'Ole Miss DT Peria Jerry

madtheory with the pick...

I was split in making this decision because the Bucs don’t have a QB but I and other Bucs fans here in Tampa as well as on Bucem.com, part the SBNation family, believe that Josh Freeman was a reach. Besides he isn’t NFL ready and would need 2-3 years to develop and with all of the preseason ranking next year’s draft will be QB heavy and that’s not counting the dark horse guys that come out of nowhere.

That left DT, DE, CB and WR being the most pressing needs of the Bucs. WR was eliminated immediately b/c as some may argue QBs more often than not can make an average WR look good to great and not so much the other way around besides that the Bucs already have Winslow(acquired from the Browns) Mark Clayton and Antonio Bryant who came alive last year. I next eliminated CB because the Bucs drafted Aqib Talib in the 1st round last year and drafting CB two year in a round seemed a bit of a reach except for maybe the Lions picking multiple WRs in the 1st round year after year and being that both Vontae Davis and Malcolm Jenkins were already gone (thanks to cmpotter and Chiefsdude, insert sarcasm) the next available was CB Alphonso Smith, meh.

DT and DE kinda works hand in hand for me, if you have really good DEs that can rush the passer and not be a liability in the run game your DTs usually get more favorable match-ups, but with who’s left research indicated that they were mostly pass rushing specialists which wouldn’t help against the likes of Carolina  (Williams/Stewart) Atl Turner/Norwood) or even to a lesser extent NO (Thomas/Bush). DT were then really only way to go because good DT can demand double teams freeing both DEs and LBs to make plays in both running and passing plays and let’s not forget they’ve been trying find a dominant DT since Warren Sapp left.

Bio: Quick, active three-technique tackle. ... Good height and adequate girth inside. ... Very quick off the snap, able to beat the down block by tackles or penetrate to force the quarterback to rush his decision. ... Gets his hands inside guards' jerseys to push the pocket. ... Chases down field on plays away from him, and works hard to make a tackle when the ball is in his area. ... Uses his hands well to defeat cut blocks inside. ... Handles double-teams pretty well when playing the nose considering his height, and is able to get off the double to get to the ball. ... Emerged as the unquestioned leader of the Ole Miss defensive line. ... Dominant week at the Senior Bowl.

Previous pick: QB Josh Freeman

Read more: Scouting Report (Mocking the Draft)

On the clock for tomorrow: Detroit Lions (UCrawford) and the Philadelphia Eagles (Chiefsfan717)

Click over for the schedule and current draft results.

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I have to admit I didn't know much about Peria Jerry before this but I like madtheory's reasoning for taking a defensive player here for the Bucs.