Monte Kiffin Offering Bucs Draft Advice

October 27th, 2009

The brutal Bucs are so miserable, despite the NFL draft being months away, Joe is already paying attention to the Christmas in April event for NFL teams.

Part of the reason is that the Bucs are in race for the first overall pick.

Joe was channel surfing early yesterday evening and came across an interview with former Bucs and current University of Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, appearing on his son’s show, “The Lane Kiffin Show,” on SportSouth.

Kiffin was asked about superstar safety Eric Berry. In short, Kiffin said if the Bucs don’t draft Berry they are out of their minds.

“I know something about the NFL,” Kiffin said. “I spent 25 years there. If people don’t draft Eric Berry with the first pick, they are making a mistake. I understand if you have to pick a quarterback, OK. If you don’t, you are crazy if you don’t pick Eric Berry.

“I spent some time down in Tampa Bay. They are having a tough time. They may have the first pick. Raheem Morris worked for me, I know him. I know Mark Dominik. I’ll tell them: They need to draft Eric Berry, I don’t care if it is with the first pick. He’s that good of a player. They need him.”

Whether the Bucs draft Berry or not, this little nugget will be interesting to file away and check back in a few years to see if Kiffin was right.  

13 Responses to “Monte Kiffin Offering Bucs Draft Advice”

  1. Jeff Says:

    Wasn’t Kiffin pro Gaines Adams? I love Kiffin, but look how that advice turned out for us.

  2. Joe Says:

    Jeff:

    Kiffin got more out of Gaines Adams than Jim Bates did. Bates is supposed to be this guru who develops defensive ends. Adams was worthless this year, sans one quarter — one freaking quarter!

    At least with Kiffin there was a modicum of production out of him

  3. Thomas Gemkow Says:

    I think TB needs to spend some time drafting some lineman. The D-Line is sub par at very best–only big name there is Chris Hovan–think about when we were runnin things…Simeon Rice, Warren Sapp, Anthony McFarland…all Pro Bowl caliber.

    The O-Line is solid with Jeremy Zuttah, Jeff Faine and Davin Joseph in the middle…need some anchors on the corners though…we need the franchises next Paul Gruber to protect the future—Josh Freeman

  4. oldskoolbucsfan Says:

    Not me. We should take Brandon Spikes of U of FL. We have Tanard Jackson at that spot. Spikes is more of a playmaker than Ruud.
    Man if we did our homework, we would have Adrian Peterson instead of Gaines Adams, Marcus McNeill instead of Jeremy Trueblood and DeSean Jackson instead of Dexter Jackson. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

  5. Joe Says:

    oldskoolbucsfan:

    Joe has gone over this several times before: No way the Bucs were ever going to draft Adrian Peterson, nor should they have.

  6. BucFan South Tampa Says:

    Hey Joe..this just came in..sounds like a David Boston sighting

    Bucs lineman arrested on DUI charge

    TAMPA – Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Marcus Johnson faces a DUI charge after Tampa police said he was asleep in his car at an intersection outside Raymond James Stadium early this morning.

  7. Joe Says:

    Will check it out BucFan, thanks.

  8. sgw94 Says:

    I am a homer definitely but we could DEFINITELY use Eric Berry. I think we saw the two best college defensive players on the field this past weekend in the Alabama/Tennessee game with Eric Berry for the Vols and Rolando McClain for the Tide and I would personally be happy with either of those guys as our top pick. We need dynamic playmakers and both of those guys fit the bill

  9. JoeBucsSteveCampbell Says:

    Of course Kiffin wants us to take Berry. It helps him in recruiting to have his player taken first in the draft. Sorry, but a safety is not this teams biggest need.

    I like these three players in this order with our pick…

    1-Ndomakung Suh-DT
    2-Gerald McCoy-DT
    3.Carlos Dunlap-DE

  10. george c. costanza Says:

    we need pass rushers. period.

  11. Eric S Says:

    Agree with Jeff. Gaines Adams was a Kiffin pick and he wasn’t anywhere near a top 5 selection. I can only imagine our D with a Patrick Willis or a D. Revis. Being a SEC fan, you could tell that Willis was going to be a beast.

    We need so much. A pass rushing DE, a run stuffing DT, a good S, another CB, a fast WR who can actually catch the ball and maybe a playmaking LB. A lot of needs. Please for the love of god can we not see Michael Clayton on the field anymore. That was a horrible move bringing hm back. A WR’s primary job is to catch passes and to get open. Clayton is horrible at both. We should move him to TE and be done with him at WR.

  12. Thomas Gemkow Says:

    Whatever we do, we can not waste a pick on a wide out or running back…gotta look to free agency for that.

    However, it will be hard to pass of Jahvid Best if hes available.

  13. ScottB Says:

    Not resigning Philip Buchanon was one of the biggest mistakes the Bucs made in the off season. We wouldn’t be talking about drafting a safety in the early rounds if he were still here. Our nickel package has to be one of the weakest in the NFL.