Among the continually expanding NFL draft community, Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network remains firmly entrenched as the top dog.
Jeremiah’s pedigree as a former NFL scout is one thing, but he’s also extremely well connected with current NFL scouts and front office executives, which often gives him a perspective that other draft prognosticators are simply not privy to.
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In Jeremiah’s first mock draft of the year, he had the Buccaneers selecting Alabama’s talented inside linebacker, Jihaad Campbell, a selection we’ve seen circulating within the mock draft realm quite regularly. On Tuesday, though, Jeremiah linked the Bucs to a different player when he released his second mock of the 2025 draft cycle.
In his second go around, Jeremiah has the Bucs ignoring the defensive side of the ball completely — which is where the vast majority of their biggest needs are — in order to select the most talented wide receiver prospect in the class in Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan.
McMillan is a dominant receiver with elite ball skills and great size listed at 6’5″ and 212 pounds, reminiscent in many ways of the Buccaneers’ greatest offensive weapon, Mike Evans. McMillan eviscerated collegiate defenses for the Wildcats each of the past three seasons, hauling in 213 catches for nearly 3,500 receiving yards and 26 TDs.
Many fans in Tampa Bay are likely scratching their heads at the notion their GM Jason Licht would even consider using his first-round pick on a wide receiver when he already has Evans (and hopefully Chris Godwin) still on the roster — in addition to so many pressing needs on the other side of the ball. That said, Tetairoa McMillan has the potential to be drafted as high as sixth overall, and the value of adding a blue-chip prospect in the second half of the first round doesn’t come around very often.
If he were to slide all the way to 19, it would be silly to bypass on a game-breaking talent like McMillan simply because it doesn’t align perfectly with your biggest positional needs.
Here’s what Jeremiah had to say about the selection: “McMillan could go earlier in Round 1, but Tampa Bay would be a perfect landing spot. Chris Godwin is due to become a free agent, and Mike Evans can’t play forever, can he?”
Despite the lack of positional need for the Buccaneers, adding a receiver as talented as Tetairoa McMillan to play alongside Mike Evans, and potentially Chris Godwin, is a tantalizing concept. Not to mention, the Bucs still own five other picks that could be used to address other needs on the roster.
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