The “Plight” of Mark Dominik

Upon the dismissal of Greg Schiano and Mark Dominik, there were many who disagreed with the decision. Some felt as though Greg Schiano should have been given an equal amount of time as his predecessor, Raheem Morris. There were also those who did not want to see Mark Dominik’s departure, seeing him as a victim of a head coach (or two) whose, as the Peter Principle states, levels of competence were inadequate for the position they had been promoted to.

Although the incompetence of Morris and Schiano cannot be overlooked, there is reason to believe that Dominik contributed heavily to his own firing as well. After reading this article by BucsNation.com, I did some research to look back at all of the drafts that took place while Dominik was GM of the Buccaneers. Let’s take a closer look:

2009 Draft

1.     Josh Freeman

2.     Traded to Cleveland for Kellen Winslow

3.     Roy Miller

4.     Kyle Moore

5.     Xavier Fulton

6.     Traded to Chicago

7.     Three 7^th-round picks

a.     E.J. Biggers

b.     Traded to Pittsburgh

c.      Sammie Stroughter

The Buccaneers 2009 draft was highlighted by QB Josh Freeman. Although many saw him as a project or unworthy of a first-round selection, the Buccaneers were in need of a franchise QB, and they went with Freeman. Freeman didn’t make his first start until midseason and led a winless Bucs team to a 31-28 win over the Green Bay Packers—their first of the season. Freeman’s tenure with the Bucs was up and down, including an excellent 2010 season and promising 2012 season sandwiching a down 2011. The wheels fell off in 2013 and, after starting 0-3, Greg Schiano decided to bench Freeman before ultimately releasing him.  Freeman was the last player of the 2009 draft remaining on the roster before his release.

2010 Draft

1.     Gerald McCoy

2.     Two picks

a.     Brian Price

b.     Arrelious Benn

3.     Myron Lewis

4.     Mike Williams

5.     Traded

6.     Brent Bowden

7.     Three picks

a.     Cody Grimm

b.     Dekoda Watson

c.      Erik Lorig

The following draft has turned out a little better for the Buccaneers, when looking at it today. Gerald McCoy has turned into a, if not the, premier defensive tackle in the entire league, as well as the face of the franchise. After two injury-marred seasons to begin his career, McCoy has put together back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons and was voted to the All-Pro team for his performance in the 2013-2014 season.

Both Brian Price and Arrelious Benn’s stories are well documented. Each player showed great potential, are were worthy of the selections that the Buccaneers used on them based on their college production, tape and measurable; however, their careers have been decimated by injuries. Price’s injury was something that had never been seen, while Benn’s injuries have been ongoing. Mike Williams provided great production for a fourth-round pick, coming just short of 1,000-yard seasons in two of his first three seasons, but off-field antics led to him being traded away for a next to nothing after Lovie Smith’s hiring. Cody Grimm and Dekoda Watson were good picks who, it can be argued, outperformed their draft spots, with Watson being one of the better special teams players in the league and Cody Grimm starting a number of games (and holding his own) during his rookie season.

2011 Draft

1.     Adrian Clayborn

2.     Da’Quan Bowers

3.     Mason Foster

4.     Luke Stocker

5.     Ahmad Black

6.     Allen Bradford

7.     Two picks

a.     Anhony Gaitor

b.     Daniel Hardy

This draft is still under review but, beyond Mason Foster, has underperformed so far. Adrian Clayborn has played well at times, but has been more “solid” than “spectacular,” which is not what you expect from such a high draft choice. Bowers has been disappointing so far, not being able to stay healthy and “put it all together” to this point.

2012 Draft

1.     Two picks

a.     Mark Barron

b.     Doug Martin

2.     Lavonte David

3.     Traded

4.     Traded

5.     Najee Goode

6.     Keith Tandy

7.     Two picks

a.     Michael Smith

b.     Drake Dunsmore

I believe that this draft was the best of Dominik’s tenure. Although it is still under evaluation, the first three selections have shown great potential in their first two years in the league. Barron has shown flashes of playmaking ability as an in-the-box safety, a pass defender and as a blitzer. Martin had a great rookie year, finishing with almost 2,000 all-purpose yards and 12 TDs. Lavonte David has, in two years, become the best 4-3 WLB in the league.

