Mark Dominik May Not Be Finished Shopping

April 5th, 2012

Joe saw this half-asleep last night on Twitter and thought it may just be a random rumor.

But apparently it is not. It seems Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is wooing Chicago defensive tackle Amobi Okoye. That’s the scent that Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times has sniffed out.

We’ve learned the Bucs are interested in signing Okoye, interest that is said to be mutual. But Okoye has other suitors, too, including the Broncos, Bengals and Bears. It does not seem a resolution is imminent, though that could change quickly.

A return to the Bears seems less likely if you believe Chicago general manager Phil Emery, who was quoted in the Chicago Tribune saying, β€œRight now, Amobi is trying to decide which direction he is going. We’ve had conversations with him. So far, we have not been able to work out a deal. Amobi is probably going in a different direction.”

Okoye, if acquired by the Bucs, would fit nicely in a three-man rotation at defensive tackle. He would provide an upgrade over the current third tackle, Roy Miller, and would take some of the load off of Price, who struggled in 2011 to fight through his ongoing pelvic and hamstring issues.

Yes, this does add up. Price is trying to recover from an injury that is still very much a question mark. To date, though numbers prove he is valuable on the field, GMC has yet to play a full season. And pretty soon, Roy Miller is going to have to show something.

Yes, Joe wants a linebacker nearly as much as he wants to see Rachel Watson pulling herself out of the Gulf, crawling into Joe’s boat.

But if the Bucs can beef up the defensive tackles, it should help the linebackers out.

Lord knows the Bucs linebackers need a world of help.

92 Responses to “Mark Dominik May Not Be Finished Shopping”

  1. Macabee Says:

    Mark, Don’t let this one get away!!

  2. legacy Says:

    Sign him he may be the best d tackle on this team if signed

  3. SteveK Says:

    Okoye would be a GREAT pick up, pull the trigger on this one Dom.

    Fork over the dough, brother!

  4. SteveK Says:

    Okoye has beeter #’s then any of our DT’s.

    Sign the man!

    For his career thus Far:

    Played 78/80 games… Durable πŸ™‚

    15 total sacks…. He was more than just “disruptive”

    Zero total Tweets… Jk on that one.

  5. Nate Says:

    We need him bad sign him!

  6. Papawill13 Says:

    Sign him, Draft Kalil and then Just manhandle teams for years to come… I like it!!!

  7. Bobby Says:

    Okoye would be a great pickup. The more good DT’s we have the better. If we can hold down the fort on the D-line, stop the run before it gets to the second level and put pressure on the QB, we WILL make our LB’s a lot better.

  8. NJBucsFan Says:

    This would be great. He’s still really young as well. I think he’s been in the league for 6 yrs and will be 25 at the start of next season. There’s also a few LB’s out there that could be stop gaps. Mr Fletcher please report to Mark Dominick’s office.

  9. SteveK Says:

    Papawill13 Says:

    April 5th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
    Sign him, Draft Kalil and then Just manhandle teams for years to come… I like it!!!

    -YES!!!!!!

  10. mjmoody Says:

    He’ll be 25 in June. Had the John Gruden seal of approval from the year he coached the Senior Bowl. Teams can never have too many pass rushers. Loved him in Louisville, and he’s just gotten better over the years. Give him that 5 year “make or break” contract that seems to be rolling around for all the coaches & FA’s these days. Competition at every position.

  11. Have A Nice Day Says:

    He would complement McCoy wonderfully and would be the most durable starting DT we’ve had in years. Make it happen!

  12. 941-Bucs Says:

    Sometimes i wish there was a *like* button like Face book on here lols.. Anyways, i am digging this news. Hope we can get him in!
    \

  13. Kujolw Says:

    So does anyone think if we don’t sign a MLB we should move A.Hayward to middle linebacker and move Foster to OLB? Anyone?

  14. BigMacAttack Says:

    Hayward can play the Mike, but last season wasn’t his best like the others on the team. but worth a look-see.

