Draftees & Coaching Staff Speak

Tampa, FL - Find out what the Buccaneer draftees had to say after being drafted on day one. Get the answers to why the team choose CB Aqib Talib over hometown product CB Mike Jenkins. Find out if Talib plans on starting this coming season.

HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
(On Aqib Talib)
"I think he's an outstanding football player and a dynamic playmaker. He really impressed us with our visits with him. He's an excitable kind of guy and he's going to add a lot to our football team."

(On Talib being able to play several positions)
"He's going to play corner. Creatively, this is the kind of guy you see playing on offense [where] he averages 20-yards a catch. He can return punts I believe. He has a lot to do with the explosion of [Kansas] Jayhawk football back onto scene. In the Orange Bowl I believe he was the [most valuable player]. He just has a knack for making plays on both sides of the ball and on special teams. To put him in a room with Ronde Barber and the defensive backs that we have; Tanard Jackson, Jermaine Phillips, Phillip Buchanon, we feel like we got a lot better today in an area that we needed to keep a thumb on."

(On the possibility of drafting a wide receiver in the first round)
"My guts are ripped out of my body right now, I'm no different than our fans. You fall in love with some of these guys, you get relationships with them, you study their tape, their profiles, you follow their progress on a daily basis. You drive home at night, wake up in the morning and think about what a great thrill it would be to coach some of these guys. That's why they have general managers that make the tough calls and I certainly support Bruce [Allen] on this. I know our staff is excited as a whole. We got a guy with a lot of juice, a lot of energy and I think you'll see that when you meet him. But these are tough picks for sure."

(On if Talib was one of the highest rated players on the draft board)
"We felt it was a good year for corners. [Leodis] McKelvin went ahead of us, there is a great corner right down the street, Mike Jenkins who will go shortly and [Dominique Rodgers-]Cromartie went just before us. We're talking about a guy who is almost 6'1" and I believe [he] leads the nation in passes defensed. If he doesn't lead the nation he's close to the lead. He intercepts passes, he's got tremendous ball skills and rare ball skills. In a [division] like ours where [Mushin] Muhammad is back in Carolina with Steve Smith and we all know the explosive potential of New Orleans and the Atlanta Falcons. We certainly are excited with Aqib."

(On Talib's assurance to the team that any problems in his past are behind him)
"He came out and was pretty honest about what occurred. I'm not going to live in the past, I'm going to live in the future. We're going to give him an opportunity to prove it. He understands exactly what we expect of him and I believe he is excited about proving that he has all of the right stuff. I would really rather not dig up this kid's past. He's admitted to certain things and people who want to research that are welcome to. I think when you meet Aqib Talib you're going to see an upbeat guy who is thrilled to death to be in the National Football League, on a defense that can utilize his skills and maybe be on a football team where the offensive staff can use his skills also. I'll let Aqib speak on those matters. He's a man and I certainly back him. I have tremendous confidence in him as do our scouts, coaching staff and our entire organization."

(On if he sees Talib coming in and immediately competing for a starting job)
"I hope so. We didn't take him here in the first round to come over there and chart plays. I expect him to come in here and full-force compete. He's in a competitive situation. We feel like we've got two very good corners here, Ronde [Barber] and Phillip Buchanon, and Eugene Wilson gives us some real versatility, a guy that can play the nickel, play either safety position. We're excited about him also. I don't want to undermine how excited we are about Eugene. But we do have the ability now, I think, in the secondary to mix up coverages, if we choose to blitz a little bit more, which is a big part of the National Football League these days. It's good to have some ball-hawking guys back there that can cover man-to-man and instinctively play the football when it's in flight."

(On selecting Talib over Mike Jenkins)
"I'll just say it was a very tough decision. You can only speculate who's going to be there when you're on the clock. At the end of the day, you've got 10 minutes to make a pick. This was a tough decision, not only considering offensive guys but defensive guys. We're happy Aqib Talib was sitting there at No. 20 and we'll move on from here."

(On taking a defensive player)
"I take pride in being a head coach once in a while. I do like to win games and I'm excited about this guy Talib. We drafted a guy on defense in every round last year and I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made with those guys. Had it not been for Gaines [Adams] and Tanard Jackson, certainly some of the other guys, we might not have been able to capture the South. We have a long way to go in this draft. We're counting on some of our offensive players, young guys to step up. We think they're pretty good."

