Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik gave a pre-draft press conference, here are some interesting snippets from it.
A variety of subject were covered, a lot surround the labor dealings. Asked if the labor deal will hinder the Bucs ability to find those late round gems like Cody Grimm and Sammie Stroughter:
“At the end of the day, We’ll have a way to accumulate those players were not drafting in this years draft and we’ll take advantage of that when the time is available”. But he knows 300-400 kids wont be drafted and wont have contracts unlike in other years.
Dominik feels like others that the DE is the strongest in this years draft class, including hybrid guys. But he also made it clear Offensive Tackle is another area that is strong.
“You start your board with 1000 names, and whittle it down”.
The Bucs wont be able to see their players until the lockout is over. Dominik says after the first round choice has been made, they will talk on the phone and ask the player to show up in Tampa for a Photo Opp.
It didn’t take long for the subject to get to Aqib Talib. Unlike what you may have read from Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times, I did not read into Dominik’s PC as a ‘Talib’s tenure in Tampa Bay is over tone whatsoever. The Question was put to him “Is Cornerback a need for you now, and do you still have faith in Aqib Talib”?
The Answer, at least the first part, about corner, was ” I have a fundamental belief, I stole it from the Jets, I don’t think you can ever have enough cornerbacks. So I think every draft we walk into, Cornerback is going to be a need for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers”. When the reporter reminded him he did not address the second part of the question, “And about Talib?” Dominik responded with a large no comment, basically using the lockout rules to explain how he cannot talk about a player.
Character came up again later when a reporter asked if Dominik felt confident you could tell about a players character through interviews. One thing I really like about Dominik as opposed to his predecessor is his candidness. “You try your best” replied Dominik about as honest as you can get!
“The ones maybe you have an interest in via injuries, you use your 30 man visits were allowed. Although you cant judge a player 100%, you do your best due diligence”.
In regards to the 7th round compensatory draft, He explained how much effort the Bucs staff spends on every draft pick, giving some insight into how late round picks have been doing so well under the new regime.
The issue of the London trip came up, when asked about who gets input into that trip. Dominik let it be known he was excited about the trip and the Bears being a conference championship contestant. The atmosphere of the game is different than a normal game, almost playoff like, and the Bucs feel like that challenges the team and its young players.
Lets hope the Bucs make the playoffs so no more ‘challenges’ are needed anytime soon!
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