Draft preview - Special Teams ``I missed it. That's it,'' (Matt Bryant) ``We won by two or three inches, If the ball goes left two or three inches, they make the field goal.'' (DE Alex Brown) 4-8-TB 33(14:25) 9-T.Tupa punt is BLOCKED by 51-T.Johnson, Center-66-R.Benjamin, RECOVERED by OAK-41-E.Johnson at TB 13. 41-E.Johnson for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Special teams are usually only noticed when they are either very special or on that one play that has the potential to change the outcome of a game. As we all know, special teams can impact a game on every drive but the ones we tend to remember are the missed field goals that can cost the Bucs a game. Replacing Gramatica with Bryant has no doubt been an improvement but there is a reason that Bryant didn’t stick in New York and when he missed a 29-yard field goal against the bears that might have just been a glimpse of why he didn’t. Then again Bryant’s 21-of-25 feels like an marked improvement of Gramatica’s 16-of-26 and one of the only other options on the roster is NFL Europe kicker Xavier Beitia who missed a number of vital kicks in his college career. Gruden isn’t afraid of drafting a kicker high as is evident by making Sebastian Janakowski the first kicker drafted in the first round and last year making noises about drafting Mike Nugent before the Jets reached for him in the early rounds. Kickers Josh Houston (Ohio State) Replaced Mike Nugent this season and at time during his career beat out Nugent for the Buckeyes starting job. He is just about automatic from inside the 40 but his accuracy at long range does suffer dramatically. There is a chance he will be the only kicker drafted. He has good leg power and would be excellent for kick offs, 22-of-28 fgs (5-of-10 40+) and 49-of-70 kick-offs were recorded as touchbacks. Steve Gostkowski (Memphis) has more than enough power to hit field goals 50 yards or better and is also reliable and accurate inside the 40. At times he appears to be more dedicated to playing for the Memphis baseball team than that football team, there are questions over his desire to play football not over his ability to play football. Punters Ryan Plackemeier (Wake Forest) Strongest leg of any kicker/punter in the draft, gets great hang time on his punts his only real weakness is that he does not adjust well to poorly snapped ball at all. Needs to improve his accuracy to be great at the next level but will be drafted because of his power alone. Steve Weatherford (Illinois) Weatherford is a good solid collegiate punter who has the potential to be a very good NFL punter. He has all the skills to succeed and get drafted, his major issue is that he holds onto the ball too long, last year the new staff at Illinois try to correct this by changing from a 3-step to a 2-step approach this however messed up his mechanics. If an NFL special teams coach can fix this problem they might have drafted a very good punter. Long Snapper Gavin Tarquino (Georgia Tech) There is a chance that he is a draftable talent, I just find it difficult to imagine drafting a specialist long snapper, its okay to draft a tight end or a guard who can long snap for you as well but I just cant see the Bucs drafting a specialist at this position. That said Tarquino is very consistent the snap always looks picture perfect and are said to arrive in under 0.7 seconds every time. Return Specialists This year there are not many return only specialists there are however a lot of prospects who could certainly improve a teams return game while they develop at a key position these would includes prospects such as :- Devin Hester (Miami), Danieal Manning (Abilene Christian), P.J Daniels (Georgia Tech), Will Blackmon (Boston College), Marques Hagans (Virginia), Delaine Walker (Central Missouri State), Willie Reid (Florida State), Sinorice Moss (Miami) and Gerald Riggins Jnr (Tennessee) For me there is only one prospect that could class a purely a returns specialist and that is Jeremy Bloom (Colorado), he is a professional skier who has been away from the game for over two years, he has a very good burst over short distances and also has the speed to take it for a touchdown. Is a very disciplined athlete but is said to have huge ego and might just decide to go back to skiing if the NFL isn’t going to well. Has not developed as a receiver because of his time away from the game due to NCAA restrictions and questions over his durability remain, but no doubt someone will take a chance on him during the second day. Wayne Maw, April 2006