INDIANAPOLIS — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith says his team has big needs at nearly every position. But he believes a franchise quarterback will be available with the No. 7 overall pick. If so, don’t be surprised if they select a quarterback in the first round.
“I know enough about that draft to know, yeah, there’s someone that would be worthy of the seventh pick because everything is on the board right now,” Smith said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “Whenever you have a chance to get a franchise quarterback, you have to consider that.”
Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Central Florida’s Blake Bortles and Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater are expected to be among the top 10 players selected in the 2014 draft, according to many experts, perhaps in the top five. Fresno State’s Derek Carr, who was impressive in the Senior Bowl and will throw Saturday at the combine, could elevate himself to a high first-round pick with a good workout.
The Bucs have only two quarterbacks under contract: Returning starter Mike Glennon and former Northwestern University and Eagles quarterback Mike Kafka.
Glennon, who was named to the All-Rookie team after throwing 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 59.4 percent of his passes last season, has been a fixture at One Buc Place this offseason. Smith says he and his staff have spent time evaluating Glennon and all players on the Bucs roster, but he is not ready to just hand the job over to the former third-round pick from North Carolina State.
Glennon went 4-9 as a starter and passed for more than 200 yards in only six of his 13 games.
“Mike did some good things. But he did some good things as a rookie,” Smith said. “To say right now that Mike is the answer and he’s our quarterback of the future and we’re going to build around him and give him a 20-year contract right now, you’re not there.
“You just like the things he brings to the table. Strong arm. Great guy. He is a guy that seems like he doesn’t have an offseason because he has been working his butt off in the facility. But again, I just know I like him on the football team as one of our quarterbacks right now. As you mentioned, we have just two quarterbacks signed. We’re going to have at least four in camp, at least one guy will be in the mix and you can let that all play out.”
Smith says he and new general manager Jason Licht already have a plan on how to replenish the Bucs roster.
“In all, it becomes obvious which way you should go. We do have a road map for what we’re going to do. Jason and I and the rest of the staff, scouting and coaches, we have pounded it and we have a pretty good plan on the direction we’re going to go. I’ll just say we’re trying to upgrade our entire roster.
“You have a plan. But if you ask me, ‘Do I think we can win games with Mike Glennon?’ I’m going to say, ‘Yeah, we can win games with Mike Glennon.’ If you ask me, ‘Would you like to upgrade the position?’ I’m not running around the question. That’s a yes, too. If you ask me, ‘Would you like a veteran?’ Yeah. Really, that’s the case. It all has to go together. You have to look at what’s available at other positions, too.”