Welcome into our final road to the Draft company from Bucks Studio, presented by ticket master Casey Phillips here with senior writer and editor Scott Smith.
I don't know, maybe we.
Should call this the road back from the drafts the road passed it. We're just continuing on here that we did. You know, every week leading up to the draft, we talked about what we thought was going to happen, and now we finally know we have the newest additions to the crew to talk about.
So today we thought we'd just go through the different.
Draft picks, look at kind of big picture what the Bucks did, look at each of them individually where we feel like they could contribute now that we know who these guys are. So let's start with the big picture side. As you just look at what the Bucks accomplished, what they did, and especially maybe compared to what we thought they were going to do, what stands out?
I guess I'll ask you, how do you feel about reading like draft grades right after a draft? Is it kind of similar to how you feel about draft mock drafts before the Yeah?
I mean it's yeah, it's pretty much as useless, isn't what the same year rule isn't that.
Typically I still do it, of course, and so what I immediately noticed this year is that the draft grades for the Buccaneers tend to vary between like a B and an A plus or remember Pete Prisco's Gonna be a Sports Game of an A plus and really gave Jason light his flowers for once again drafting a lot
of good players. And you're seeing a lot of that now that people are starting to realize what a great job Jason's been doing for year of the year now, and it all comes down to the variance there between the B and the A plus. Every single time comes down to how do you feel about the Buccaneers using their first round pick on wide receiver?
Yeah, on a non defensive guy. Yeah.
And I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be a revisionist historian here. I was one of those people that have skeptical right up to the end, even though Todd Bowles and Jason Lytt were dropping all these breadcrumbs about, hey, we might actually do this, and then afterwards you see the wisdom of it, and a lot of it just has to do with value, The value of getting a player like that in a past driven league, even if you already have a good passing offense. That value was
there in the first round. And yes, the Buccaneers needed to hit defense. And who am I, I'm the cornerback guy, right. You tell me at the end of this draft that we got Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish in the second round the corner I'm ecstatic. Yep, So there was to me, there's no flaw in this plan of using the first pick on a player that they absolutely love and love it.
Yeah, and we hear this all time, right, the I am that Man's strategy exactly. And we have seen in recent years how well this has worked out when you look at the fact of what a huge percentage of our starters, of our stars are homegrown talent, and it is because they have stuck to this idea. And I think after just spending one day with a Mecca, every single person here is like he is that man.
That That's the thing.
You can see why he plays like a Chris Godwin, carries himself like a Chris Godwin. We have seen that if anyone tells a Bucks fan, hey, there's a chance you could get another Chris Godwin.
I mean, how how would you not be excited about that.
And the Bucks got Chris Godwin the third round, but if they did that draft over again, he would be a first.
You would one hundred percent thrilled.
Yeah, if you can get another guy like that, And you know, they you talk about things like maybe the forty yard dash, and you can see incrementally, Okay, that four point four is better than that four point five, which is in four point three is better when they talk about judging these guys character and that whole I am that man thing. There's not really a number you can put to that. Yet there's still say and Meca Book is off the charts when it comes to how
they value him in that regard. And as you said, I think that's the reason why so many of these draft classes are working out over and over again, and why this team is so incredibly home grown, particularly on offense. So you know, after it's all said and done, I think we love the fact that we have a Mecca Book here. And you know, two months ago, would we
have expected a first round wide receiver. No, But I when you put it all together and what the Buccaneers were able to do on defense after that, and we'll
get to each guy. But not only did they hit cornerback position in a way that I love, But at the end of that night, you had Mike Beale, director of a Vice President Player Personnel Stanther saying, yeah, I think we can still address the pass rush, and then to do what they did with David Walker and Elijah Roberts on Day three, I think they did hit that. And I didn't know. I don't know if I would have thought it was possible going into the draft to take a receiver in the first round satisfy what I
was hoping we get in cornerback and help the front rotation. Yeah, it looks like they I agree.
