The Best Of The Rest

The Buccaneers signed a few rookie free agents since the draft ended. Here's the list, properly plagiarized from the Bucs official web site:

Name	Position	Height	Weight	College
Justin Frick	DT	6-3	292	North Dakota State
Jerry Mackey	LB	6-1	250	Syracuse
Mike McFadden	FB	6-1	255	Grand Valley State
Sam Olajubutu	LB	5-8	227	Arkansas
Jed Prisby	T	6-4	272	Hofstra
Garrett Rivas	K	5-9	217	Michigan
Kenny Scott	CB	6-1	179	Georgia Tech
Byron Storer	FB	6-1	219	California

I have heard of exactly two of those guys. Sam Olajubutu was a beast at middle linebacker for Arkansas. Oh, sure, he got little hands and little eyes, and that's probably why he wasn't drafted. But with 372 tackles in the SEC, he was one of the most productive linebackers available. Three or four inches more and he would have been a first day pick easy. I can see him making some heads turn in special teams.

Kenny Scott, a cornerback from Georgia Tech, was projected by some to go as high as the third round. He has good straight line speed and covers well in man, but is known as an underachiever. He needs a lot of coaching and to add some muscle if he's going to try and cover some of these physical NFL receivers. He was also declared academically ineligible to participate in the Gator Bowl, which may have pushed him out of the draft altogether. Again, maybe special teams, but I see him on the street in August or September.

I also like the fact that they brought a kicker in. It shows that every position needs some competition.

The part of the story that confuses me a little is that they released Jon Bradley (yet again) to make room on the roster for an undrafted free agent defensive tackle from North Dakota State. Bradley has real game experience and has mostly played well when called upon. I guess the coaches know something that doesn't come through on a game tape because they just love releasing him. Don't be surprised if you see Bradley's name on the Lions' roster in the coming days.