NFL Draft: Lovie Smith Teams Have Never Taken QB in First Round

It might be slightly hard to believe, but in Lovie Smith’s tenure as an NFL head coach with the Bears and Buccaneers, he’s never used a first round draft pick on a quarterback, something the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to do come April of 2015. Now, if you want to get really technical, Smith’s time in Chicago was spent primarily with Jay Cutler, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos in 2009 for two first round picks and a bunch of other assets.

So, 2015 won’t be the first year a Lovie Smith coached team has used a first round pick to acquire a quarterback, but he’s never drafted one for himself. In Chicago, there were guys like Rex Grossman (former first rounder) and Kyle Orton (not a first rounder) before Cutler came, and Smith was able to coach in a couple of Super Bowls in his time with the Bears.

Because of the fact that he’s never used a top pick on a quarterback, it’s fair to wonder if that trend will end in 2015, but in all likelihood, it will. The Buccaneers have Josh McCown and Mike Glennon, but look where it’s gotten them this year. They have a pair of receivers in Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson that can absolutely crush teams in the vertical passing game, and they also have an up-and-coming tight end in Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

At this point in time, the safer and probably better pick is Marcus Mariota out of Oregon, but I wonder if some team won’t fall in love with Jameis Winston as the draft process progresses. Winston has his share of off-field concerns, but he seems like the type of guy that can sweet talk coaches and convince them that he can be ‘the guy’ for whatever team it winds up being. Mariota seems a bit more soft spoken, but that may wind up not being any issue at all.

What’s clear right now is that the Bucs need a quarterback, and they are going to likely be picking first overall unless they are able to beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Tampa Bay has needs all over the place, but quarterback is of paramount concern and Lovie Smith needs to decide what signal caller he’s going to attach his name to for the rest of his time as the head coach of the Buccaneers.

It’s certainly not going to be Josh McCown or Mike Glennon, so who is it going to be? Will Lovie break his own rule and draft a quarterback in the first round? I think it’s a no-brainer at this point. The Bucs will go quarterback, and that player will be tied to Lovie Smith in Tampa.