Breaking Down Pewter Report’s All-Time Bucs Draft

There’s a quality vs. quantity argument to be made here. Both Matera and Queipo went with one tight end, but Queipo going with just one running back meant he had room for another wide receiver. Despite that, Matera arguably has the better 1-2 punch here. Evans is the best offensive player in franchise history, and Godwin has played a phenomenal 1B to Evans’ 1A over the last few years. Add in Ring of Honor member Jimmie Giles and his 4,300 receiving yards, 34 touchdowns and four Pro Bowls, and you’ve got a lot of weapons for Doug Williams to work with.

Queipo did well for himself here, though. Gronkowski was fittingly the first weapon he selected for Tom Brady. Between 2020-2021, Gronkowski totaled 100 catches for 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns. At the wide receiver position, there’s an interesting mix of eras. Carrier, who spent 1987-1992 with the Bucs, was the franchise’s all-time leading receiver until Evans came along. Johnson was a central figure on the franchise’s first Super Bowl team, posting 76 catches for 1,088 yards and five touchdowns in that season. Galloway was excellent for Jeff Garcia and the Tampa Bay offense in the mid-2000s, recording 3,912 yards and 28 touchdowns over five years with the team. The triple threat of Carrier-Galloway-Johnson combined with Gronkowski earns a “push” here.

Advantage: Push

Offensive Line

Team Matera: Paul Gruber, Logan Mankins, Ryan Jensen, Shaq Mason, Donovan Smith

Team Queipo: Donald Penn, Ali Marpet, Tony Mayberry, Davin Joseph, Tristan Wirfs

Matera’s offensive line features a whopping three players who are on the Bucs’ current roster. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Jensen anchoring the offensive line is a plus, as he’s certainly among the best centers in franchise history. The 2021 Pro Bowl selection is a tone-setter, and he’ll line up next to Mason, the newest Buc on either of these all-time teams. On the other side, there’s Logan Mankins, who spent the final two seasons of his career in Tampa, starting 31 games. Where things get tricky, though, is at tackle. Matera has Gruber, a Bucs Ring of Honor member, slotted in at left tackle. That means he’s moving Smith to the right side.

Quite frankly, Team Queipo DOMINATES here. Having an interior of Marpet, Mayberry and Joseph is impressive enough, but to flank them with left tackle Donald Penn and right tackle Tristan Wirfs is almost unfair. Mayberry ranks sixth all-time for games played, while Marpet and Joseph posted three Pro Bowls between the two of them. Penn was a constant for Tampa Bay from 2007-2013, failing to miss a game for the last six years of his Bucs career. And then there’s Wirfs, who already has one All-Pro season under his belt. He’s on his way to another one in 2022 and at this rate, he’ll eventually play his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Advantage: Team Queipo