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NFL Mock Draft 2012: Peter King Predicts Buccaneers Will Select Morris Claiborne

The NFL Draft is a little more than a week away and Sports Illustrated's Peter King has released his latest mock draft. King goes a little more in-depth in his mock draft by going over who he thinks the team will pick and who the team should pick in the first round.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the No. 5 pick for King was obvious, LSU Tigers cornerback Morris Claiborne.

Ronde Barber is 37, and free agent corner Eric Wright is plenty leaky, so this is Tampa Bay's position of greatest long-term need. The Tigers trusted Claiborne on an island; as a pro he'll have to hold his own against NFC South gunslingers Drew Brees, Cam Newton and Matt Ryan if the Bucs are going to have a chance to be competitive.

A pick like Claiborne can help the Buccaneers build their secondary going into the 2012 season. Especially with Aqib Talib's ongoing troubles with the law.

For more on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit SB Nation's Buccaneers blog Bucs Nation. For more on the NFL Draft, visit SB Nation's Mocking The Draft.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.