OPINION

This past week, the NFL draft was conducted in the windy city of Chicago, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the process of rebuilding a fading franchise in need of some fresh talent.

After last year’s dismal 2-14 record, the Bucs had a plethora of holes to fill including offensive line, running back, defensive line and of course quarterback. With the number one overall pick, the Bucs had two choices to take at quarterback, Marcus Mariota from Oregon and Jameis Winston from Florida State. After months of back and forth, General Manager Jason Licht and Coach Lovie Smith selected Winston in what was the most anti-climactic pick in history.

AP government teacher Mr. Righter disagreed with their choice.  “I would’ve still picked Mariota over Winston,” said Mr. Righter. “I believe that Jameis’ off the field issues are just too much of a risk.”
A poll of 60 students at OHS showed that most disagree.  Jameis ended up pulling ahead as he gathered 39 votes and Marcus got 21 votes.

After picking Winston, the Bucs went on to select two offensive linemen in order to give Jameis some extra protection. They picked left tackle Donovan Smith from Penn State and Guard Ali Marpet from Hobart. Marpet appears to have very good intangibles as he scored above a 30 on the wonder lick test, had a 30 inch vertical, did 30 reps on the bench and ran a 4.98 40 yard dash. That’s 0.01 seconds behind Winston’s which was a 4.97. Marpet seems to have some promise but coming from a division III school, Marpet will have more ground to cover than fellow lineman Donovan Smith. Smith seems to have potential as well but will have a tall task as Smith will be probably starting at left tackle to start his career. Either this move will work out great for the Bucs or, will just add another hole to the sinking ship.
In the fourth round the Bucs selected outside linebacker Kwon Alexander from LSU. While not their biggest need, Kwon did collect 90 total tackles (40 solo and 50 assisted) last season and he does add some depth at a crucial position.
In the fifth and sixth round the Bucs picked wide receivers Kenny Bell from Nebraska and Kaelin Clay from Utah. Kenny Bell has posted four solid seasons at Nebraska starting during his freshman year when he gathered 461 yards on 32 catches and 3 touchdowns. Kaelin Clay was drafted for his special team prowess as he returned 3 punts for touchdowns and also returned a kickoff. The Buccaneers are in desperate need of a solid return man so Clay seems to be the answer to that problem.

To cap off the 2015 draft the Bucs selected a fullback out of Hawaii Joey Iosefa in the seventh round. Don’t get too excited about this pick as Iosefa will probably be limited to special teams unless he beats out current fullback Jorvorskie Lane.

Overall, the Bucs did address the quarterback and offensive line issues; however, running back is still a need especially after Doug Martin’s 5th year option was not picked up. Perhaps we will see Martin or one of the other backs to step up or Jameis will have to do all the heavy lifting himself.