Draft Preview - Receivers and Tight Ends It is fair to say that the consensus public pick for the Buccaneers with the 4th overall pick is Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson, in general he is viewed as the top prospect in this years draft, this opinion was formed by his play on the field and not by combine results. That said in his combine results were impressive measuring in at 6-5 and 239lbs, he planned not to take part in any of the combine testing yet while watching the other prospects work there way through a plethora of events, Johnson decided to at least record a 40 time, that 40 time we now know was a 4.35, so the good news is we know that he is big, fast and probably the top prospect in this draft regardless of position the bad news is of course that Al Davis also knows this an may find it hard to resist him especially with JaMarcus Russell’s less than impressive appearance at the combine. The positive aspects of Johnson’s game are posted everywhere you look especially since the combine, yes he has a big frame, top end speed, is a very good blocker, makes spectacular grabs and adjusts well to the ball. While he may be one of the best wide receiver prospects to enter the draft in a long time, many look at him like Terrell Owens but without the attitude issues mostly because of the match up problems that he can create, Larry Fitzgerald is the last wide receiver to enter the draft that was any where near the prospect that Calvin Johnson is. That said Calvin isn’t the perfect prospect that many would have you believe, for me the concern is that we have seen a large number of tall, big bodied wide receivers come into the draft with a high degree of fanfare and fail to live up to this billing, names that come to mind include Reggie Williams, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers etc. Johnson shows a number of undesirable traits including less than stellar route running at times, a lack of concentration, which leads to quite a few drops and has tendency to disappear for long stretches of a game some of this was not helped by the poor level of quarterbacking at Georgia Tech. He is a top prospect but there always has to be a case of buyer beware when drafting a wide receiver this high, since 1990, eight have been drafted in the top five. Braylon Edwards, Larry Fitzgerald, Charles Rogers, Andre Johnson, Peter Warrick, Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Westbrook, Desmond Howard. It certainly is a mixed bag, however there is still a good chance that Detroit or Cleveland will auction off there pick to someone who wants to jump ahead of the Buccaneers for Johnson. There is little doubt that this class is deep at wide receiver, after Johnson there are a group that could be drafted anywhere between the middle of the first round to the middle of the second. Ted Ginn Jr (Ohio State) will be a first round pick based purely on his world class speed he is a poor route runner and he really doesn’t make would be tacklers miss in the open field, His biggest issue that most of his plays have come from running by corners in the Big 10 its just not that easy in the NFL. Others that will be talked about early in the first day are Dwayne Bowe (LSU) who is quite simply a less polished version of Michael Clayton coming out of college, Dwayne Jarrett (USC) catches just about anything thrown to him, has great size just lacks the speed…not only does this sound a lot like former Trojan Mike Williams he played in the same position and the same system. Sydney Rice (South Carolina) and Robert Meachem (Tennessee) are first round quality wide outs that could find themselves outside the first 32 because of depth and need, it improbable that the Buccaneers would look at any of these wide outs should they slip to the second round with the value available and need on the defensive side of the board, however late on the first day or early on the second day there could be a few prospects worthy of consideration. Jason Hill (Washington State) who has shot up the board after an excellent combine but he will be drafted too high because of these results and struggles to get separation in college. Johnnie Lee Higgins (UTEP) has the speed and moves but doesn’t always translate into production (much like his college QB) has had trouble with the more physical corners due to his size most predict him as a 3rd rounder but any later than that and he is excellent value, Paul Williams (Fresno State) is another late 3rd rounder who hasn’t lived up to his talent and physical ability. Mike Walker (UCF) could be a sleeper in this draft at wide reciver has good timed speed, adjust to the ball well and quite simply knows how to get open, has an concerning injury history regarding his knees, probably is more of a possession receiver in the NFL but could be a good second day pick up. One of my favourite second day wide outs is Brandon Myles (West Virginia) he is one of the true deep threats available on the second day, was explosive at the senior bowl but not invited to the combine. Doesn’t offer much after the catch and is not very physical but certainly a late round prospect worth keeping an eye on. Another two relatively big names that will be available in the last few rounds of the draft will be Dallas Baker (Florida) and Ryan Moore (Miami). Baker was very productive at the college level but doesn’t have the bulk or timed speed that many look for while Moore was one of the top receivers coming out of high school and has shown promise but never delivered the one big year to make him a high pick. Because just like everyone else I missed on Colston last year even after he performed well in the east/west game I’m going to throw in two small school receivers who could get some consideration. David Ball (New Hampshire) owns just about every record in division two, has good size/speed combination and can just o up and get the ball, hasn’t played against a decent level of competition but did look great in the East-west game going up against other potential draftees. Jacoby Jones (Lane) is the other prospect, a deep threat who is a smooth runner and when he jumps it look like he should be involved in march madness, criticisms of Jones has been his drops and his level of competition. He is very raw but an excellent athlete. Tight Ends Gruden has drafted five tight ends since he joined Tampa (Tracy Winstrom, Nate Lawrie, Alex Smith, TJ Williams and Tim Massaquoi.) with only Smith (3rd round) being drafted in the first day, so its not out of the question that we select another tight end at some point in the draft. Greg Olsen (Miami) and Zach Miller (Arizona) are the two top tight ends in the draft but make very little sense for the Buccaneers to select either, Ben Patrick (Delaware) is a pure pass catching tight end and reminds me of Alex Smith, also he will get a lot of hype as a small school marvel after he was invited to the combine. A few of the later round tight ends will make the most sense with names such as Martez Milner (Georgia) who has a few too many drops but Georgia constantly produce high quality tight ends that perform well in the NFL. Clark Harris of Rutgers is really nice prospect, great hands, good size and speed, struggles with his blocking but has a lot of raw tools that a NFL coaching staff could work with. Another tight end with a lot of the physical tools is Scott Chandler (Iowa) he moved from wide receiver so he struggles with his blocking but has a big frame and while he is still in his early stages of development as a tight end he certainly shows promise. Wayne Maw, March 2007