    Joe, btw, great pic of RW.

  15. #1bucfan Says:

    no

  16. thibs5599 Says:

    Hayward sucks and has been a special teams captain for a reason, that is what he is good at and that is where he should stay. Bring in Okoye we need DT depth pretty bad, would be a great signing.

  17. FlBoy84 Says:

    Would be a great pickup, as DT reliability/depth isn’t the greatest.

  18. Jrock(mobile) Says:

    Bucs only have 15mil in cap room left. If we sign this DT there’s not a lot of room to bring in a LB. Hell, what worthwhile backers are left??

    We sign DT and our draft picks and go heavy on LB in the draft. God our defense scares me right now, and not in a good way

  19. Big Picture Guy Says:

    Okoye is best suited for a single-gap scheme supposedly, perhaps this sheds some light on the defensive scheme for the bucs this year??

  20. passenger27 Says:

    How about bring in Okoye and then add Channing Crowder to man the middle both bring experience as fringe staters but shouldn’t command major $$$

  21. Traew Says:

    My respect level for Dom will go up tremendously if he adds a few more pieces to this atrocious defense.

    I already question his competence – but if we go into 2012 with a single veteran addition to the worst defense in franchise history, it will confirm to me that his ego is so big regarding “his guys” that it prevents him from competently managing this franchise. He must come to grips with his past mistakes and remedy them with veteran additions.

  22. Kujolw84 Says:

    Hey lets trade with the Eagles A.Samuel for Q.Black. lol

  23. BigMacAttack Says:

    I think the Bucs may still a cut a couple players before the season and gain some more cap space. I don’t think the cap is any problem for the Bucs and they haven’t even begun to try restructuring like other teams. Dom has plenty of room to do as he needs. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Quincy Black doesn’t make the team this year.

  24. Fish Says:

    Good move. I heard rumors about it earlier in FA but didn’t think it would actually happen. Have always been a fan of this guy and I think he’s underrated.

    One potential problem: he may asking for too much money and may want to start.

  25. mjmoody Says:

    Short on $$ for a quality MLB? How about Dont’a Hightower at the bottom of the first followed by London Fletcher on a 1 year if nothing else works itself out in the second round of FA? Been said before, and still the best idea I’ve heard.

  26. J 2.0 Says:

    Ok I haven’t had the chance to give my opinion yet today so here goes.

    The Bucs have said that they want character guys. The fans are clamoring for character guys. Morris Claiborne has cheated his way through school. That equals low character due to low intelligence. Morris Claiborne recently made some idiot tweets due to low character, in turn, due to low intelligence.

    Also, the Bucs need a cover corner. Claiborne, like Talib last year, is an off the ball corner that sells out for the pick at the expense of the big play.

    My dream may come true. If Miami gets idiotic and trades up to Minnesota to draft Tannehill, then we are left with two fantastic possibilities involving Kalil. Cleveland will not take Kalil with Thomas on the roster, so he would be available for us.

    Dream scenario #1: We draft Kalil and move Penn to RT. Our OL would be ridiculous. Not only that it would be set for the long haul. There are a lot of good corners (some I think are better than Claiborne) in this draft.

    Dream scenario #2: There are numerous teams that would trade down to the Bucs if Kalil is available at #5. We would listen. With the right package we might pick up a 2 and a 4 this year, and a #1 in next years draft. Add picks and add players on an awful defense and hope that at the pick you’ve traded for Keuchly is still available.

    I’d take Kalil, Richardson, Blackmon, Keuchly, all of these guys in this order before Claiborne.

  27. bucbelevr Says:

    @J 2.0…

    Right there with you on Dream Scenario #2, as if Kalil is there at #5, Eagles would LOVE to trade up in a minute, and give a relative king’s ransom for him. We trade down, get what we get.

