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Hey. My apologies for the delay, but a religious holiday and a fantastic day of March Madness slowed me down.
Outside of WR, the Bucs feel like they're at least solid at every position on the field, seeing how they've drafted two players now that should start for them on Day One, and they've acquired around 15 players at several different positions of need. So now they examine how they can make several of their solid positions better, since they don't regard any remaining WR worthy of this pick.
OT Tony Hills from Texas is a freak athlete, once having been a tight end and then all of a sudden emerging over the past year as a dominant offensive tackle. It's not a freak accident, either. Hills is a passionate firebreather who is a hyperactive, John Henderson-like presense in the locker room and a nasty, Brian Waters-like presense on the field. The Bucs are okay at tackle, with Penn at the left and Trueblood at the right, so at the very least Hills can supply depth, but it's likely he can take over immediately at RT over Trueblood. He needs to get bigger, but he's technically ready now.
QB Josh Johnson draws some intrigue from the trigger-happy front office of the Bucs, since they looooove pulling the trigger on QBs. But they already have like 20 veteran QBs. Although... Garcia's probably in his last year or two, Griese's no QBotF and the Bucs have pretty much admitted that, and the confidence is low in Tampa that either Simms or Gradkowski will amount to anything. So Johnson, a special player in his own regard, intrigues them...
MLB Beau Bell is what the doctor ordered in terms of having the tools to be a Cover 2 MLB, a boom-or-bust prospect for Tampa's scheme. But the Bucs are done at MLB this offseason. They've got good depth at the position with Ruud, Nece and Trotter, and they've signed Lehman and Joe -- that's five prospective MLBs. Bell is quickly discarded as an option.
RB Ray Rice is another gent they've discarded immediately who would have been worth a serious look. They've loaded up at the position with veteran acquisitions.
The only real players worthy of a reach here would be CB Terrell Thomas of USC (tall & athletic, but not a great tackler) or DT DeMario Pressley from North Carolina State (a project 3-tech), but they pass. No WR is worthy of consideration at this point.
The choice here is Hills or Johnson. But the prospect of beefing up a thin position is too enticing for their Super Bowl season in 2008 compared to the iffy nature of a Josh Johnson pick, especially when they had Hills valued as a 2nd rounder.
With the 83rd pick of the 2008 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select OT Tony Hills from the University of Texas.
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