2021 NFL Mock Draft: Bears trade into top 10, Washington Football Team goes offense

The Buccaneers have basically already brought the whole gang back for a second go at the Super Bowl. The only notable free agent left unsigned from last year’s team is Antonio Brown.

With that said, the team should be in full-blown best player available mode here. There are a few options you could argue for here, but if the Bucs want someone with upside that could also play a role for them this year, Rousseau is a nice pick.

Rousseau sat out the 2020 season amid the pandemic but in his last full season for Miami, he racked up a ridiculous 15.5 sacks. So, why did he fall this far? A couple of reasons. First, he’s inexperienced. Second, when looking at the tape, Rousseau tends to win with his 6-foot-7 frame a lot, but he doesn’t have an impressive array of moves at the line of scrimmage.

With good coaching, Rousseau should have a chance to emerge as a potential contributor. You can’t teach height or athletic talent, and Rousseau definitely has that. The Bucs can afford to take him based on those traits and have him develop behind Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul as a rotational edge rusher.

Perhaps when JPP is ready to call it quits, Rousseau will be ready to step into a starting job. His size and length would pair well with the smaller Barrett and would give Tampa multiple ways to win on the edge.

The Bucs could also add offensive line talent here and they could even consider drafting a quarterback to develop behind Tom Brady, though that seems highly unlikely at this stage in the draft. For the Bucs, it’s nice not to have pressure. They can let the draft come to them and make the move that best suits them as they fight for another Super Bowl title.

This is just one way the draft could shake out on Thursday. There will surely be plenty of changes to these picks amid the rumors that will come out in the coming days.