What The Management Has To Say

With the draft over with, Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden have decided to speak out on their draft picks, and some current Buccaneers. Here are a few excerpts I have picked out.

Bruce Allen

Why did you choose a quarterback on Day Two?

“We like the talent of Josh. He has not good statistics, not great statistics, he has spectacular statistics. He has been coached by coaches that we are very familiar with, Johnnie Morton has said some very positive things about him, and Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has said some great things about him. We want to give him a chance to see what he can do in the NFL.”

What does this mean to Chris Simms and Bruce Gradkowski?

“I have said to you before, and I will say it again, we will bring five quarterbacks to training camp. That is what we planned on doing and that is what we will do. How that works out, we have until July 25th to go to training camp, we will make those determinations.”

Why did you select Aqib Talib?

“We like him. He is a playmaker, he has all the speed and agility that you are looking for. He has great ball skills and his persona fit into our organization. We think he is a guy that can excel in our defense and help our football team.”

Is Jeff Garcia likely to get a contract extension?

“I have had dialogue with his representative.”

Jon Gruden

How about Josh Johnson?

“He is a late fifth-round pick, and we did a lot of work on the quarterbacks. You can’t deny that he comes from a small college. You certainly can’t deny that he was very productive, he dominated statistically. 115 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions, 68 or 69 completion percentage, and 2,000 yards rushing. When you do the individual make up of this kid you see a 6-3, 215-pound youngster that has 4.5 speed. I think he is a heck of a kid. Some of the coaches at San Diego I am familiar with, they were on my staff in Oakland, and so we have known a lot about this kid for some time. Is he the quarterback of the future, I don’t know, but he will compete and he will be very interesting.”

Do you feel the offense gained explosiveness?

“Well you can’t just look at the draft. We added Warrick Dunn, he has 10,000 yards, I saw him playing, he is getting older but I still see great quickness. We are hoping Cadillac Williams comes back; he is in the bullpen right now. We think Ben Troupe can do some things athletically. We have a Pro Bowl quarterback here. Our offensive line is going to be older and more experienced. I think Antonio Bryant can come through, Michael Clayton comes back, I guess that is it. I make no promises in April, I will just tell you this, and we are very enthused. We are adding a 4.3 wide receiver that has home run potential and legitimate return ability. We are excited with Talib, we think he is going to make life interesting on the other side of the ball.”

Will you take six quarterbacks to camp?

“No, we won’t take six to camp. There will be obvious decisions that’ll be made. There’s been a lot of people saying we’ve had six quarterbacks. I haven’t seen [Jake] Plummer, and Chris [Simms] unfortunately hasn’t played in the last couple of years. We have had a tremendous amount of injury. We’re not like some of these teams that have enjoyed good fortune of having the same starter for five, six, eight, 12, 15 seasons. We’ve had three different starters play, I think, in four out of the last five seasons. Here in Tampa, we have a different perspective, I think, on the position, but we do have a Pro Bowl returner at quarterback, and we’re really excited about [Jeff] Garcia. We think [Brian] Griese’s proven he can play here, and if statistics mean anything, he’s backed that up. Luke McCown came on last year and did some good things, so here comes a youngster in here… The roster is reduced. You’re only allowed to take 80 to camp now, so there’ll be some very difficult decisions on every coach in the league before camp starts.” 

Is Johnson more of a project than Chad Henne and Brian Brohm?

“Those guys played in the big Division I, they played in a higher level of competition, but they also had pretty good players around them. I’m not saying San Diego didn’t have a lot of good players, but until you do it at the next level, you will be subject to question. It will be a faster pace. He will be hit harder than he has ever been hit and he’ll be challenged more than he has ever been challenged. He dominated at his level because of his talent. But he is going to be at a level playing field now and I’m anxious to see how he handles it.”
There are two things I want to say about this. I like how Bruce Allen said that Talib’s persona fit in with the team. If that persona is a thug, drug addict, or all around troublemaker, then yes, he fits in with the Bucs. Secondly, he gave a piss-poor answer to Jeff Garcia’s contract situation. I think he might be dodging something.