Offseason Considerations

[Boid Fink]

If the Bucs are "unfortunate" enough to land a top 3 pick, I wonder who it would be?

Or what they would do with the pick?  Trade down?

Too much speculation at this point.  The Bucs have needs, but they won't know what they are completely till the end of the season.  Till then, they play hard, they die hard.

[corruptpirate]

If we make some big moves on D through FA, our first pick will be on the O-Line...

If it's Joe Thomas, then I woudn't have a problem with that.

[bucshot224]

I know we have several needs to fill, but I dont think that the D should be ignored in the draft this next year. I will be highly pissed if our first pick is not on the defensive side of the football. Our aging D cant hold up another year without some youth injected and the best way to do this is the draft.

If we make some big moves on D through FA, our first pick will be on the O-Line...

[corruptpirate]

Gruden WILL have a young QB to develop, one way or another, because he ALWAYS has a young QB to develop.

True, but most likely he won't spend a day 1 pick to get him. As Gruden has said before, he likes building up QB's and try to do what Holmgren does, get draft picks for them. With something like 25 mil under the cap and maybe even 30 under the cap if Rice is traded/released, the team maybe able to shore up the major holes in the D during FA. There are two elite players that could possibly hit the market in Briggs and Freeney. If the Bucs could hit on one of them, it would allow the FO to have some freedom during the draft. If not, there are some nice prospects in the upcoming draft. Moses or Adams at DE are two that come to mind that would be nice

[BucsPirate]

There has been a lot of talk about what free agents the Bucs should bring in and who they should draft, but I'd like to make a couple of points that should be considered.

First, the Bucs will have a lot of cap room this year, but so will a lot of other teams. The cap will have went up over 30% in a 2 year span, so the free agent contracts this year are going to be astronomical. If Freeney and Clements finish the year strong and get to market, I would not be surprised to see them both end up with contract numbers that until now only QB's have seen. I'm talking Peyton Manning like money. I'd love to see Freeney in a Bucs uniform, but not at that price.

The free agent stud I'd see the Bucs most likely to get would be Lance Briggs. I am sure Chicago may do their best to keep him, but I get the impression that like Hutchinson with Walter Jones last year, Briggs would like to get out of the shadow of Urlacher. Briggs would be expensive, but the fact that he is best as a Cover 2 backer may drive down his value some. Something you have to consider though, is that if Briggs comes here that means the end of one Mr. Derrick Brooks' career as a Buc.

In the draft something I think you have to take into consideration is what Jon Gruden in his book calls the 4 most important positions in football to have a stud at. QB, DE, OT, and CB in that order. I think he is happy with Grads, but if Grads bombs I would not be surprised to see him go QB. I think the most likely options are DE or OT in round 1 because there are some really good ones this year at both positions. Yes, I like Davis too, but we have no depth at Tackle, and as much as I like Davis we could use a better athlete there.

[alldaway]

I doubt Gruden can stomach developing another young QB nor does he have the time to do so in my opinion (2007 may be his last year).  I can see the Bucs taking a DE or an OT at the top of the first round.  CB is up for debate and for good reason.  I mean you could draft a CB in round 1 but to ignore the pass rushing woes of the D-line will change nothing. 

The Raiders have collected DB's day one of the draft for over ten years and yet their defense has not shown much improvement.  Only when Burgess and Sapp come along does their defense look better as a whole.

As for OT sure you could upgrade LT for example but a rookie will play like a rookie so expect mistakes. 

Defensive end is the most logical choice considering Rice and Spires are over the hill.  White has yet to be signed to an extension and after that the cupboard is bare.   Drafting a LB is a possibility but I doubt it.  Drafting a safety in the first round would be blasphemy.  As for DT I can see a few DT's rising into the top ten range by draft time but I do not see any that would fit this scheme.


If the Bucs fill all their holes in free agency then they will have the luxury of taking the BAP if they desire.

[BucsPirate]

2007 will not be Gruden's last year, and I would not be surprised to see them draft a QB, although it will not be in the first.  We seem to have found a diamond in the rough anyway.

The Bucs may never draft a CB in the first with Kiffin, and they have the ability to find CB's who can be stars in their system later. I won't rule out the possibility of them taking a Safety in the first, as a extremely talented safety like a Landry could be the quickest way to improve an aging defense, although I'll say it's unlikely for them to take one quite that early.

Defensive End is a logical choice, but I am not as confident as you that the Bucs will have a top ten choice, and the seeming stars Moses and Gaines may not be there unless we do. There may be as many as 8 offensive tackles talented enough to be franchise players in this draft. They could all be gone by the time we pick in the second though.

[OpTiOnMaStA]

Probably, we are going to address most positions of need in free agency, especially if we have a terrible season.

I would say that there are two glaring weaknesses on this team right now; pass rush and offensive line. Our OL is actually starting to look better though, and if they can play consistently enough to allow more options out in pass routes and Gradkowski proves he can hit those options we have probably turned the corner here offensively. Gruden's job will probably be safe if that happens because he can really start to work his magic.

The pass rush is abysmal. We are going to get a DT unless Wyms really impresses. We'll probably get one anyway from free agency. Freeny, Briggs, and Clements are probably all going to be options because we'll need to reload on defense. We don't have enough time to start from the ground up, either, because Gruden's time could be coming to an end here. We could draft a big time DE if one is available, and that seems to make the most sense.

[DanTurksGhost]

Gruden WILL have a young QB to develop, one way or another, because he ALWAYS has a young QB to develop.

[wildbuc99]

I know we have several needs to fill, but I dont think that the D should be ignored in the draft this next year.  I will be highly pissed if our first pick is not on the defensive side of the football.  Our aging D cant hold up another year without some youth injected and the best way to do this is the draft.

[alldaway]

Gruden WILL have a young QB to develop, one way or another, because he ALWAYS has a young QB to develop.

Correct.

But a top ten pick in the first round?  And BucsPirate please give me a reason why 2007 will not be Gruden's last chance to turn this thing around?  If this season ends up being a losing season do you not think Gruden has to have a winning season in 2007 to stick around? 

If we dont sign a premier LT in FA (which I would prefer), and Joe Thomas or Levi Brown are available with out pick then thats who we should take. If we sign the LT in FA, then draft Gaines Adams. If we sign a young DE and LT in FA then draft Buster Davis. If Calvin Johnson is available I think you take him regardless of who we've signed in FA or whos on the roster.