The 2017 NFL Draft was loaded with superstars ranging in all positions. This draft class included offensive superstars such as Christian Mcafferey, George Kittle, and Chris Godwin; but, also includes defensive pro-bowlers in Jamal Adams, Myles Garrett, and Tre’Davious White.

This re-draft will include all draft day trades. Plus, not all selections were based on skill: it depends on replicability at the position. For example, if this re-draft was purely based on skill, then close to half of the top ten picks would have been a runningback.

Now that the perameters have been set, let us re-draft:

1: Cleveland Browns: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech

After being benched behind Alex Smith in his rookie season, Patrick Mahomes has played two star seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs. In this timespan, Mahomes has won the NFL’s MVP award, and most recently a Super Bowl victory, to name a few of Mahomes’ many achievements. The Chiefs made what will eventually be considered as the best move in their franchise’s history by trading to the 10th pick for Mahomes, nabbing the best player in the NFL. However, in this re-draft, the Browns decide to pick Mahomes instead of star defensive end Myles Garrett.

2: Chicago Bears: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M

While Garrett’s season was cut short due to his incident involving Mason Rudolph in a regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, let that not undercut Garrett’s talent. Garrett was more than well-deserving of the first-overall pick, but having the generational talent in Mahomes forces Garrett to move down a spot. The only reason I do not have Deshaun Watson landing here is because I think the Bears stick with Mike Glennon after signing him to a ridiculously large deal that offseason.

3: San Fransisco 49ers: George Kittle, TE, Iowa

While we all like to think of the Niners defense as formidable, it was not thanks to the likes of Soloman Thomas. But, that does not mean the Niners did this draft wrong, as they selected George Kittle in the fifth round. In this redraft, the Niners decide to select Kittle with their first round pick, and wait until the later rounds before even considering Thomas. Kittle has been an unstoppable force ever since being drafted into the league. At this point in time, the Niners have many holes, including quarterback, but they wait to get a quarterback until trading for Jimmy Garropolo. Kittle provides their team a dynamic blocker as well as a receiving threat that will scare defenses for weeks to come.

4: Jacksonville Jaguars: Christian Mccaffrey, HB, Stanford

The Jaguars initially selected Leanard Fournette at this spot. While I think this was a great fit, I believe that the Jaguars could have gone with a better running back. With uncertainty with Blake Bortles at quarterback, Mccaffrey will be playing in a nearly identical situation to the one he is currently in with the Panthers. Overall, CMC is a much better fit with this squad then Fournette is.

5: Tennessee Titans: T.J. Watt, EDGE, Wisconsin

Watt has improved in every season he has played, and has become a Defensive Player of the Year candidate with the Steelers. The Titans went with Corey Davis with this pick, which proved to be bust-worthy, especially now that they have a run-dominated offense with Derrick Henry. The Titans in this redraft go with defense, deciding between Jamal Adams and Watt. They eventually go with Watt, showing that they are confident in their safety group that is lead by Kevin Byard.

6: New York Jets: Jamal Adams, S, LSU

It is not often that in a redraft, a team goes with the same guy they went with in the actual draft. Even though there is uncertainty in his future with the Jets this offseason, the smart move is to keep their pick with Adams going at 6.

7: Los Angeles Chargers: Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State

While this may seem as a surprise to many, I think that the Chargers picking Godwin would be perfect. They initially went with Mike Williams, who they had hoped would provide Philip Rivers with a solid WR2 option. This would have spread the field more, allowing their star WR Keenan Allen and TE Hunter Henry to have more open space, creating more big plays. Williams has been a good pick, posting solid numbers when healthy. But, in comparison to Godwin’s breakout season, Williams stands no match. Chargers stick with a wideout here.

8: Carolina Panthers: Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama

Ever since the departure of Josh Norman and the rest of the core 15-1 Panther squad, the defense has been lacking in overall talent in exception to newly retired LB Luke Kuechly. This class features many great cornerbacks, including Tre’Davious White, and Marshon Lattimore. But, I am going with Humphrey. Since 2017, Humphrey has been hawking every pass thrown to him down, breaking up 47 passes, ranking fourth since he was drafted into the league.

9: Cincinnati Bengals: Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU

Like I mentioned in the previous selection, this class is loaded with studs at cornerback. The Bengals in the actual draft went with John Ross, going for a speedy wideout to be opposite to AJ Green. Ross has been plagued with injuries, making him not worthy of this selection. The Bengals secondary has been abysmal at best, so they take Pro-Bowl cornerback White at this pick. However, this Bengals team is still far from where they have to be, and even with the selection of White, I would still see the Bengals winding up with the first pick in tomorrow’s draft.