    Slightly different subject, but has ANYONE ELSE thought about how many people, HIGHLY PAID testosterone enraged people, that Gregg Williams had put in his or his players’ crosshairs to injure them??? Anyone else, thought about how indirectly, they could assemble nefarious people to cause Gregg Williams, SOME SERIOUS HARM, without any trails back to them?? Anyone else thought that? πŸ™‚

  28. Big Picture Guy Says:

    Where do you get off claiming someone cheated through school, just because they bombed an intelligence test? And because someone isn’t intelligent, means they have poor character?? According to you, everyone with dislexia or ADD is an a-hole.

    Classy. By the way, your scenario’s are the worst.

  29. BigBear Says:

    @J 2.0 I am totally the opposite direction on Claiborne. I’ve watch a medium amount of his tape and he has the skills to be a pretty outstanding corner in this league. not saying im a scout or graded him out. I think Kalil is a elite prospect at a valuable position in this league and maybe a better overall prospect than claiborne and Richardson is an elite talent at a position that no longer demands elite talent at to win championships. Claiborne is an elite prospect that can effect the game on d and the return game.

    Kalil and Claiborne are my two favs, then richardson, then blackmon….Kueckly shouldn’t be a thought at 5…not one thought there. He is NOT and elite prospect worthy of the fifth pick. all others mentioned are and anyone of them coming here would be a positive addition.

    If Talib is acquitted and you have the chance in 2013 to start Talib and Claiborne with Wright as youre nickel man you have a very talented secondary that are all willing to help in run support. BIG if on that one tho…

  30. J 2.0 Says:

    If you score a 4 on a wonderlic, you didn’t get a good SAT score. If you scored a 4 on the wonderlic, you can’t pass college algebra (wonderlic is much, much, much easier than college algebra.) If you score a 4 on the wonderlic and then tweet about how you’re still going to get paid, then you make it obvious that education is not that important to you.

    If you pass college level compostion on your own, you don’t get a 4 on the wonderlic. If you pass college level algebra on your own, you don’t get a 4 on the wonderlic. If you pass college humanities on your own, you don’t get a 4 on the wonderlic. If you pass any college or high school level class on your own, you don’t score a 4 on the wonderlic.

    I’m not saying he necessarily had a cheat sheet while taking his exams. But he was obviously complicit in some sort of scheme to pass his classes. Whether if it’s by the coaches making sure he passes, having some kid take his exams and doing his term papers for him, or some other scheme to make sure he was eligible. All of these are examples of cheating. People who cheat have low character.

    Also, have you seen the wonderlic? It is very simple if you have any basic comprehension remedial education. Any high school graduate, that did what they were supposed to do by doing their own work and studying hard to pass their exams, no matter how intelligent they were blessed to be, would easily score at the minumum a 20 on the wonderlic.

    Now I know a lot of players get under a 20 on the wonderlic. Some of these guys have their own problems, but a 4 is unacceptable. If Claiborne had a legitimate learning disabilty his agent would have made the NFL aware beforehand. If he had dyslexia, then they would’ve made the NFL aware before the test.

    Furthermore, I have had ADHD my entire life and you are the one that called me an a**hole.

  31. J 2.0 Says:

    @BigBear

    I bring up Keuchly basically in the event that we trade down. And I have had enough headaches with off the field problems. Can we all agree that stupid people make bad decisions? Listen I emphasize with Claiborne if he has a legitimate learning disability. But if you’re using that excuse to make an argument for drafting Morris Claiborne, then think about it long and hard. It might be a crass thing to say and if I offend anyone I apologize. Do you really want to invest a #5 overall pick and millions of dollars in a guy with a learning disabilty?

    I grew up with ADHD. I never took ritalin a day in my life. I spent every waking hour growing up playing football, baseball, and basketball to burn off my excessive energy. I wasn’t blessed enough to go pro, but I was able to turn what athletic abilities I had combined with the hard work I put into studying and getting high grades into a combined athletic and academic full scholarship to get my college education. I guess I can’t comprehend someone not trying to get their education to its highest degree. Sorry.