I think that would have been the concern people had was if you take a non defensive guy in the first round, how well can you address Yes, And now I think, getting now the hindsight of seeing what they did the rest of the days, I don't think you feel that way at all, which is great. And of course, as much as we talk about Amcca for his character, which is phenomenal, it's not like he's a shalob on the field like this guy.
I mean, for an Ohio state wide.
Receiver room that is consistently stacked, this is the guy who's the all time leader in receptions for that school.
That is wild to me.
And it's not because he stayed around like four years or something.
Yes, yeah, it's incredible, and yeah I love he could have come out last year even and just decided to stay. So I am incredibly excited about him. So let's get to the round two and three, which I imagine they put you in charge of. That's how I felt when we took two cornerbacks in a row. I was like, did they just let Scott make the phone calls up there? And that's what happened. So uh, Rich, Yeah, let's start
round two. Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame. Tell me a little bit about what stands out to you.
About this guy.
One thing I like about if you look back on a Road to Draft, we are Road to the Draft series. We did cover a lot of these guys. I mean, we did talk about a mecha Buka and like I think our second episode showed some nice highlights of him catching the ball down the middle. The very first guy that I gave the Buccaneers of my first mock draft was Benjamin Morris. And now, as it turns out, because of concerns about the fact that he missed all but six games last year with the hip injury, although he
really didn't have a history of injuries before that. That probably meant he didn't get taken in the first round, But the Buccaneers felt like they got a first round talent in Benjamin Morris, and so that worked out very well for the Buccaneers day. I think he probably was maybe one of the last guys in the in the top tier of corners that they wanted to get. And so this is a guy who just before he got hurt was playing as well as any cornerback in the nation.
And he you know, I think he had what he of nine interceptions from twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three. The you know, Todd Bowles once more, ballhawks, ballhawks and his secondary and then that's what this guy is. And he can play, he can make interceptions. And Mike Bialde told me, he's like, it's not just playing zone and having your eyes on the quarterback. That the whole guy he covers so well that he makes interceptions and passes defense while in man demand coverage where his back is
to the ball most of the time. So the guy has a feel for the football, and that's, you know, obviously something we want.
Yeah, and I think we've seen that.
I mean, we always talk about the fact that Todd Bowles values versatility, especially because when we've looked at the ways that we've been able to deal with some injuries, especially in the secondary, is by having these Swiss army knives, like a Christianisy and like a Tyke Smith. So you want guys in your secondary in particular to be able to do multiple things, whether it's man in zone or
it's even kind of playing multiple positions. And I know they feel like a guy like Benjamin Morrison can do that. And you know a lot of people think, yeah, the only reason he was even here is because of the medical stuff that he had go on with his hip.
And I think it's interesting to look at the draft.
It's always sort of a gamble and a trying to predict the future of what people are going to be and there is no sure thing.
But if you feel like there is.
Someone you feel good about where they're progressing health wise, and you know that if not for that injury, they might have been a first round pick, that's that is the way you get a steal. That's how you take those risks in a draft of saying we think we can try to predict that this guy is going to be healthy at a certain point and can then really contribute in a way that we get a steal at that pick.
And what else does Todd Boles love in his cornerbacks?
Speed?
Speed?
Yeah, he was asked about how important speed testing is, like at the combine and so when you're evaluating those prospects, and Todd Boles specifically said, well, it's important in some positions like cornerback. You need speed at cornerback. And so look at Jacob Parrish. You know, I think Maxwell Harrison of Kentucky is a guy that Bucks might have been interested in if they didn't get Abuka, And he was the fastest guy at any position at the combine. But
Jacob Parrish wasn't far off. Yeah, four point three five forty yard dash. Very feisty player they call him because I guess he's about five to ten. So he's not the biggest, longest cornerback in the world. As you can see there, he's matching up against a bigger guy and doing a good job physically there. He has a ton of pass breakups the last couple of years. So he's productive, he's fast, and he probably again would have gone a little bit higher if he was six foot tall.
