National Football League

Buccaneers Select David Njoku in New Bleacher Report Mock Draft

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:18 a.m. ET

Fansided, Alan Schechter/FanSided via The Pewter Plank

Is Matt Miller’s selection of David Njoku for the Buccaneers in his recent mock draft a good choice?

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What are the Buccaneers going to do with that number 19 selection? Let the speculation run wild and free. It’s that time of the year when the mock drafts come from every expert on the map.

Hey, we have to figure out how to spend the time between now and next fall somehow! So, we speculate about the future.

Jason Licht and his team are already busily preparing for the draft. No team heads to the Combine without a plan of action, so they are already watching film, reviewing numbers, and everything else it takes to decide who might just be the feature stars in Tampa Bay.

This afternoon, we take a look at another mock draft. This time, it’s the most recent one from draft expert Matt Miller from Bleacher Report.

In this edition, Miller has the Bucs selecting a tight end, but it’s not O.J. Howard, who went one pick before the Bucs. It’s David Njoku from the University of Miami. Here is what Miller had to say:

Cameron Brate has been a fine player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s not David Njoku, though.

The Tampa offense is poised to break out very soon, and one way to ensure that happens is by surrounding Jameis Winston with athletic freaks like Mike Evans at wide receiver and Njoku at tight end. Want to keep safeties from bracketing Evans over the top? Put this monster at tight end and let him attack the seams all day.

Njoku isn’t the biggest need pick for Tampa Bay, but this is the type of selection that can make a good offense a great one. With his run-after-catch skills, box-out size and what he brings to the table as a run- blocker, Njoku has a great chance to rank as a top-15 player from now until draft day.

Take a look at his entire mock by clicking here.

So what do we think of this guy? Let’s start by looking at his stats:

		Receiving	Rushing	Scrimmage
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Plays	Yds	Avg	TD
*2015	Miami (FL)	ACC	FR	WR	10	21	362	17.2	1	0	0		0	21	362	17.2	1
2016	Miami (FL)	ACC	JR	TE	12	43	698	16.2	8	0	0		0	43	698	16.2	8
Career	Miami (FL)					64	1060	16.6	9	0	0		0	64	1060	16.6	9

Might he have been well-served to play out his senior year? Sure. The experience is always good. But this is clearly a player that came on when he was moved to the tight end position.

Our friends at With the First Pick had this to say about the Miami TE:

He is highly effective working down the field thanks to his size and speed. Njoku is able to outpace defenders as he attacks the seam. His body control and awareness helps him adjust to the football and get in proper position.

He is also known as a willing blocker, which is quite advantageous to a team that will always establish the run. At 6’4″, his size makes him ideal for the position, both as a receiver and as a blocker.

Enough talk, let’s look at some tape:

This guy does a little bit of everything. It’s not that he is a willing blocker, it’s that he knows how to use his body effectively. He is able to use his strength to get the opponent moving in the direction he needs him to. That’s an asset for any tight end, because most of them that can catch the football are not interested in blocking. This guy is.

Catching the football? He is obviously a threat. He can get down the seam and clearly take some eyes away from Mike Evans. Imagine this tree in the red zone, along with Evans? The offense will be hard to stop, guaranteed. He catches the ball with his hands and he can make people miss.

The bottom line is that Njoku would be an excellent choice at this spot. Especially in Miller’s scenario, since Howard is gone, but in any scenario as well. The Bucs could do a lot worse than taking David Njoku.

What do you think?