  32. BigBear Says:

    if you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin hard enough in my book……

    All kidding aside it was reported that the nfl already knew he had a learning disability. With tutors and easy classes you can get out of college pretty easily. Wonderlic is different than all the classes you mentioned. Also did he even graduate from LSU? you can get by pretty easily in college

  33. teacherman777 Says:

    This would be my favorite move of the offseason. We got torn up down the middle last year.

    The Giants proved how a D-Line must be deep.

    Sign him! Please!!

  34. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    @J 2.0
    You are being an a**hole calling a man with absolutely no character concerns to speak of a cheater.
    It’s the equivalent to me calling you a major dumba** because of your disability.
    You should know that ADHD and dyslexia are different from one another. As well, there are multiple levels of severity with each person.
    Education is obtainable with proper guidance, instruction, and tutoring; especially when your major, like his, was General Studies.
    You’ve made a truly tasteless comment.

  35. J 2.0 Says:

    Anyways, back on point here, this would be a good move for the Bucs. If McCoy and Price finally come into the season in great shape, then the addition of Okoye could not only help out the DL, but also the back 7. Okoye is a major step up over Haynesworth.

  36. J 2.0 Says:

    @BKNY

    I apologized in the post and I’ll apologize again now to all of those offended with my comments. From experience I’ve never considered ADHD a disabilty because it never stopped me from accomplishing anything. You are right there are varying levels of each condition. It is a condition not a disability BTW. So I do apologize again.

    I’m not saying Claiborne will go out and break the law. He doesn’t have any drug problems and seems to be a somewhat likeable guy. I’m also not trying to say I’m the smartest guy on the planet either. I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff, but have never been arrested. I’m not saying Claiborne will do anything to get arrested. I’m saying he might be willing to cut corners or even have errors in jugement.

    Furthermore, whatever I post on here is an opinion. You don’t have to agree with it. That’s what these boards are for.

  37. Mr Lucky Says:

    After Dominik suckered the Bears into taking Gaines Adams I seriously doubt Chicago would let the Bucs get away with this one….

  38. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    @J2.0
    I appreciate the correction that I called it a disability. As you can see, that was a really poor assumption on my behalf. Like yours.

  39. J 2.0 Says:

    Just read the tweets. That’s all I am saying

    http://www.commishonline.com/2012/04/morris-claiborne-responds-to-wonderlic-score/

  40. thegregwitul Says:

    We need to stop assessing the life of a player because of his very low score on the freaking Wonderlic test. Cheating his way through high school? It’s beyond ridiculous and it’s an assumption at best.

    I think Claiborne will be a very good pro, maybe even an elite player. He won’t make it out of the top 10, regardless of his Wonderlic score being a 4, 40, or anything inbetween. Let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Unless someone bites and trades up for Tannehill, Claiborne will be the Bucs first round pick. For all we know, it could have been someone from One Buc leaking the score to ensure he’s still available at #5.

    It would be a dirty move for sure, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the team also played a part in spreading the rumors of Bowers knee status. That’s how the league works, just about every team in some capacity will do whatever it takes to land the player they are looking for.

  41. 941Buc Says:

    Do it, do it!!!

  42. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    Also J2.0
    Couldn’t you presume Claiborne has incredible drive and an outstanding work ethic to succeed?
    Seeing that he’s accomplished so much with his condition, it’s likely fair to say he’s an example of exactly what the Bucs need in a so-called underachieving locker room; rather than making the presumption he’s a cheater that has a tendency to cut corners and have errors in judgment?

  43. thegregwitul Says:

    As for the tweets, Mo should have stayed off of twitter, especially since I’m sure he was upset and embarrassed, but it is what it is, a young man who is thrust in the national spotlight for an embarrassing reason (scoring a 4 on the Wonderlic) and he’s just blowing off some steam. This kid doesn’t have many red flags (aside from the score), has good character and will be an impact player. This won’t drop him in the draft, and if we pass on him for Richardson, he doesn’t make it past Carolina.

