Kevin Ashcraft
Footballguy
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/foot...y?coll=orl-bucs
D-back Zemaitis may be perfect fit for Bucs
The team takes the Penn State corner as insurance for its aging backfield.
Chris Harry | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 1, 2006
TAMPA -- More than one scouting service projected Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis as an ideal fit into the cover-2 scheme.
It only makes sense that he was gobbled up by the cover-2 masters.
Tampa Bay made Zemaitis their first pick on the second day of the NFL draft, using their fourth-round selection to fortify a secondary manned by two outstanding -- but 30-something -- cornerbacks in Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly.
In doing so, the Buccaneers made Zemaitis very, very happy.
"I didn't just watch them a little bit, I watched them all the time,'' Zemaitis said in a teleconference from his home in Rochester, N.Y. "The only hat I have is a Buccaneers hat.''
This weekend, he'll wear a Buccaneers helmet when he joins his nine rookie classmates -- six of them taken Sunday -- for a minicamp at One Buc Place.
"I'm sure every coach in the league standing up there today will tell you how great their picks were,'' Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden said after the club made the last of its three seventh-round selections. "This is a good day.''
A day after taking three offensive players -- Oklahoma guard Davin Joseph, tackle Jeremy Trueblood and wide receiver Maurice Stovall -- the Bucs rounded out their '06 draft class with four defensive players and three more for the offense.
Zemaitis will be weaned at the critical corner and nickel spots as a backup to Barber, the two-time All Pro entering the final year of his contract.
"We love guys who are fast and can cover, but they have to tackle, too,'' defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "When [teams] hand the ball to Reggie Bush, we'll need someone to tackle him.''
Fifth-round pick Julian Jenkins, out of Stanford, will get his chance, too. Same for Oregon cornerback Justin Phinisee (seventh round) and Clemson defensive end Charles Bennett (seventh).
Tampa Bay used a sixth-round pick on quarterback Bruce Gradowski, a prep phenom from the QB tradition-rich area of Western Pennsylvania who went on to set NCAA completion records at Toledo of the Mid-American Conference.
"I'm so excited to be a Buccaneer, it's just unbelievable,'' Gradowski said. "Coaches like Jon Gruden are people that I grow under. I had a coach at Toledo that was stern and expected a lot and was a perfectionist. I'm excited and can't wait.''
Seventh-rounder Tim Massaquoi, a tight end from Michigan, was the team's final selection.
The Bucs immediately shifted their focus into signing undrafted free agents, with South Florida tailback Andre Hall, who led the Big East in rushing with 1,374 yards, believed to have agreed to terms late Sunday night.
"We're pleased,'' General Manager Bruce Allen said. "We were able to accomplish most of the goals we set before the draft.''
D-back Zemaitis may be perfect fit for Bucs
The team takes the Penn State corner as insurance for its aging backfield.
Chris Harry | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 1, 2006
TAMPA -- More than one scouting service projected Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis as an ideal fit into the cover-2 scheme.
It only makes sense that he was gobbled up by the cover-2 masters.
Tampa Bay made Zemaitis their first pick on the second day of the NFL draft, using their fourth-round selection to fortify a secondary manned by two outstanding -- but 30-something -- cornerbacks in Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly.
In doing so, the Buccaneers made Zemaitis very, very happy.
"I didn't just watch them a little bit, I watched them all the time,'' Zemaitis said in a teleconference from his home in Rochester, N.Y. "The only hat I have is a Buccaneers hat.''
This weekend, he'll wear a Buccaneers helmet when he joins his nine rookie classmates -- six of them taken Sunday -- for a minicamp at One Buc Place.
"I'm sure every coach in the league standing up there today will tell you how great their picks were,'' Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden said after the club made the last of its three seventh-round selections. "This is a good day.''
A day after taking three offensive players -- Oklahoma guard Davin Joseph, tackle Jeremy Trueblood and wide receiver Maurice Stovall -- the Bucs rounded out their '06 draft class with four defensive players and three more for the offense.
Zemaitis will be weaned at the critical corner and nickel spots as a backup to Barber, the two-time All Pro entering the final year of his contract.
"We love guys who are fast and can cover, but they have to tackle, too,'' defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "When [teams] hand the ball to Reggie Bush, we'll need someone to tackle him.''
Fifth-round pick Julian Jenkins, out of Stanford, will get his chance, too. Same for Oregon cornerback Justin Phinisee (seventh round) and Clemson defensive end Charles Bennett (seventh).
Tampa Bay used a sixth-round pick on quarterback Bruce Gradowski, a prep phenom from the QB tradition-rich area of Western Pennsylvania who went on to set NCAA completion records at Toledo of the Mid-American Conference.
"I'm so excited to be a Buccaneer, it's just unbelievable,'' Gradowski said. "Coaches like Jon Gruden are people that I grow under. I had a coach at Toledo that was stern and expected a lot and was a perfectionist. I'm excited and can't wait.''
Seventh-rounder Tim Massaquoi, a tight end from Michigan, was the team's final selection.
The Bucs immediately shifted their focus into signing undrafted free agents, with South Florida tailback Andre Hall, who led the Big East in rushing with 1,374 yards, believed to have agreed to terms late Sunday night.
"We're pleased,'' General Manager Bruce Allen said. "We were able to accomplish most of the goals we set before the draft.''
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