ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay published his post-Super Bowl mock draft on Wednesday and, surprisingly, there weren’t many surprises baked into it. Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal is the No. 1 pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is something of a prevailing narrative right now, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton comes off the board at No. 3 overall to the Houston Texans, which as I mentioned a few days ago,will become a more consistent trend as we march toward April, and the first quarterback drafted is Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, whose name is called by the Washington Commanders at No. 11 overall.
But what about this year’s most dynamic downfield wide receiver, Alabama’s Jameson Williams? After tearing his ACL in the national championship game, there’ve been rumblings that he could tumble out of the first round and become the premier selection at the top round two.
Not so fast… at least, not according to McShay, who has Williams as the 27th overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“The Buccaneers used a second-rounder on Kyle Trask last year, so they already have a hope-we-can-develop-him young passer in the mix,” McShay wrote. “Instead, I’m looking at Williams, who is probably the most talented receiver in the class. He is coming off a torn ACL and will likely miss part of the season, but he’s big-play receiver with elite speed and shiftiness as a ball carrier. He piled up 1,572 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in 2021. Antonio Brown is gone, Chris Godwin is a pending free agent and Rob Gronkowski could re-retire. The Buccaneers will make a move to re-sign Godwin, but even if they do, Williams is a game-breaker Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich would love to scheme up.”