  44. DAN Says:

    1st wonderlick measures a specific kind of intelligence.

    2nd the point J20 is trying to make is that if you are saying that the wonderlick score is illegitimate because he has a learning disability and that means he needs special consideration the point is opposing defenses wont give him a break in whatever way the wonderlick applies to actual gameplay.

    3rd thing. which means the only plausible argument against the wonderlick mattering is that it has nominal actual value to translate into football play. The key evidence for this would be the level at which he completely dominated in football last year.

    His agent realizes this and this why he is acting like the deficiency is nominal, because obviously it doesnt affect his football playing ability. So the best thing to do is make comments like ‘ i wasn’t aware of any deficiency, because as far as the nfl is concerned THERE IS NO deficiency

  45. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    I don’t see anything offensive about his tweets other than he’s basically proven he actually did make a 4 on the test.
    Btw, Peyton Manning, the football genius, only scored a 28. A position that needs more comprehension than man-coverage will only ask of Claiborne.

  46. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    My apologies, this topic is way off board. I’m only giving you a hard time J2.0
    I agree on your draft big board other than I’d have Claiborne at #2.

  47. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    Cowgirls claimed QB Rudy Carpenter off waivers today.

  48. J 2.0 Says:

    Peyton technically scored 7 times Claiborne’s score. Tebow, who we can all agree isn’t a genious, scored 22. Wonderlick doesn’t necessarily compute into football talent, but a 4???? Even if a “learning disabled” student was getting tutored and student assistance, that person would score higher than a 4 on the wonderlic. I think his stupity/whatever you want to call it correlates into his selfish desire to get interceptions at the expense of the team. He is a truly gifted athlete I agree. But when his skills fade he will be a detriment to the team.

  49. Mr Lucky Says:

    An average football player usually scores around 20 points, Wonderlic, Inc. claims a score of at least 10 points suggests a person is literate.[15] Furthermore, when the test was given to miscellaneous people of various occupations, it was observed that the average participant scored a 24. Examples of scores from everyday professions include:[citation needed]
    Historian – 36
    Chemist – 31
    Physicist – 48
    Programmer – 29
    Journalist – 26
    Sales – 24
    Bank teller – 22
    Clerical worker – 21
    Security guard – 17
    Warehouse worker – 15

    Yeah got the smart dude with a score of 4. Sorry but while being a football player doesn’t mean you’re a rocket scientist you’ve got to wonder how this dude will be able to comprehend an NFL playbook.

  50. J 2.0 Says:

    Oh yeah on another topic, we can all agree that after the audio footage of Greg Williams he needs to go into hiding, right?

    What a scumbag! I am sure that there is similar talk in locker rooms about punishing the other team’s guys, but what Williams said is hard to swallow. He has no room EVER! returning to the NFL.

  51. J 2.0 Says:

    If Sean Payton was truly complicit with Greg Williams he has no business EVER! returning to the NFL either.

  52. Mr Lucky Says:

    Hey let’s put some perspective on this Woderlic test shall we? It’s 50 multiple choice questions. So if you just guessed you’d have a 1 in 4 chance of getting a question right, multiple that by 50 and you get:

    A. 1
    B. 4
    C. 12.5
    D. I don’t know

    Essentially he scored less than a horse picking the answers with his hoof.

  53. Mr Lucky Says:

    For those of you defending the Wonderlic mastermind let me remind you of this:

    Arrelious Benn didn’t play in the first half of 2010 because he couldn’t grasp the playbook either.

  54. Mr. Patrick Says:

    Okoye would be a really good pick up. He’s mainly a 3 technique that is very quick and penetrates. He is said to have a very high I.Q. He has NFL experience and hasnt hit his prime yet. With the Buc’s DT’s injury history it would be good to have him.

