The 500-piece puzzle that is the NFL Draft is starting to come together and create a clearer picture the closer we get to the end of April. A huge chunk of the puzzle was completed when the NFL Scouting Combine took place this past week in Indianapolis.
NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah, who is the Network's senior draft analyst and former NFL scout himself, was on hand all week and in the booth with Rich Eisen for drills this past weekend. After seeing how well prospects tested on the field and getting to know them through interviews and media availability, Jeremiah has released his second mock draft of 2020 with perhaps more educated guesses on where each team's priorities lie and which prospects could potentially help them.
For the Bucs, though much has been made about their need along the offensive line, Jeremiah has Tampa Bay taking LSU's K'Lavon Chaisson, an edge rusher, with their 14th overall pick.
"The Bucs need to work out the contract situation with Shaq Barrett, who is headed for free agency after posting 19.5 sacks in 2019, but adding more punch on the defensive line would make sense no matter what happens," writes Jeremiah.
It could potentially have something to do with the fact that all of the 'Big Four' offensive line prospects are gone in the top 10. Or, it could have to do with ho wmuch Chaisson impressed this past week.
Regardless of why, the Bucs would do well to add Chaisson to their front seven. Free agency has yet to hit and so the Bucs don't currently know the state of their current front seven, with so many defenders as impending free agents, including Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh. It could be expensive to keep all three. And an economical solution to it could be to add an edge rusher or even interior defender in the draft.
Then again, it's always good to add a pass rusher, period. Teams can't (and shouldn't) get enough.
Chaisson's Combine really upped his stock because the film on him is limited. He is coming out of LSU as a redshirt sophomore after his team won the National Championship, which all makes sense. But he tore his ACL in the first game of his second season with the team giving him really only has one season of quality starts under his belt from 2019 – but that seems to be enough. He further impressed last week in Indianapolis by acknowledging all of this and saying that for as good of a player as he was last year, he's nowhere near his ceiling. For all you need to know on Chaisson's stats, click on our Prospect Primer.
