Posted by Will BrinsonNEW YORK -- Da'Quan Bowers very nearly got drafted by the Carolina Panthers ... in the second round. Okay, that's just speculation, but for a guy who was considered a possibility for the top-overall pick just a few months ago, for him to fall all the way to Tampa Bay with the 51st pick on the second round was a shock.
Or not, if you've heard all the reports about Bowers' knee, which may or may not be made of scrambled eggs.
The secret, though, is that Tampa and GM Mark Dominik took a gamble here and it's one that's not hard to like. Bowers is an elite talent with medical problems, but those type of players abound in the NFL. And the Buccaneers just paired him with a trio of early-round picks in Gerald McCoy, Brian Price and Adrian Clayborn.
If Tampa being heavily invested in their defensive line sounds familiar, well, it should: when they won the Super Bowl, they had a couple of guys (Warren Sapp, you may have heard of) who could wreck shop in the front seven.
If the Bowers gamble pays off, they'll find themselves in a similar position again soon, which won't make Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and Drew Brees too happy.
And if it doesn't pay off, well, it's not like Tampa burned a bunch of guaranteed money with an early-round selection; the upside with Bowers at this point is absolutely worth it.
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