  55. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    His score wouldn’t bother me in the least if he had at least hit double figures. If he has a legit learning disorder, then I guess that excuses it. However, I still have to kind of worry if he will be able to handle an NFL playbook. I know CB is one of the most instinctual positions in football, but I do think it’s a little more complicated than “See ball, catch ball, tackle man with ball”. He seemed to do just fine at LSU, but no matter how complicated their defense allegedly was, it’s nothing compared to even the most basic NFL defense. Also, his talent level won’t be head and shoulders above the competition, like it was in college. He certainly won’t have the same type of front 7 in Tampa either, at least not yet.

  56. J 2.0 Says:

    Big Picture Guy Says:
    April 5th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
    Where do you get off claiming someone cheated through school, just because they bombed an intelligence test?

    ======================================
    Then how did he pass all of his classes if he “FAILED AN INTELLEGENCE TEST WORSE THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN IN MODERN EXISTENCE!” Sorry for getting all capitalized and everything.

  57. Patrick Says:

    Yes, this is a signing we need to make! He’ll provide great depth and talent at DT! If McCoy and/or Price goes down again, our defense won’t suffer as much.

    If we could trade Quincy Black to Bruce and Raheem, that’d free up much more room for us.

  58. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    @J2.0

    That’s a legit question you ask, but you probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions (although I admit I have the same thoughts). From what I’ve read, he spend a lot of extra time working with tutors, and getting all the extra help he could possibly get. Now I highly doubt he was taking the toughest classes LSU had to offer, but if it’s true, I commend him for sticking with it. That shows a lot of dedication, which is a trait that I would love to have on this football team. However, if you are right and he cheated his way through college (which really isn’t that far-fetched, but a little presumptuous), then my feelings would change greatly. I’m sure Dominik is doing his research and will make the right decision.

  59. chrisfwc. :) Says:

    Lol @ Mr Lucky

  60. J 2.0 Says:

    A typical wonderlic question goes like:

    If Tommy is an ice skater, and all skaters wear ice skates. Then Tommy wears ice skates.

    The final statement is one of the following:
    A) True.
    B) False.
    C) Uncertain.

    ==========================================

    You have got to be piss poor in the brains department to miss questions like this.

  61. BigMacAttack Says:

    I believe Minnesota will select Claiborne because they really need him worse than Kalil, IMO.

  62. eric Says:

    Sign a veteran player for depth?

    Have you people gone mad?

  63. J 2.0 Says:

    =)

  64. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    @J2.0

    I truly hope that was one of the 4 questions he got right.

  65. sharkcoasttactical.com Says:

    love this guy

  66. J 2.0 Says:

    The ninth month of the year is ….. ummmmm ….. football season?????

  67. eric Says:

    His agent said he does not have a learning disability.

    Just a plain old dumbass i guess.

  68. BKNYfootballhead Says:

    A pandora’s box, this Claiborne issue.

    @Mr. Lucky – Benn could’ve been a mistake b/c he was asked to play Y & Z, which I agree is garbage. Yet, Mo will only need to be in man coverage following on the X deep. The curve is dramatic. And the playbooks at that.

  69. Pete Dutcher Says:

    @ J 2.0
    I don’t blame you for trying to change the subject several times. You were wrong for inferring Mo cheated his way through college.

    Let me share something with you…people are labelled with learning disabilities pretty often…but in my personal experiences there is more of a teaching disability. Most people can learm fine…even those with retardation. The problem is teaching institutions are hardwired to team in a set way…and not all students are wired to learn that way.

    Take my oldest son. Before he was born we were told he would be mentally retarded and be born with birth defects. We tried public, charter and private schools. Finally I decided to homeschool him.

    Now he attends public high school. He gets As & Bs…but to this day he does poorly on FCAT but scores high on SATs. He was not retarded…he just was wired to learn differently. Now he is considered genius in some areas.

    Mo may not have had the same opportunities to be taught properly. Don’t go saying the man cheated. You are completely out of line. A person can do well on one type of test and bad on another.