10: Kansas City Chiefs: Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson

Those that are reading this, I know you are confused. The Chiefs trading to this pick for the fundamental purpose of drafting Patrick Mahomes. That is true. But, they still believe that they have their guy in Watson. While Watson might not be at the same level as Mahomes, Watson would play perfect to this speedy team. Andy Reid would style a playbook that would revolve lots of play-action, screens to both running backs and wide receivers, and QB runs, similar to the current Chiefs playbook. In my mind, this would be a no-brainer trade the Chiefs make to pick Watson.

With this, let me speak about a couple of players who would be worth selecting in this upcoming draft:

Grant Delpit (S, LSU): 

One of the main reasons LSU was able to receive a playoff spot and win the National Championship was due to the way their defense was performing, particularly the secondary. After drafting LB Devin White only a year prior from the same exact defense, selecting Grant Delpit would not only be good for chemistry but would also allow for the Bucs to improve their secondary, which was clearly a major problem, especially in the first half of the season. Although the Bucs’ have recently spent many of their draft picks attempting to improve this struggling secondary, there were moments where it began to come together, especially in the second half of the season,  when the Bucs did not give up hope and strived for a winning record after two heartbreaking 5-11 seasons. Although this fell short, the Bucs were able to land the 14th pick, and selecting Grant Delpit from LSU would be a perfect fit, as he provides almost everything the Buccaneers need in a safety, adding to a quickly developing and improving secondary. Anyways, if you feel the Bucs have spent too many picks on the secondary, remember, “Money solves all your problems”, or in this case, draft picks… 

AJ Dillon (RB, Boston College)

Yes, I realize, this upcoming draft has more well-known running backs than Dillon such as Jon Taylor and JK Dobbins, but waiting until the 3rd or 4th round and picking Dillon up is honestly something that could and definitely should happen. If it wasn’t clear, the Bucs have not been doing too hot on the ground, especially after Doug Martin fell out of his prime, and we eventually parted ways with him. With this, the Bucs transformed into one of the most deadly passing offenses, nearly airing it out on every other play, however after a 30 INT season from Jameis, we should have come to realize that this team needs a rushing game just as much as it needed a new Quarterback. With that in mind, Dillon can be the next explosive running back in the NFL. Remember Marshawn Lynch in his prime? If you watched Dillon’s highlights, you’d probably make the comparison for yourself, but the kid is not only a hard and powerful runner, he also has the ability to break out and burn everybody on the defense. In 3 seasons, Dillon rushed for over a thousand yards every year and totaled over four thousand yards in his NCAA career. This past season he led the AAC in total rushing yards and is currently 4th on the AAC leaderboard for career rushing yards. I honestly recommend that you search up some of his highlights because the way he runs is extremely impressive. It may sound like I’m hyping him up, but he can really be the next Beast Mode. 

Devin Duvernay (WR, Texas):

Okay, just relax and hear me out on this one. I know what you’re all thinking right now: “We have the top receiving duo in the league, why would we possibly need another wide receiver!?”, but the answer is simple. We. Need. To. Build. Around. Brady. Having the Greatest Quarterback of all-time is great and all, but it won’t be used effectively unless we build around Brady and get him as many weapons as possible. Duvernay operates as a perfect slot receiver, and in his entire career at Texas, he dropped only five passes from  240+ targets. After you do the math, you see that Duvernay is hands down one of the most efficient receivers in college football and the fact that he can fall into our lap with a late-round draft pick makes the possibility that much more likely. Duvernay has blazing speed, making it clear with his 4.4-second forty-yard dash. Along with this, he has amazing awareness, hands, depth-perception, you name it, he has it all and can prove to be a crucial weapon to our already high-powered offense. Brady will have the option to throw a short pass and watch the rookie break free and take it the distance, or can just as easily drop back and launch it downfield to a wide-open Duvernay flying down the field. Either way, it’s a win-win situation, and it’s definitely worth noting when draft day comes around. 

With that, you have come to the end of my prospect report, and I have to leave you with this: No matter who the Bucs decide to draft this year, we will have almost everything we need to become a high-powered team for the next five to ten years. Signing Tom Brady is obviously a very special moment to almost all of us as fans, but it is also one of the biggest moments in Buccaneers’ history, and nailing this draft will allow us to become a playoff team for many years to come. So, remember Bucs’ fans, Raise the Flags!