08 Draft Review, Rounds 1-3

The Draft is done for another year and after the dust has settled, it’s time to look if the Bucs addressed their needs. In the lead up to the draft every mock draft had the Bucs going CB or WR. The Bucs had been listed with what seemed like every CB and WR going and come draft day I felt it was nigh on impossible to call which direction the Bucs would go.

Round I:

It turned out that the Bucs felt that CB was the bigger need and drafted Aqib Talib. Despite the obvious lack of WR talent outside Joey Galloway, (maybe lack of talent is a bit harsh, maybe underperforming is a better term), I feel that the bigger need that needed to be addressed was CB. Outside of Ronde, the Bucs have journeymen corners and the Bucs needed someone that could step in opposite Ronde for 1 or 2 seasons and then hopefully take over Ronde’s mantle. They seem to have found this in Talib.

Talib, out of Kansas, is a big physical CB and at 6’1 will be able to compete well with the bigger body WR’s. He doesn’t have top tier pace but has great ability when the play is infront of him. The major concern is his ability to catchup once the plays go behind him, this play against KSU highlights this to a tee. His lack of speed was exploited by Nelson but hoping we won’t see him give up on the plays so easily in the NFL. However, he’ll often get help over the top in the Tampa 2 schemes and hopefully we won’t see too much of this.

The things he does bring is an eye for the ball and and ability to make the big hit, 

For me the Bucs made the right call in drafting Talib and I’m looking for him to start come day 1.

Round II:

The Bucs really took a gamble late in Round 2. The next obvious pick looked to be WR, however a lot of the top tier WR’s had gone in with the early picks of Round 2. The Bucs drafted what can loosely be described as a WR, but for me Dexter Jackson will be a KR and sometime WR.

Certainly the Bucs return game has been anaemic of late but to spend a Day 1 pick on Jackson when there were WR’s with Div 1 careers under their belts does seem somewhat cavalier. Despite his off field antics Mario Manningham could have been a nice pick up or LSU’s Early Doucet was still on the board.

Jackson clearly has speed and the return skills but his catching abilities and lack of top flight competition in college make this pick a gamble for me. I hope to be proved wrong.

Round III:

Jeremy Zuttah, the RT out of Rutgers was the Bucs selection in the 3rd round. Despite being the anchor of the Rutgers line, many experts predict that he will be better inside at guard or even centre. This seems to follow the Bucs ideal that their linemen are versatile and could play a number of positions. I see this pick from 2 different perspectives. Either the Bucs don’t see Trueblood as the future at RT, (despite all the plaudits he received last season I didn’t think he played that well) or that Zuttah is seen as insurance for Joseph and Sears on the inside. 

Whether we’ll ever see him on the end of a lateral in the NFL, i’ll never know 🙂

I’d grade day 1 as a C-, I think the Jackson selection has a large element of risk attached to it. For a Day 1 pick, with the real need the Bucs had at WR, he needs to contribute on both special teams and as a receiver. Talib was a good pickup in the first and Zuttah provides the cover across the line that the Bucs need.

Next Day II..