught 150 balls for 2,608 yards and 15 TD’s the past two years.

Still, Jackson will be 32 by season’s end and is due to make just a tad under $10 million dollars in both ’15 and ’16, and the Bucs were not-so-subtly shopping him at the deadline. There’s a very good chance he’s not on this team next year, and the jury is still out on whether Herron can turn into the legitimate deep threat that the Bucs need him to be. Evans is the only sure thing in the receiving corps moving forward.

Cooper is a tremendous talent. He’s got good size (6-foot 1, 205-pounds) and speed (projected 4.4), but plays much faster than that on the field. He’s a good route runner who can beat press off the line and get good separation. He’s got reliable hands and reads coverages well to find the soft spots. He has good burst and acceleration, and tracks the deep balls very well. To boot he’s a good kid and hard worker. Lot to like here.

Cooper and Evans on the outside moving forward? They can make darn near any QB look good, especially one with as much raw arm talent as Glennon. Even if they keep Jackson for another year (which would be a major surprise), Cooper can play the slot and give the Bucs one of the most talented front line receiving units in the NFL.

Rick Stavig is an NFL Draft Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickstavig or add him to your network on Google+.