Imagine a loaded Buccaneers offense with…Jonathan Taylor at running back. It could have been a possibility, as the Buccaneers had their eye on the Wisconsin product during the 2020 draft, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Bucs were armed with the No. 14 heading into that draft, and Taylor was on the “short list” of players the organization was considering with that selection. The team ended up with their preferred prospect, offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, and they traded up to No. 13 to make sure they got the lineman. However, if Wirfs was off the board at that point in the draft, then Tampa Bay likely would have pivoted to Taylor, who didn’t hear his name come off the board until midway through the second round.
“I loved him,” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said recently (via Schefter). “He could do it all, and it was just a matter of time — playing behind that offensive line — that he was going to be the force that he is.”
Taylor has obviously had a standout season with the Colts, leading the league with 1,348 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns (naturally, he’s also leading the NFL with 1,684 yards from scrimmage and 18 total scores). Of course, things have worked out fine for the Buccaneers. Wirfs has started all 28 of his career games, while the duo of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones were more than capable during Tampa Bay’s 2020 Super Bowl run.
Some more notes out of the NFC…
- Sam Darnold seems to be out of the picture in Carolina, but the Panthers still owe the quarterback $18.8MM in guaranteed money in 2022. The team already paid Denver $7MM to inherit Teddy Bridgewater, leaving the organization with $17MM in dead cap. As a result, Joseph Person of The Athletic believes Darnold will stick around as a high-priced backup vs. being involved in a salary dump. Person specifically cites a 2017 trade where the Texans attached a second-round pick to Brock Osweiler to dump his salary on Cleveland; league sources tell the reporter that “an Osweiler-type trade involving Darnold is unlikely.”
- Cowboys senior defensive assistant George Edwards is a candidate for the head coaching job at his alma mater, Duke University, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). Edwards was a four-year player for Duke, and he served as an assistant on the Duke staff way back in 1996. He’s had a long coaching career since that time, including a recent six-year stint as the Vikings defensive coordinator. Edwards has been a senior defensive assistant with the Cowboys since 2020. Duke parted ways with David Cutcliffe last month.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com recently tweeted the 10 highest salary cap hits for 2022, and the top three spots all belong to the NFC. Falcons QB Matt Ryan and his $48.7MM cap hit leads the way, following by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers at $46.1MM and Vikings QB Kirk Cousins at $45MM. Other NFC players on the list include Seahawks QB Russell Wilson (sixth, $37MM), Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (ninth, $34.5MM), and Lions QB Jared Goff (10th, $31.2MM).
18.8MM is a lot of guaranteed money to a QB who’s career is probably over.
Ask the Eagles who are paying 34 million for Wentz to play for the Colts. These guys are the reason big contracts for QBs will be done. Kills depth on every team. KC isn’t the same since Mahomes signed his
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Well, Wirfs is pretty darn good so the Bucs got a good value for that pick as is. Nothing against Taylor of course, who’s been great, just pointing that out. And Fournette has been pretty good as well, especially for a midseason free agent signing last year. The Bucs may have been better, but they ended up pretty good with those two as well.
Why didn’t the Bucs trade up in the 2nd round to snag him if they were so in love with Taylor and considered taking him with pick 14 in 1st.. sounds like we were in love with a bunch of players in the first few rounds
Yeah, it sounds like, if they liked him as much as they say they did, and if the Bucs had a mid 1st Round grade on him that they certainly WOULD HAVE traded up for him in the second..
However, even with that being the case, we don’t really know whether they did or didn’t try to trade up for him in the 2nd Round. It’s very possible they in fact did try to get him in the second, but teams were either unwilling to deal, or they probably put too high a price tag on those picks considering the perceived overall depth of high end talent in last years draft.