(On Dexter Jackson)
"It's a guy we like, he's a good kid. I think he is very fast and he is going to help us in our return game. He returns punts and kickoffs and that's an area at the end of the day that accumulates a lot of yardage. We feel like we got fast, we got a guy that has versatility and he'll have a good guy to learn from in Joey Galloway. We're excited to have Dexter."

(On the decision to trade the second round pick)
"I think Bruce [Allen] will address all of those issues when he is done. He is fielding a lot of phone calls. We did pick up a fifth-round draft choice [and] we were lacking a sixth and seventh rounder coming into the draft. At least we'll be able to put our heads together tonight and pick four more players in the next three rounds which is something we're encouraged by."

(On drafting Jackson)
"He's one of the top graded players we had. There were some other guys that we're under consideration and I'm sure Bruce will go into that when he wraps up the draft summary. But when we picked at the bottom of the second round where we chose to pick after the trade. We felt Dexter had speed and he can help Galloway certainly and Joey can help him. He can help us in the return game which is an area we wanted to get better at not only punts but kickoffs. We think the guy has upside and explosive play making opportunities and we're eager to see what he can do."

CB AQIB TALIB
(On the expectations the Buccaneers have for him)
"Whoever called my name that was the plan, to have a chance to start. I am a Tampa Bay Buccaneer and I plan on making an impact, coming in and working hard, and making an impact right away."

(On his ability to play the cover two)
"We started to play a lot of cover two in my last year at Kansas. I kind of got introduced to it a lot in my junior year and I will be ready for it. Coach Kiffin is the master at it and I think with his help and Coach Raheem [Morris'] help, I think I will be alright learning the scheme, and make a lot of plays in the cover two."

(On his previous off the field issues)
"It was a stage that when I was a young man, moving out of the house, being on your own for the first time, I went through a little stage in college. All of that stuff happened two and a half years ago. That was a stage I went through in my life, and I learned a lot from it. I am a grown man now, I have moved forward from that. It is all behind me now."

(On why the Buccaneers chose him)
"I think defense wins championships. If you build a nice defense you have a better chance to win a championship. A player like me coming in, I make plays and I think I bring a lot to the table for the Bucs."

(On if the selection was expected)
"It was a surprise, but at the same time I had a real good conversation with Coach Gruden when I met with Tampa Bay. I felt real good about it that if I made it down to number 20 I had a chance of going to Tampa Bay. So I felt good about it when their pick came up."

(On what he and Coach Gruden discussed)
"He told me that I reminded him a lot of Charles Woodson. He said that if he had an opportunity to coach a player like Charles Woodson again he didn't want to pass it up. I kind of just laid it all on the line and if I get to the Bucs, I think I am going to go to the Bucs. I sat there and I told my dad that, and it played out and it happened."

(On his personality and how it translates onto the field)
"I think every cornerback has to play with swagger. You can ask that to any cornerback in the league and he will tell you that he plays with a lot of confidence because it comes with the position. Playing cornerback you have to have a lot of confidence."

WR DEXTER JACKSON
(On becoming a Buccaneer)
"I walked outside and had a gut feeling because I saw nine receivers off the board and four slot receivers. I know that when I came down for my visit to Tampa, Jon Gruden told me that they were looking for a speed receiver to really give them a deep threat guy in the slot receiver because Joey Galloway was aging. Coach got me on the phone and said Dex; would you like to be a Buccaneer? I was like coach, I would love to, I was very overwhelmed, and this is just a blessing."

(On being a small receiver)
"I just feel like the mismatches it causes by making teams draft nickels and fast corners to guard us in the slot. With my size, I may not be the tallest guy but I feel like my work ethic and my speed can cause some problems for the defense."

(On when he thought he would be drafted)
"Before the season I was already thinking free agent. I feel like the Michigan game really helped me. Basically after the combine my agent was telling me late third, maybe early three, or late four. After my pro day, with the question of me catching my passes, there were 15 or 20 scouts there, and I caught all my passes and ran good routes so I answered that question. After that it was boosted up to late second or top three."

