See Who Daniel Jeremiah Has Buccaneers Selecting in Mock Draft 1.0

Daniel Jeremiah has the Buccaneers' adding a talented defensive back in his first mock draft of the year.

It's that time of the year again. 

The time when most NFL fanbases shift their focus away from the disappointment of the season that was, and towards the hope that exists for the future.

Sure, it's the Divisional Playoff round for some, but for most franchises, It's draft season.

And for Bucs fans in particular, it's a welcomed distraction from the uncertainty revolving around their coaching staff, free agents, and more specifically, their quarterback. 

This will be the first year the Buccaneers have a selection in the top 20 of the draft since 2020 when the Bucs moved up one spot to select Tristan Wirfs out of Iowa.

READ MORE: Report: Buccaneers' Players Suspect Tom Brady Has Made Decision in Tampa Bay

Daniel Jeremiah is the top draft expert for NFL.com and the NFL Network. Before that, he was a former college scout, having spent the majority of his time in the NFL working for the Baltimore Ravens, under legendary GM, Ozzie Newsome. He also spent time scouting for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns. 

Despite making the switch from an NFL organization to the NFL media, two things are clear: 1) Daniel Jeremiah loves scouting college football players, and 2) He is very good at identifying, evaluating, and then categorizing talent, before articulating his observations in an informative and engaging manner. 

I say all this not to imply that whoever Jeremiah has the Bucs' selecting in his first mock draft of 2023 is likely to come to fruition, but more to lend credibility to the players he has being selected in the first round, and the general area within the round he has them going off the board.

Jeremiah recently released his first mock draft of the year, and with several positions of need on the Bucs roster — one that is expected to see some significant changes before the start of next season — it's anyone's guess which position Jason Licht will opt to address with his first selection. 

.@MoveTheSticks' mock draft 1.0!

Four quarterbacks go in Round 1 -- including three in the top 10. https://t.co/o1V8siNRhC pic.twitter.com/nNEB6tbVha

— NFL Draft (@NFLDraft) January 20, 2023

In this first installment, Jeremiah has the Bucs selecting a long, talented defensive back from the SEC. The player is Emmanuel Forbes, a Junior cornerback coming out of Mississippi State, and here's what Jeremiah had to say:

"Forbes (6-0, 180) is a slender, playmaking cornerback prospect who notched three pick-sixes this past fall. He reminds me of a player I was around in Baltimore: Samari Rolle." 

When you turn on the tape, Forbes' length and instincts jump out. As Jeremiah mentioned in his blurb, three pick-sixes on the season is ridiculous. It's also an area that Todd Bowles covets, as generating turnovers (and turning them into points) is meant to be a staple of his defensive philosophy.

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Throw in the fact that we know Jason Licht loves corners with length, and that both Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting are entering free agency for the first time, and there's no doubt that the player and position could offer a lot of appeal to the Buccaneers.

We're very early in the process though. And we'll be covering a lot of different players, and position groups here at Bucs Gameday, all of whom could be in play for the Buccaneers by the time the draft comes around. 

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Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2023 offseason.

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