The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming into the 2014 NFL draft looking for help on offense and names like Brandin Cooks, Marqise Lee, Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin all could be in the mix in the first round and the Bucs may look at the WR position over taking a quarterback in the top 10 like Johnny Manziel or Blake Bortles.
Brandin Cooks has been mentioned as an option for the Steelers, while Mel Kiper has predicted that the Buccaneers will look towards Mike Evans with their draft pick in the top 10. Evans is considered the second receiver over Sammy Watkins and there is a chance that the Bucs would want Watkins if he drops past the top five, but that is not expected to happen with the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders picking ahead of Tampa Bay.
Lovie Smith likes having a strong defense and a sound offense and he may go for a QB to surprise everyone, as he did not originally draft Mike Glennon and may not be ready to name him the future star with Josh McCown taking over for 2014. Vincent Jackson has been excellent since signing with the team as a free agent a couple years ago, but they lack depth at the position and that is why they were in the bottom part of the league in passing yards per game. The team is looking to improve the offensive line and that should help, while adding s player like Evans or Watkins could be huge for the offense.
Losing Mike Wallace last season hurt the Steelers and that is why ESPN.com is reporting that Brandin Cooks could be a prime target for the team. Last year he was excellent with Oregon State, making 128 catches for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns and he also had a 4.33 forty at the combine that turned some heads.
Both the Buccaneers and the Steelers could look to make trades in the draft and the Bucs may look to use some of their later picks to trade down, but likely not at number seven. This draft has plenty of talent and the Bucs should get a very good player no matter what, as Evans should be available, while names like Manziel, Greg Robinson, Jake Matthews, Khalil Mack and Anthony Barr could slip to their pick. The team has just six picks overall for the draft after dealing their 2014 fourth-round pick for Darrelle Revis and that was a waste and after getting a sixth round pick back for Mike Williams they could look to add more at some point.
The Steelers pick at number 15 after missing the playoffs last season and they are in good shape for a trade if they want to move up or down in the drat as well. The team received three compensatory picks and while those can't be used for trades, it gives the team flexibility to move their other picks. The third round pick at number 97 is very valuable after getting awarded that and they also have two fifth round picks and two sixth round picks, meaning they could move up to grab a player if they fall in love with them.