WEBVTT - Breaking Down GM Jason Licht's Pre-Draft Presser | Road to the Draft 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:08.159 Welcome into Road to the Draft, Casey Phillips here with 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:10.040 senior writer and editor Scott Smith. And as you said 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.040 right before we started filming, it's the end of throw, 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.159 the end of the road, the final road to the 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.840 draft before the draft itself one week from today. So 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:20.080 this means you're going to get everything right today. Right, 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:22.240 it's the last one, so you already just you know anything, 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.760 because everybody could guarantee that their mock draft is exactly right. 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:28.639 Yeah, yeah, I can't. I can't. 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:30.560 I can't stop thinking about the Boys and the Men 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:31.680 song after you said into the Road. 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:33.840 So I'm kind of lost. Yeah, I don't even. 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:35.920 Have a pick, Like, yeah, you're just you're just thinking 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:36.440 about that song. 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:37.200 That's all that matters. 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:39.199 Well, I know we did get some insight from a 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.160 rather important person involved in the Bucks draft. General manager 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.480 Jason light had his pre draft press conference this last week. 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.199 And so were there things that he said that you 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:48.920 felt like gave you some interesting insights? 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:50.519 You have to search a little bit, yeah, because. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.600 Well he didn't just tell us who we're picking. 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.319 I'm sure managers around the league always do these pre 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:59.000 draft press conferences, and it's an exercise and you know, 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:00.800 I'm trying to help the me and give them what. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:02.639 They want, but you're not giving them what they really want, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:04.679 which is the end, which we don't want him to. 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.199 You don't want to give what your strategy obviously, and 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:09.840 to be honest, when you're picking his far down as nineteenth, 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.039 it's hard to really know what your strategy is going 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:12.240 to be. 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:13.720 You've got to be prepared for a lot of things. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.760 But one of the things that he was asked about was, 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.360 you know, there's this trend basically of running backs being 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.959 devalued because of their position. Like in two thousand and five, 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.880 the Buccaneers drafted Cadillac Williams fifth overall and he was 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.960 the third running back drafted that year, which is inconceivable 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.319 nobody that would never happen now. 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:33.320 Eighteen years later. 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.680 But he was asked, would you take a running back 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.119 in the first round? He says he's not against it 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:40.840 if it's a special that's what he said. I got 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.160 the quote, No, not if you feel like it's going 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.760 to be a special, special player. So the idea behind 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.360 not wanting to use high draft assets on a running 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.840 back is that their careers on average are shorter, and 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:55.880 so he said, when you draft a guy in the 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:57.480 first round, you're hoping to get a guy that you 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.880 have for ten years, and that's less likely with a 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.520 running back because they don't as often get that second 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.040 contract in that third contract. So would you still want 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:08.880 to take a running back knowing that you probably aren't 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.960 getting a ten year player. Well, Jason said, you'd like 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:13.880 to get that, but they're few far between and you 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.480 don't always get that. So he would take a running back. 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.000 And the reason that this is a topic is because 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.919 there is a star running back, Bijon Robinson of Texas 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.320 this year who is considered the best prospect at running 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.720 back since Saquon Barkley in two thousand and seventeen or eighteen, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.240 who went second overall, which is the highest running back 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.200 has gone in a long time. Jason Lyt has not 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.919 drafted a running back higher than pick thirty eight since 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:38.440 he got here, and that was Ronald Jones in the 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.680 second round, and so this would be a departure from 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.800 what we've done. But he said, if it was a special, 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.679 special player, he's not against it. A lot of people 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.400 think Bjon Robinson is a special special player. Will he 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:52.560 be there at nineteen we'll see. He's probably one of 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:54.239 the best five or ten players in the draft, but 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.760 because he plays running back, he'll probably. 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.520 Slip out of the top ten. Maybe maybe not. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.240 But if he's there at nineteen, after hearing Jason what 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.760 Jason said, you have to think it's a possibility. 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.240 Yeah, and it would be exciting. 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:06.840 It would. Yeah, everybody loves when there's some of those 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:08.640 position players that get taken. 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.600 I mean, I think we're all very happy about Rashad 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:13.120 White and think he's going to do great, and so 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:17.080 isn't necessarily the hugest position of need, but if you 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.120 have a chance to add a player that that's good, 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.000 that is that good. I mean, Barry Sanders went third 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:23.919 overall in the draft. He went because the first two 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.000 teams felt like they didn't need running back. About three 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:28.440 years after that, I bet they all wish they had 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:29.160 Barry Sanders. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.880 Yeah, that's very true. In terms of position of need. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.799 One of the ones that we've talked about has been 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.120 just offensive line in general, but specifically tackle. And I 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.120 know Tristan Worth spoke this last week as well, and 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.800 there's been debate about is the a right tackle, is 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.200 he a left tackle? What does this mean he's get 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.120 right for both. Yeah, you know, just be ready for 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.880 all the things. So do you feel like you've gleaned 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:48.480 anything from what he said or what the team has 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.880 said that makes you think that a tackle would be 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:52.960 something that the team would consider, well, he said. 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.960 Jason Light to that question, said, tackles are very hard 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.400 to find. There are a few good ones that we 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.800 like in this year's draft that we've spent a lot 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.840 of time on. And then he also said, however, the 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.360 depth at offensive line throughout the rest of the draft 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.080 was a lot better on the interior line that had tackles. 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.560 So it could be a situation like Tristan WIRs in 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:15.800 twenty twenty, where there were four guys that were considered 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.240 blue ship prospects and everybody knew it, and there was 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:19.840 a run on them, and we actually had to trade 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.240 up to thirteen to make sure we got Tristan, who 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:24.040 was the last taken of those four. He's turned out 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:25.720 to be the best one, but he was the last 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.039 taken of those four. It could be a year like 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.360 that where because there's about four tackles maybe five at 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.240 the top that people like a lot, but it drops 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:36.960 off a little bit after that there could be a. 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:39.239 Run on them. So do they make it to nineteen? 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:42.479 Well, in her most recent mock draft on buccaneers dot Com, 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.919 Brianna Dix gave us Broderick Jones of Georgia, Who's the 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.520 guy we've talked about before. In a lot of mock drafts, 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.279 he goes before nineteen, but in her particularly one, he 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.320 made it there. And I have seen some mock drafts 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.400 where he makes it to nineteen. This is a guy 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.400 who played left tackle, So if you draft Broderick Jones, 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.760 you're probably leaving Tristan Worrer at right tackle, which you 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.160 know is a little bit easier, right, No, he's good 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.920 at it. Yeah, we know he's fantastic addic. So Roger 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.240 Jones is a guy that is on the Bucks radar. 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.600 I would imagine they probably have really studied very hard, 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.000 as Jason Light said, the top four or five offensive tackles, 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:17.719 and you don't know if they're going to be there, 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.119 but you're prepared to move on them if they are okay. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:21.960 And then I know that as you get closer to 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.720 the draft, theoretically the mock drafts start to you know, 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:26.680 you think, so decide a little bit more on one thing. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:28.440 They get a little clear that the first mock drafts 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:29.960 that come out or all over the place, no two 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:31.760 agree on anything, and then they start to all kind 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:33.839 of get a little bit more of a consensus. Do 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.200 you feel like, what is something you've seen in a 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.280 lot of them that it's starting to look like, oh, 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:39.400 maybe there's some merit to this. 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.360 Yeah. I mean you've seen a lot of Brian Branch. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.320 The tackle from Tennessee darnelt right, But a guy that 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.359 wasn't showing up around the Bucks pick for the first 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.320 month or so that I've seen a lot in mock 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.039 drafts lately is Iowa edge Lucas van Ness. 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.240 And there's no doubt. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.560 That the Buccaneers could use another player at that position, because, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.160 as coach Bowles has said several times this offseason, they 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.080 need to get more pressure off the edge and more players. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.200 The more players that you have there that have some 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:10.440 potential to put pressure on the quarterback, the better. So 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:12.839 even though Shaq bart is coming back from his achilles 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:16.360 injury and we re signed Anthony Nelson, still you could 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.640 easily work another blue chip prospect into that rotation on 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.480 the edge. So Lucas van Ness he's a guy. He's 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.520 kind of a projection guy because he didn't really even 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:26.960 start it. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:28.640 I always more of a rotation player. 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.719 And and you know he doesn't he didn't have stats 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.839 off the you know, have sacks off the off the board. 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.559 He had maybe twelve something like that over his career. 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:39.760 But you see him and you see in these in 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.799 these clips here he's a very powerful player. He's quick 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.960 off the edge. He probably has to work and sort 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.920 of upgrade his arsenal pass rush moves, but you see 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.960 the talent there to work with, and that's what you're looking. 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:52.480 For at that position. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:54.039 All right, Well, that is going to do it for 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.480 us on this final road to the Draft and in 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.520 the Draft is one week away. If you were able 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.080 to come to the draft party at Raymond James Stadium, 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.120 we highly recommended it as going to be a blast. 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.159 We will both be there doing a show talking even 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:06.800 more about some of these prospects and who we think 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:08.720 the Bucks are going to pick that night. So we 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:10.480 hope to see you there and thanks again for tuning 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:11.360 into Road to the Draft.