Yeah, he was a one and two hundred meter state champ in Kansas. Not so shabby.
And and I also like, yeah, I also played basketball, and I think Mike bial City also wrestled.
Like love this his brother did too. See you can picture the two brothers. Yeah, absolutely was a wrestler.
Yeah, five interceptions, ninety four tackles, and twenty three passes defensed in his last two seasons.
And so again, yeah, both corners seem to have that versatility.
Which now you take a position that you were a little unsure of just because of the idea of depth, and you know what if there are injuries and now you shored up with two guys who both bring versatility, and now suddenly you feel so much better about where you could move everybody in the.
Depth and what that could look like.
All right, So now let's move to our fourth round pick, outside linebacker David Walker out of Central Arkansas.
What did you like about this guy?
Well, so, first of all, David Walker was just productive. And if you're going to play at a level like Central Arkansas, that level you really have to dominate consistently to be on teams radars for the draft, because you can't just you can't play at that level and just sometimes be dominant. You have to dominate consistently and then still teams are gonna worry. Can they do that at a higher level? Will translate And that's why it's important that David Walker went to the Senior Bowl and just
absolutely dominated there as well. And so that answered a lot of questions for obviously Buck Scouts and some others around the league that this is a guy who can produce like he did at Central Arkansas at this level and to get that guy in the fourth round if he can produce anywhere near that level.
Thirty nine sacks, that's an insane number.
Yeat.
His stat line blew my mind off.
The thirty nine sacks, eighty two and a half tackles for loss, Yeah, two hundred and forty four tackles, six force fumbles, eight passes defense.
That is a stat line.
And so you're right, like, if you're going to be playing at that level, that's the stat line you want to see. But I did love that sack number because of the finishing clearly that he has of where I mean, yeah, there's he's clearly not only getting to the quarter of but getting them down.
And that's what we want to see.
Is those finishes, especially off the edge, especially off the edge like that, and Bowles has really emphasized, like, man, we've got to be able to get that rush before and to see a guy like this who clearly knows how to get there and finish a play, I think that's really exciting.
Yeah, and I don't think the Buccaneers have to rely on hitting an absolute grand slam right off the bat with David Walker because they are comfortable with their depth there before and after drafting David Walker. Hassan Reddick, I think really makes them feel a lot more comfortable. Yeah. Yeah's going into his third year and is progressing upwards. They think Chris Braswell can take a step forward. This time,
you still got Anthony Nelson. They feel like the pieces are there to have a decent but it passed rush edge rush, but it's always good to get more.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Hassan Reddick signing is what allowed them to draft a mecha Abuka that like, Yeah, I think that I can see that that would have been the thing that makes them go, Okay, we now don't have to do this out of a true like kind of desperation need situation that as much as there were things on defense we knew that they wanted to address.
I almost feel like that could have directly correlated to getting to just and then you still get to address edge later, but maybe you didn't feel that first or second round pressure.
It's the same thing with linebacker, with signing Anthony Walker and getting Servasi, a dentist back from injury.
Yeah, So David Walker, I think is an exciting one. Next up, fifth round, Elijah Roberts, defensive line out of SMU, my dad's.
Alma mater, T guy.
I think this was an indication of really the depth of defensive interior defensive lineman in this draft. It may have been the deepest position overall. You saw those guys going in every round right off right from Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham at the top of the draft, and on and on. Round after round, teams getting interior defensive linement they like, and so there was still one that the Buccaneers liked very much. In the fifth round in
Elijah Roberts from SMU. And it was funny because I talked to Mike Beial right after the pick and he was giving me some insight on what type of player he was, and he had just seen a tweet from Pro Football Focus about him. And it was funny for me the rest of that afternoon evening to see various people in the organization here come across that tweet because they're looking for information on this newest player, and everybody's like, wait,
is this true? And I kept seeing that in different forms because it PFF said he led the entire FBS over the last two years, combining with one hundred and thirty one quarterback pressures. That's incredible at every position.
One thirty college football like wild.
