Buccaneers pick All-Pro Patriots WR in latest NFL redraft

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers make a bold move in the 2015 NFL redraft, stealing an All-Pro weapon.

Oct 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmet against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are gearing up to enter the 2025 season with tons of hype surrounding what they can accomplish.

Training camp begins next week, but during the dead period between mandatory minicamp and training camp, there are always fun hypotheticals to examine.

One of those is a recent redraft done by Pro Football Focus. PFF brought together a group of contributors to redraft the 2015 NFL Draft, which obviously had huge implications for the Buccaneers as they owned the first overall pick.

As we all know, Tampa Bay ended up taking former Florida State Heisman-winning and National Champion quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston's time in Tampa was up and down, highlighted by his infamous 30 for 30 season in 2019, where he threw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Following his five years with the Bucs, Winston has served in a backup role for the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns and now the New York Giants.

May 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) is introduced at a press conference at One Buc Place the day after being selected as the number one overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

PFF likely could have stuck with Winston in their redraft, but instead decided to give the Bucs perhaps the best wide receiver from the draft in former Minnesota Vikings fifth-round pick Stefon Diggs.

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Tampa bags Diggs in NFL draft do-over

"There wasn’t an obvious choice at No. 1 in this redraft, but we’re giving the Buccaneers wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who originally went in the fifth round to Minnesota," wrote the PFF writers. "Diggs has made four Pro Bowls and ranks as the sixth-most valuable wide receiver in the league since 2015, according to PFF’s wins above replacement metric. Pairing him with Mike Evans would have given Tampa Bay one of the NFL’s most dominant receiver duos for the past decade."

It would be an interesting move for the Bucs back in 2015. Pairing Diggs with Mike Evans would be a terror for defensive secondaries, but then the question would be raised — who is throwing them the ball?

The Buccaneers started Josh McCown in 2014 and then Mike Glennon once McCown went down with an injury.

If the Bucs were to go a different route than quarterback in the draft, they likely would have had to move ahead with the guys they already had in the locker room. Or, they could have made the decision to take a QB later in the draft or attempt to lure one via free agency.

While hypothetical, all things seemed to have worked out well for the Buccaneers with their original pick of Winston. Without Winston, the Bucs might not have been in a position to get the biggest free agent of all time, Tom Brady, which, in turn, likely wouldn't have netted them their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

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