Bowers easily splits two defenders en route to ball.

Da’Quan Bowers defensive end from the Clemson Tigers led the nation with 15.5 sacks and 24 tackles for loss (which was good for 150 lost yards for opponents). He also chipped in an impressive 63 tackles. These are some very impressive numbers, especially for a defensive lineman. Bowers smashed the Clemson record for sacks in a season previously held by our man Gaines Adams (R.I.P). Some draft pundits believe Bowers could fall outside of the top twenty in the draft because of lingering issues with his knee. If he is sitting there at twenty, it is an absolute steal for the Bucs to take a chance and swing for the fence. We might just knock one out of the park.

When the Buccaneers landed Gaines Adams in the 2007 draft, I do not believe he was the first player on the Bucs draft board. Mel Kiper, (who I personally no longer value his opinion) had the Detroit Lions pegged to select Adams. The Buccaneers were in the perfect position because either Joe Thomas or Calvin Johnson would fall into their laps. This of course is what Mel Kiper protested even during the draft as the Lions were on the clock. He guaranteed the Lions can’t afford to use another pick on a wide receiver. Unfortunately for the Bucs, Kiper was dead wrong and Tampa ended up selecting the “best defensive player available” Gaines Adams. Adams most productive season as a Buccaneer produced 6.5 sacks, not horrible but enough to warrant Raheem Morris to call him out as a “bust” if he did not produce to the media.

Adams was the mentor of Da’Quan Bowers, after the untimely death of Adams, Bowers father passed away during spring practice. His last dying wish was for his son to become the top prospect in the NFL Draft. If not for a knee injury his son most likely would have made his father very proud. There are differences in the Bowers and Adams game, which I believe warrant a selection in the upcoming draft. Bowers would be more of an anchor on the defensive line, lining up as the left defensive end.

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Their main targets were former Cleveland Browns OC Rob Chudzinski, former Rams Head Coach Scott Linehan, and current QB Coach Greg Olsen.  Linehan signed on to be the Lions offensive coordinator on Friday, probably under the premise that he would have his choice of players with the first overall pick in the draft.  That is pure speculation on my part, but it would seemingly be the only logical reason (other than Calvin Johnson) to choose the Lions over the 49′ers (who were also interested in his services) and the Buccaneers.

I have a few friends/fans who I respect that thing Chudzinski would be a great choice for the Bucs, but I’m not so sold.  Not saying the guy couldn’t be successful here, but his two year stint with the Browns has me less than convinced.  The Cleveland offense ranked 30th in points, 31st in both total yard and pass yards, and 26th in rushing yards, with much more at his disposal as far as offensive weapons are concerned.  We lack the aforementioned offensive weapons that the Browns had, other than bringing back Antonio Bryant or augmenting our skill positions via free agency or the draft.

I was excited about the possibility of Linehan as the OC, but as I mentioned earlier, that is over with now.  He was successful as the OC in Minnesota and Miami, and although he had his struggles as the Head Coach of the Rams, he may have just not been suited to run the whole show.  There are plenty of succesful coordinators and coaches in the league who have had trouble in the top chair, but relish the opportunity to manage one unit or one side of the football, and I think Linehan would have been a great choice.

It’s hard for me to want to get behind Greg Olsen either, as our offenses have been quite pedestrian the last few years with him coaching the QB’s, although he had no control over play calling, and I’m of the belief that Jeff Garcia hindered our offense more than helped it.

The man I really wanted to look at Jeremey Bates, decided to go be the Offensive Coordinator for Pete Carroll at USC, and in retrospect, knowing now that we were hiring his father to be the defensive coordinator for our football team, I think he might have chose a different route had the Bucs shown interest.  He has ties to the organization and our Super Bowl team as an offensive quality control coach and as an assistant quarterbacks coach.  If I had to guess he will be one of the hot names in the NFL coaching ranks the next few years as far as offensive minded guys are concerned.

My main question now is do the Bucs continue to look at Chudzinski, Olsen and I’ve heard we’ve also had some interest in Chan Gailey (yikes) or to be we look outside the box and target a college coach who may be looking for his NFL break.  I still think Jeff Jagodzinski the former BC head coach who was fired for interviewing with the Jets, would be a perfect fit.  He had plenty of NFL experience as TE’s coach of the Packers for 4 seasons, two years as the Falcons Oline coach, and one year as the OC of the Packers in 2006.  He is still unemployed and would be a great fit for the team in my opinion.