It's a wild stat. It's a crazy stat. And it was just so fun seeing people come across. They wanted for the other and you know, you're talking about a guy that's probably gonna play, he's probably going to be in your rotation, and get that in the fifth round. I think, again, this is just showing how this you know, you take the receiver at you take that premium position and player you love in the first round and you still hit the needs you wanted.
It's a big deal.
And still I mean seventeen and a half sacks over the last two seasons too, so it's not like he's only pressure and like he was, he was getting there and finishing that as well.
And I thought it was interesting that might be also.
Said that he played a little bit on the edge he did in college, and he was like, you know, maybe there's a chance he can play out there a little bit too. But again going back to how much Bulls loves that versatility. If you're seeing b to a occasionally drop like you know, I just know that no matter where on that defense, he loves guys that he can figure out ways to surprise the offense with stuff.
So a guy like this where yeah, like Beale said, like, yeah, he's gonna be in the defensive line room, he's not an edge, But how cool that he has done a little bit of both.
When they talk about doing that, I think they mostly talked about third downs. So you still you probably want as much as possible at Vdavey and college CANCI in there when your even fronts, when you have just four guys rushing the passer, and again you have your edge
rush rotation, but you could always use more. And if some of those stats are snaps are occasionally taken up by a guy like Elijah Roberts maybe playing a little bit on the edge in those obvious passing situations, you know you can get more pass rushers on the field.
All right.
And then finally, seventh round, we did not have a sixth rounder because that was part of the trade with Carlton Davis with the Lions. So seventh rounder tes Johnson Tesmanian devil, which I love. Course he talked about that of that that's why he's got that thing that says to the Tasmanian Devil around his neck. And he's wide receiver slash punt returner out of.
Oregon, slash Bucky.
Slash Bucky Irving's best round. I'm like, that's reason alone to draft him. You know, give give Bucky his best round up here. So yeah, I mean, one hundred and sixty nine catches twenty touchdowns in this Oregon offense these last two seasons. This is another guy that we think is available maybe later than you would have thought because of just his size, and man, I will take a guy that is smaller with that chip on his shoulder
any day. I mean, I feel like I've heard so many guys on our team, if they.
Are undersized, talk about what a motivating factor that is. But yeah, I mean this, this guy.
Seems like a playmaker that We've got to set of reactions in the media afterwards, and they did feel like it was a steal, and you know, some of them were as high as I would have taken this guy in the third round because of production. Now, obviously you said it. The reason is he's five to four. I mean, sorry, he's not. I was like, whoa, and fifty f four pounds is what I meant to say.
He's like, okay, now I might understand.
Yeah, fifty four pounds and his forty His official forty yard tash time was four point five one, which is, you know, pretty good. I wish I could run a four or five one, but it's not that absolute off the chart speed that would go. Okay, he's maybe only on fifty four pounds, but he runs a four point two eight. No, he runs a nice four point five one. But everybody says he plays a lot faster than that forty time, and you see it. I think the tape is the best thing to go to with him because there's.
Always what matters more.
There's tons of people who can run fast, but it doesn't show up in the game, and the game is.
Where it matters.
Is you see him turning cornerbacks.
Forty yard dashes are not deciding an overtime game for us.
You see him getting separation really quickly. You see him turning cornerbacks around. So he's a really good route runner. He's a very sudden player. He might help in the in the punt return. He said that punk return game is mine.
Oh, I love it. Yeah, he seems fun. I'm exciting, a lot of fun. Yeah.
Rob McCartney, assistant general manager, said he doesn't play four or five plays a lot faster, And then I love this.
He said.
There are a lot of instances when he's the fastest player on the field, and there's multiple games when he was the best player on the field too, And I'm like, and we got him.
In the seventh round, So all right, that's gonna do it for us.
On this draft recap show, and again, we were just so fired up to see all of these newest members of the crew. Make sure you're stay in tune for all the coverage of them as they head into Rookie Mini Camp and OTAs We'll see you next time.