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ORLANDO, Fla. —
The NFL draft begins Thursday night, and the three Florida teams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins) are looking to improve their rosters with young talent.
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Starting with the Buccaneers winners of the NFC South at 9-8, they lost to the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional round 31-23.
Toward the end of the season, Quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a rib injury after his offensive line gave up 40 sacks for the year.
The Bucs also ranked at the bottom of the league for rushing offense, as they were last in total rushing yards and yards per attempt.
The Bucs have the 26th pick in the first round and could use it to bolster up their offensive line.
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In Jacksonville, the season started off well as the Jags were 8-3 and well in command of the AFC South lead, but a terrible collapse involving injuries and losing five of their last six to miss the playoffs.
Calvin Ridley, their leading Wide Receiver, left in Free Agency to their division rival, the Tennessee Titans.
That position isn’t a dyer need as the Jags signed former Buffalo Bill and UCF alum Gabe Davis, but the draft is loaded with talent at the position as they can snag a talented wideout with the 17th overall pick.
The Dolphins exceeded expectations as they put one of the most explosive offenses in league history finishing with an 11-6 record.
Tyreek Hill finished with just under 1800 receiving yards and was in the MVP talks for majority of the season.
They lost to the eventual champs the Kansas City Chiefs and with key defensive departures this offseason including Christian Wilkins and Xavien Howard the Dolphins will look to sure up the Defensive side of the ball with the 21st overall pick.
Channel 9 has coverage of the NFL draft starting at 8 p.m.
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