Before readers come after Joe with pitchforks, spears and lit torches, allow Joe to dream here, huh? Please?

Maybe, just maybe, enough NFL teams are so spooked by Laiatu Latu’s neck injury that he falls to near No. 20 where the Bucs could realistically go get him.

It’s fair to ask why the Bucs would not be worried about Latu’s neck if a dozen or so other teams are. Well, it only takes one.

As seen years ago with Drew Brees when he attempted to return after an ugly shoulder injury, the Dolphins had him but a team doctor wouldn’t green light the medical exam. It only took one doctor to give a thumbs-up, the same doctor who worked with the slimy Saints and Sean Payton. A

s they say, the rest is history.

Then-Dolphins coach Nick Saban didn’t last much longer in the NFL because he didn’t have a quarterback (same as it ever was). Payton now had one and he might be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a result. If the Dolphins would have cleared Brees, who knows, Saban might still be in Miami where the NFL, unlike college, has a salary cap.

Payton? He might now be working full-time for FOX.

Latu is clearly the best pass rusher in the draft. Back in 2020 as a University of Washington teammates of future Bucs Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Cade Otton, Latu suffered a neck injury in practice.

He later had vertebrae fused to try to bring back lingering numbness. The surgery failed. Several doctors told Latu to give up football or risk a major medical issue.

Latu admitted to Steve Wyche of NFL Network (video below) he struggled emotionally being forced to give up football. But he bounced back emotionally by playing rugby. (LOL)

“Got emotional at times,” Latu said. “Got into a dark place at times.”

Latu finally found a doctor who would clear him to play football and transferred to UCLA. It was the same specialist who performed neck procedures on Danielle Hunter and Peyton Manning.

At the combine, Latu said he had not received any negative feedback or concern from NFL teams about his neck. This seems dubious, but there has been quite a bit of time since the combine, nearly two months, for teams to get back to Latu on his medicals.

A doctor of physical therapy, Kyle Trimble, wrote a piece for the Cover 1 website that Latu’s injury is similar to what Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch dealt with at Boise State.

As Trimble pointed out, Vander Esch was later a first-round pick but the neck often gave him problems.

Vander Esch’s biggest issue with the Cowboys was staying on the field. Only twice did Vander Esch play in more than 14 regular season games in his six-year career. He retired this offseason.

So will Latu be like Vander Esch and only be around for six years?

Well, Joe will put it like this: Will Baker Mayfield be around in six years? Will Todd Bowles? Will Vita Vea? Will Antoine Winfield? This Bucs team will look drastically different, good or bad, in six years.

If the Bucs can get four or five strong years out of Latu with the current talent on the roster, that will go a long way.

The Bucs are one strong edge rusher away from having a dominant defensive line.