    In regard to the Wonderlic…I would be curious as to whether the lowest scoring players were mostly african-american. There are many tests that are not racially compatible. I wonder…is there a study on this?

  70. J 2.0 Says:

    I would look even dumber than Claiborne if the wonderlic scores of Kalil, Richardson, Blackmon, and (in a trade down situation) Keuchly were all each under 15.

    I doubt that would be the case. Hopefully.

  71. Pete Dutcher Says:

    Another factor…is the Wonderlic timed?

    A person with a reading disability… such as dislexia (sp)would take longer to read questions…resulting in fewer questions answered in the given time. Do unanswered questions count as wrong answers? Also not a fair method.

  72. Pete Dutcher Says:

    eric Says: April 5th, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    His agent said he does not have a learning disability.
    ———–

    His agent was wrong or lying. It is documented.

  73. J 2.0 Says:

    @Pete

    Trust me. I wish nothinbg but the best for your son. Please do not take my question the wrong way. I do not mean any harm whatsoever, I do not know you personally and respect your posts on this blog.

    My question is:

    Does your son play football? …. And….

    If not wpuld you let him?

  74. Pete Dutcher Says:

    In printing an article of 48,000 words, a printer decides to use two sizes of type. Using the larger type, a printed page contains 1,800 words. Using smaller type, a page contains 2,400 words. The article is allotted 21 full pages in a magazine. How many pages must be in smaller type?

    Also a Wonderlic question.

  75. J 2.0 Says:

    You know Pete I immediately feel terrible for the question. I know the point you are making. I did not mean to bring your family into my post and feel awful about it.

  76. patrickbucs Says:

    please sign this kid, we need the depth and try to find a lb or 2

  77. Garv Says:

    I’m not normally a BRING IN (fill in the blank with a name I heard on ESPN once so he MUST be good) guy…..but I would love to hear we signed Amobi Okoye.
    Given his age and upside? Hell yeah.

    Back to Claiborne again, I would love to have him on the Buccaneers. I feel the Wonderlic score is a non-issue except for the fact that whoever leaked is a scumbag and should pay a heavy penalty. Especially if it’s discovered a team did it to drop him in the draft. It’s wrong and frankly cruel IMO.

  78. eric Says:

    According to pro football talk if a player has a authentic learning disability he can notify the league and accomodations are made prior to testing.

    Whatever that means.

  79. Cmurda Says:

    @Pete. I also have close family encounters similar to your son and you are 100% on it. Too many people mistake learning disabilities with an inability to learn. Under the right system, in fact, a person with a learning disability will learn just as fast as anybody. This is the reason I am so against the FCATS. It’s a bunch of B.S. My son gets an education based on teachers strictly teaching to the FCAT. My son does not have a learning disability but I don’t like the limitation we are placing on educating Florida’s students. I moved here from NY in 7th grade and I already knew what was being taught in 8th grade 2 years prior. The good old boys in politics in Florida decided to adjust the curriculum to a set test rather than facing the real problem. Teacher salaries are too low, the guidance they provide our youth is immensely important and undervalued, and we simply need more teachers. Maybe if the lottery really went to education and not in some d-bag’s pocket maybe we could have accomplished this obvious solution. I’ll end my rant by tying it back to the specific topic. Don’t judge MO. None of us know exactly how MO is wired and nor should we unless he CHOOSES to share. He seems like a humble young man that, if I have my way, will be bailing out our awful secondary.

  80. FlBoy84 Says:

    On a side note on Claiborne, could someone call the staff over at PR and tell them his college coach was Ron COOPER, not Ron Turner as they’ve stated in three separate articles. Pretty sad when you don’t know the names of the coaches of the team your site is about. lol

  81. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    Well said Cmurda & Pete. I definitely won’t judge him, and would welcome him with open arms onto our team (I would just welcome TR with arms open a little wider, lol).

  82. SensibleBuc Says:

    @TrentRich (T-Rich’s Twitter)

    “Not gonna lie, Pewter & Red a nice combo. Florida love”

    http://twitpic.com/9654yf
    http://twitpic.com/965i70

  83. Oahubuc Says:

    Do this Dom!

