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FAB 4. How The Bucs Ruined My Birthday
The year 2020 marks my 25th season covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for you, the loyal PewterReport.com reader. As I begin this milestone season, I’m going to spend the next 25 weeks telling some never-before-told Bucs stories and recalling some of my most memorable moments in my professional journey.
The last time the NFL Draft was on my birthday it was a disaster, as the one player I didn’t want the Bucs to draft – Auburn running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams – ended up being drafted by Tampa Bay with the fifth overall pick.
Former Bucs RB Cadillac Williams – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
That was April 23, 2005. The next year, the NFL pushed the draft back a week and it fell on April 29-30 and has been conducted in the final week of April ever since – until this year.
It was inevitable that Jon Gruden would draft Williams after coaching him at the Senior Bowl in 2005. Gruden has always had a gimmicky style about him, and if Williams didn’t have his “Cadillac” nickname I honestly don’t think Gruden would have been as interested in him. I believe Gruden loved the idea of having a “Cadillac” in his offense.
Much to my chagrin, the Bucs used the fifth overall pick in 2005 to draft the third running back.
Ugh. Horrible value.
I was literally angry on my birthday that year, writing about the Bucs drafting Williams. I didn’t like the pick at all.
I was fair to Williams in my reporting though, and gave him a chance to succeed. What made matters worse for me was that Williams had a very good rookie season, rushing for 1,178 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
In his first three games with the Bucs, Williams ran for 148 yards and a touchdown in a win at Minnesota, 128 yards and a touchdown in a victory against Buffalo and a career-high 158 yards in a 17-16 rain-soaked win at Green Bay. Williams’ 434 yards rushing in his first three games was a new NFL record, and his cleats and jersey were sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Former Bucs RB Cadillac Williams – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
For a minute, I looked like a fool for doubting the Bucs’ drafting of Williams. But Williams’ hot streak was over, as he didn’t rush for at least 30 yards over the next four games as Tampa Bay went 2-2 during that stretch. Williams would top the 100-yard mark three more times in 2005 en route to winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, helping the Bucs win the NFC South and make the playoffs.
Yet Williams ran for just 49 yards and averaged 2.7 yards per carry in a 17-10 home loss to the Redskins, and would never rush for 1,000 yards again. The Auburn product had just two 100-yard games in his second season, rushing for 798 yards and one touchdown, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry.
After another slow start in 2007 in which he didn’t rush for more than 61 yards in any of the first four games, Williams tore his patellar tendon at Carolina and would never be the same. He never rushed for four yards per carry again, nor did he post more than four touchdowns in any of the seasons that followed.
Williams tore his other patellar tendon in 2008 and was out of Tampa Bay in 2011. His NFL career ended in 2012 with 4,038 career rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. Errict Rhett and Reggie Cobb would have similar NFL careers, and both were drafted in the second round – not with the fifth overall pick.
The Bucs blew it with Williams.
I preferred two other players for Tampa Bay that year. One of which was USC wide receiver and Tampa native Mike Williams, who had 176 catches for 2,579 yards (14.7 avg.) and 30 touchdowns in two years with the Trojans. He had to sit out his junior year and was drafted 10th overall by Detroit and turned out to be a bust.
But the other player that I wanted the Bucs to draft was a defensive end I saw at the Senior Bowl on Gruden’s South squad – Troy defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who was drafted 11th overall by Dallas. Ware had 27.5 sacks, 201 tackles, 74 quarterback hurries, 10 forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and one interception for the Trojans. His 27.5 sacks rank second in school history for sacks in a career, and his 55.5 tackles for losses rank first in school history.
Former Bucs DC Monte Kiffin – Photo by: Getty Images
Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin absolutely loved Ware, whom he coached in Mobile, Ala. that January, and thought he was the second coming of Simeon Rice, who was 31 in 2005 and nearing the end of his illustrious career. Ware played nine years with the Cowboys before playing his three final seasons in Denver where he helped the Broncos win Super Bowl 50 while helping to groom Shaquil Barrett for greatness.
Ware went on to become a nine-time Pro Bowler and a seven-time All-Pro while leading the NFL in sacks twice (2008, 2011). He totaled 654 tackles, 138.5 sacks, 35 forced fumbles and three interceptions. Ware’s 138.5 sacks are the ninth-most all-time in NFL history.
At 6-foot-4, 251 pounds, Ware ran a 4.56 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, and also put up 27 reps on the bench press. Compare Ware’s athleticism on his spider graph to Williams and tell me he wasn’t the better draft prospect.
Ware’s spider graph screams “Pro Bowler” while Williams’ spider graph screams “average running back.” Athleticism and having a great spider graph doesn’t automatically turn a guy into an NFL superstar, evidenced by some really athletic players like edge rushers Barkevious Mingo and Dion Jordan, and linebacker Aaron Curry being first-round flops.
Former Bucs RB Cadillac Williams – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
But not being a great athlete, and Williams wasn’t, evidenced by his pedestrian numbers in the vertical leap and broad jump, should be a red flag – especially for a first-round prospect.
I’m hoping that Bucs general manager Jason Licht doesn’t make a bad selection in the first round on April 23 this year and ruin another one of my birthdays. The only first-round pick from Licht that I didn’t like at all was cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III in 2016, and that turned out to be Licht’s worst first-rounder in the six years he’s been drafting for Tampa Bay.
Drafting any offensive tackle other than USC’s Austin Jackson or Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland would suffice, or selecting South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III or Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor would be SR-approved consolation prizes in the first round for Tampa Bay.
Stay tuned for another Bucs story from yesteryear in next week’s SR’s Fab 5. And if you missed my previous Bucs memories from the past 24 years of covering the team, click on the links below.
SR’s Bucs memories 1-of-25
SR’s Bucs memories 2-of-25
PewterReport.com's 2020 Draft Preview + Bucs' Best Bets: OTs
PewterReport.com's 2020 Draft Preview + Bucs' Best Bets: Gs-Cs