2013 Draft

1.     Traded

2.     Johnthan Banks

3.     Mike Glennon

4.     Two picks

a.     Akeem Spence

b.     William Gholston

5.     Steven Means

6.     Mike James

7.     Traded

Again, this draft cannot be properly evaluated yet, but several selections have shown potential in their short careers. Banks had some good moments as a rookie after being thrown to the fire. Glennon performed exceptionally after he took over as the starter, despite the terrible offensive ranking that the Buccaneers with. James filled in for Doug Martin for several games and put together some strong rushing performances, Gholston came on strong at the end of the season and Spence started 14 of 16 games.

Overall

Two inept head coaches and what seemed to be the owners’ confusion about their strategy on how to build the team marred Dominik’s tenure as a GM; however, looking back at the drafts that he oversaw, he definitely contributed to the hot seat that he was sitting on. The first two drafts can both be reasonably given poor grades, with the 2010 draft maybe being bumped up to a C- or D due to McCoy’s production, leadership and dominance in the last two seasons, Mike Williams’ production before being traded, and Watson’s special teams prowess. The 2011 draft has provided two solid players in Foster and Clayborn but nothing more, and the other two drafts are still under evaluation.

As fans, it’s difficult to know just what the GM’s job is with any given team, but if drafting talent was a responsibility of Dominik rather than the head coaches, he was deserving of the criticism he received. While he was responsible for drafting several players who will serve as the nucleus of the team under Lovie Smith, the misses on early draft picks like Brian Price and Arrelious Benn, mixed in with some questionable transactions, played a major role in his termination. 

Here’s hoping that Jason Licht doesn’t have a similar fate.

Excitement for Offense

The 2014 NFL draft saw the Buccaneers use every selection on offensive players. With defensive-minded head coach Lovie Smith now in charge, not many fans would have predicted the Buccaneers’ first draft to go in that direction, but the offense needed help in the form of playmakers…and that’s just what they got.

With their first two picks in the draft, the Bucs selected Michael Evans and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins. Both players represent two-sport athletes during their high school days who have successfully transitioned to football, using outstanding athleticism to create mismatches for opposing defenders. Evans stands at 6’5” with good speed for a player that size, as shown during his combine 4o-yard dash time of 4.53. Sefarian-Jenkins stands just a hair shy of 6’6” (according to his NFL.com Draft Profile), and says he’s recently run in the 4.6 range with a trainer. The combination of size and speed that these two players have, when combined with the talent that was already on the Buccaneers roster, will definitely present problems for opposing defenses.

Evans has consistently drawn comparisons to his new teammate, Vincent Jackson; however, he could actually be surpass Vincent Jackson’s best in the very near future. That’s no knock on V-Jax—and some may consider that an optimistic viewpoint—but I believe it is a very real possibility when considering a couple of things:

1.     Mike Evans is, as of May 8, 2014, the No. 2 receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

*      There is not a single receiver on the Bucs roster besides Vincent Jackson who has the talent of Mike Evans. The No. 2 spot is his to lose.

2.     Evans will be mentored by a wise Vincent Jackson.

*      Since becoming a full-time starter in 2007, Vincent Jackson has failed to reach 1,000 yards receiving just twice—once in his first year as full-time starter and another time in 2010, when he only played in 5 games due to legal issues and a contract holdout. Other than those two seasons (as a full-time starter), Jackson has been great, averaging 1195 yards and 8 touchdowns. They may not be elite numbers, but Evans will greatly benefit from having an older, wiser Jackson who can teach him how to use his skills to have great success.

Evans presents a matchup problem for any defender. He’ll be too big for most cornerbacks, and often to fast for safeties. With work on his route running and truly dedicating himself to being a student of the game, he could indeed develop into a special receiver—one that Tampa has never had on its roster.