  84. Bobby Says:

    The only thing dumber than a 4 on the wonderlic would be to not draft him if he is there for us at #4.

  85. Bobby Says:

    Make that #5.

  86. Rrsrq Says:

    First of all JOE,

    Don’t tease us with Okoye, we will get our hopes up and come crashing down just like with the MLB saga. That being said I hope Mark, goes out and get him.

    Second of all, all of you negative posters on claiborne, are clueless to who he is, you should one question as a fan, is he a good football player, projection is yes. Next question, good character guy, since you don’t know him and never heard anything negative about him, projection is yes. You criticize him for a one time test score, as if you have faired well on everything you have done in life. You criticize him for responding by tweets, we look for a response on our so called educated post, seriously, chill, let the Bucs do their job which they can only do based on the teams drafting in front of them. Btw, I know you already know this, Ron Cooper, LSU ex-DB coach knows him better than any of us.

  87. BigMacAttack Says:

    Just Win Baby!!!
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  88. Pete Dutcher Says:

    J 2.0 Says: April 5th, 2012 at 11:03 pm

    @Pete

    Trust me. I wish nothinbg but the best for your son. Please do not take my question the wrong way. I do not mean any harm whatsoever, I do not know you personally and respect your posts on this blog.

    My question is:

    Does your son play football? …. And….

    If not wpuld you let him?
    ———–

    Actually yes…he played 2 years of junior league football. I assisted the coach in teaching him to play MLB where he got three sacks and they won the championship after losing only one game.

    I was asked to coach a team the following year but my health took a turn for the worse and I can no longer do such things. Can’t even throw a football without my shoulder going numb for days now.

    But I wasn’t offended…my point was that we don’t always have a complete understanding of such situations, and though with our limited understanding we form opinions we must also accept that there are things we are unaware of that could change our thought processes.

  89. Pete Dutcher Says:

    @ Cmurda
    Don’t even get me started on the FCATs. Not only are they taught to it…they take the tests halfway through the year and are expected to know a full years worth of education…and once it is over they are barely taught anything from that point on.

    My younger son’s school actually goes to a 4 day week after FCATS…a charter school.

    I HATE the FCAT system. The SATs work 100% better. Also, the schools that score low on FCATs are almost always located in low income neighborhoods.

    I think teaching to any test is a travesty to our youth and it limits creative development, which has resulted in the greatest discoveries for mankind.

  90. FuNkYxMuNkEy Says:

    Claiborne has a serious learning disability!!! He had teachers, tudors, TA’s helping him out in school. And I’m sure like most star players, he was passed thru because of his talent. That is the issue with school systems. Not the kid himself. This test means nothing and furthermore. I forgot the name of it, but there is a specific disease saying certain people cannot test well. They may make 100 % on homework and classwork. But when it comes time for the test they freak out and get it wrong. Mo’ cannot be blamed for this at all. The only blame that should be placed is the P.O.S. that leaked this story!!! He needs to be fired and have his name released to the public so other jobs won’t hire him as well.

    Its the same as saying a guy with autism should be able to do everything a “regular” (whatever that means), person can do. If I get a 100 then the autistic kid should do well too. SOOOOO WRONG on so many different levels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  91. FuNkYxMuNkEy Says:

    It wouldn’t matter if he got a 0 on this test. He is still the best CB in this draft by far and just using his tape from college and his talent…dare I say future Hall of Famer??? He definetly has the talent. His test taking ability has nothing to do with reacting on the field!!!

  92. BigMacAttack Says:

    Janoris Jenkins is every bit as good of a CB as Claiborne, just an off filed risk. He is stronger and has better instincts IMO. He can be taken later in the round on a trade down and will produce as much as any CB in this draft.

    Let the criticism fly. I know everyone will disagree but we’ll see when they both get on the grid iron, and I will be proven right.