(On his thoughts about no receivers being drafted in the first round)
"I started to worry a lot. My agent told me that I was the 10th best receiver on most people's board so if eight or nine go then maybe. I was like there is no way they can take nine to 10 receivers in one round. That was just my observation of the whole thing. It is just crazy how it all worked out for me."

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MONTE KIFFIN
(On what CB Aqib Talib brings to the position and if he can realistically come in and compete for a starting job)
"We always let guys come in and compete, especially first round or second round picks. They are going to come in and compete. But that doesn't mean that we just start them. They have to earn it because we like who we have right now. When we go back to what we call the nickel package, last year we ran like 1,082 plays on defense and 42 percent of the time we played nickel which means three wideouts in the game. So we got to match up with three corners. That's why you really need a really good third corner because he is one snap away from being a starter but he is also going to play right now close to 50 percent of the time. You also need a fourth corner. You can't have enough corners. We play the Saints September 7, opening game, they run three wide's on the field the first play of the game, the third corner goes in and starts. He is like a starter. Now what if somebody gets hurts in preseason, that guy becomes a starter in base defense so really not only do you need three, you need four.

(On how having Ronde Barber around Talib along with some of the other veterans)
"When you have Ronde [Barber], and Jermaine Phillips coming off a real good year and you have Tanard Jackson, he went through it as a rookie but he isn't a leader yet but he's a really good guy and he has been here so he can help him. Then you got Derrick Brooks in there, so we have really good leadership, we have always had that, so I talk about the chemistry and stuff. When we come in that room and these guys see them taking notes and Ronde Barber is on the field everyday practicing. When you're in there as a young corner and you see that, you feed off that and that is just the way the system works in whatever position. I just think that our leadership over the years has been so good. It goes way back to Hardy Nickerson, Shelton Quarles, and Brooks."

(On drafting a cornerback high for the first time)
"It has nothing to do with style, or the Tampa two, we just didn't pick them. We have never taken a number one pick since I have been here. In 1996, Ronde was a three, Brian Kelly was a two in 1998, and since then we haven't had a corner picked in the first or second round. It has nothing to do with the system, I like corners. The thing about Talib is he can run. He can't teach speed, you can improve technique. We can take a guy and we can teach a guy to play cover two, but you can't teach a guy to play three deep or man to man. You can't teach them to run fast backwards or cover guys deep unless he has some talent. There are some really fast defensive backs that come out every year that won't tackle, but we can teach to tackle and they have to buy into it. When you come here, I think Phillip Buchanon will tell you he has improved his tackling since he came here. Some corners will tell you I am paid to tackle, but I say you are paid to cover and tackle."

DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
(On Aqib Talib)
"A guy with Aqib's talent coming here just adds to a group that's pretty strong already. He's coming here to fill the role that needs to be filled. We lost a big player in Brian Kelly and what he did for us the last 10 years. We've got to get another guy to have the ability and potential to do that and I'm just looking forward to coach him. It's going to be a lot of fun. The guy has got a lot of talent and it showed up at the combine big time. He's got ball skills and does all of the things that we like to do. [He's an] instinctive player and hopefully he can pan out and do some of the good things that have been done around here in the past."

(On Talib being a flashy player)
"He is definitely a flash player. You look at his tape in college you see a lot of stuff where he makes big time plays. But we've got him to get him to do the flash plays consistently and that's my job. I look forward to that stuff and that's the fun part."

(On why he is excited about Talib)
"He's similar to Ronde Barber as far as flash. Ronde Barber without the know how of how not to give up the flash. Once you get that into him and he has the great leadership as far as Ronde, he'll come in and learn some things from him. We've got [Phillip] Buchanon here to help him out a little bit to teach him about the growing pains he's going to go through. He's got a chance to learn from a young guy like [Tanard] Jackson who just went through it last year. We've got Eugene Wilson who can teach him about winning, being in a Super Bowl, being tough and competing. He's got a strong [locker] room and it's good to bring in a player into a strong room."

(On Talib Aqib being familiar with Tampa's defense helps him)
"He's going to think everything is going to help him right now. Once he gets here and realizes that it's about him locking in and buying into everything around him. The faster he figures that out the faster he'll have success."