And then there’s Austin Sefarian-Jenkins—another big playmaking receiver for this new Buccaneers offense. Standing between 6’5” and 6’6” with great athleticism for the position, he’s a matchup nightmare as well. His combination of speed and strength will present problems for linebackers and safeties in both the passing and running game.  Some have compared his skillset and abilities to Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham, and that’s great company to be in. In fact, Gronkowski’s NFL Draft Profile features a scouting report that is very comparable to that of Sefarian-Jenkins.

With added size, the Buccaneers have an imposing group of receivers who all excel at making tough, contested catches, but can also work the middle and deep parts of the field in the passing game. And with a “defensive-minded” coach at the helm, fans are once again excited for offense in Tampa Bay.

"Johnny Football" Part II

Upon reading this, I am officially disgusted with anyone who believes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should trade up for Johnny Manziel. As I’ve written about before, I am not sold on Manziel as a prospect who can become great and even less sold on Manziel being a QB that will help this team—or any team for that matter—win now, as Lovie Smith has stated he intends to do.

I’ve drawn comparisons between Manziel and Tim Tebow, which some have stated are unfair. From a skillset standpoint, I could somewhat agree that the comparisons are unfair, as Manziel doesn’t have the problems that plagued Tebow as a passer, like an elongated windup and terrible accuracy. However, I can see legit comparisons in the fan bases that support the two players. Both groups offered undying support for the player in question, becoming almost as maniacal as an obsessive Beyoncé fan at the thought of anyone doubting their careers or talents. (Great skit, SNL.) Both groups, when it comes to those particular players, stray away from objectivity and denounce the opinions of anyone who dares to doubt their “inevitable” success because, you know, these players are winners.

In the eyes of those people, JoeBucsFan included, Manziel is a can’t miss, once-in-a-lifetime prospect. To them, he will take the NFL by storm by showing the passing prowess of Drew Brees and the running ability of Michael Vick…and that’s highly unlikely. I’m not saying that Manziel will absolutely be a bust but, in my opinion, there is a higher probability of him busting than busting out. His instincts are to run after his first read, rarely fully going through his progressions before attempting to escape the pocket. Besides that, he has never taken a snap from under center or run anything resembling a pro style offense. Rather than acknowledging these points as valid concerns, many from the “Johnny Football” groupies claim that these are just slight problems that can be coached away. There are so many problems with making statements like that, with the first being that, if all problems could just be coached away, busts wouldn’t exist (unless they wanted to be busts and ignored coaching).

Can He Win Now?

I am not of the belief that Manziel has the skillset to step onto the field in Week 1 and take the reigns.. You’re talking about a QB who has never taken a snap from under center, never had to read defenses like he’ll be asked to do on Sundays and whose offensive scheme dictated the defensive coverage more than anything else the QB did. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe he’ll make an easy transition into the NFL (unless a team does plan on running a spread formation).

And the Pundits Say…

The public opinion on Manziel has been wid-ranging, with several draft analysts not approving of him being a franchise QB. Most recently, Mike Mayock left Manziel out of top half of his last mock draft before the big event tomorrow night. On the same day, Hall of Famer Warren Sapp said he doesn’t think Manziel is worth a top-15 pick.

The opposition says that Manziel is possibly the only QB in this class who can start immediately, citing that his style of play will not change much from the college ranks to the pros. What??? Exactly how could his style of play not change at the pro level if he’s not drafted to a team that runs a spread? That formation is what has stopped Manziel from getting killed, so how—in the NFL, where the best of the best compete and defenders are much faster and smarter than those in the SEC—will Manziel succeed without making some critical changes to his style of play?

Then, of course, you have opinions like this—those who say that drafting Manziel will be good for the Bucs because of the attention that comes along with him. Do you know what really brings attention to a team? WINNING! I couldn’t care less about Manziel’s Hollywood attitude or the circus that will inevitably follow him to whatever city he’ll be residing in after tomorrow night. The only attention I care about is that which typically comes with annual contenders…and champions.