Mark Dominik Reveals 2011 Draft-Day Trade That Didn’t Happen & Agonizing Over First-Round Pick
April 19th, 2022
“Love you, Mark, but I might still be coaching if you got that right.”
Even before today’s revelation by former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, the 2011 NFL Draft was a thorny chapter in Bucs history.
Tampa Bay used its 2011 No. 20 overall pick on edge rusher Adrian Clayborn when fellow edge rusher Cam Jordan, the Saints’ all-world DE, was on the board and later taken at No. 24. And other powerful defensive linemen were on the board, as well.
In Round 2, the Bucs drafted injury-riddled edge rusher Da’Quan Bowers. Imagine if they had instead chosen three-time Pro Bowl center Rodney Hudson out of Florida State, who Kansas City grabbed four picks later? Hey, that’s rearview mirror drafting.
But today during a SiriusXM NFL predraft conference call with Joe and media, Dominik chose to share more about the decision to draft Clayborn.
It turns out he was wrestling with drafting Jordan while hoping his phone would ring for a trade down. Neither happened.
“That was such a deep defensive line draft class that when I was picking at No. 20., if that phone would have rung, I probably would have taken the offer to [trade down], but it didn’t ring,” Dominik began. “If you go back and just look at that 2011 draft class for defensive line or rush guys, it’s ridiculous. That’s the one where I was really struggling between Clayborn and Cam Jordan. And I would have been eager to pick up a [second- or third-round pick] and move back four or five spots and kind of reassess that. But because the phone didn’t ring, we went in and made the pick.”
And so another piece of The Lost Decade history is revealed. Clayborn had a nice rookie year with seven sacks but injuries quickly derailed his career. Jordan is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a couple of solid seasons from locking up a spot in Canton.
Dominik dropped another 2011 gem that Joe will share tomorrow.
April 19th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
Bowers was a stud at Clemson and at one time thought to be the #1 overall draft selection but then messed up his knee and then fd up his achilles in the bucs and could not overcome either of those 2, and Cam Jordan could have had same career here with bucs in those crazy years in Tampa
April 19th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
It didn’t help that Schiano had Clayborn dropping back in coverage either. Totally out of place
April 19th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Funny thing is – that was probably Mark Dominik’s best draft as a GM…
Sad.
April 19th, 2022 at 2:17 pm
Richard Sherman was available when the Bucs picked in round 5.
Mark Dominik’s pick – a 5’8″ – 180 lb Strong Safety – Ahmad Black.
Bad move Mark…
April 19th, 2022 at 2:17 pm
2011 was so terrible its hard to forget. Especially considering the lockout shortened the offseason and coupled with the fact our GM was terrible building on a roster that unexpectedly went 10-6 in 2010. Blount getting 3 carries in the season opener that year, hoping GMC could play a full season, being outraged that Cadillac Williams was allowed to walk after showing value as a 3rd down option, wondering if Josh Freeman would take a step forward. What did we get in 2011? another ride on the coaching carousel
April 19th, 2022 at 2:19 pm
Sure, that’s what he says in 2022
April 19th, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Hindsight is 20/20 but that was a kick in the gut. Pretty sure if Cam was a Buc, we’d love his big fat cocky mouth haha.
April 19th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
swing and a miss
April 19th, 2022 at 2:43 pm
Dude was terrible at the draft and talent evaluation
April 19th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
You mean super bowl ring wearing clayborn… you better put some respect on that name! Haha
April 19th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Here I am, having a nice day……and Mark Dominick appears before me…..
What a perfectly awful GM he was.
April 19th, 2022 at 3:17 pm
Hey, if you are mentioning Cam Jordan and possible Hall of Fame in the same sentence then Simeon Rice has to get in. I think Joe believes the same?? Cam Jordan has played 2 more games in his career than Simeon. Cam has 107 sacks, Simeon has 122. Cam has 13 forced fumbles. Simeon has 28. Cam has 2 picks, Simeon has 5. In the playoffs, Simeon 7 sacks in 7 games with 4 forced fumbles. Cam 5.5 sacks in 11 games and 0 forced fumbles. Most important. Simeon has a super bowl ring. No ring for Jordan. And for those of us who remember the 2002 Super Bowl, you really could have made a case for Simeon as the MVP of that one. I think Simeon was hurt by the fact that he was not a normal type of dude. I think that hurt him for things like Pro Bowls and other popularity contests. But the fact is the guy was a freak of a football player also. I think people held weirdness against him, but his type of weird was cool. The Hall put a psychopath like Charles Haley in, so that should show you that if they are willing to put a nut case like him in, then they should put our weird space cadet of a DE end. After Ronde gets in, then it has to be Simeon that Ira stumps for.
April 19th, 2022 at 3:18 pm
Clayborne had a known shoulder issue…..looking back it was a poor choice to draft someone with a condition that limits his ability to be effective. Dominick was in over his head as was Raheem. Dominick was never a GM, he was a cap guy that the Glazers could promote from within, same as Raheem. To this day I laugh that John Lynch landed a GM job before Dominick could land a single interview. Dominicks claim to fame is always the one that got away…..as if Buc fans that lived through that area weren’t aware that great players were being missed routinely.
April 19th, 2022 at 3:28 pm
A shrewd GM would hire Dominik as their top assistant GM and then when the choice is between two players, ask Dominik to make the pick but always turn in the card of the player he was going to pass over.
April 19th, 2022 at 4:02 pm
Seriously, who drafts a dude with one working arm to play NFL football?
As for Da’Quan Bowers … boom bust pick. A healthy Da’Quan Bowers would have been the 2nd overall pick.
April 19th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
Wasn’t Bowers supposed to be a possible #1 overall pick before he had his knee messed up in collage? Too bad he was a complete write off as a pick and player. Did he even have 10 sacks his whole career?
April 19th, 2022 at 5:51 pm
I am happy to see Raheem has continued to grow as a coach, he was really caught off guard in and not seasoned enough for the roll as being a head coach in the NFL .
April 19th, 2022 at 6:00 pm
Was Noah Spence a JL?
Spence was early ranked as possible 1st overall pick his last college season.
After he became a Buc is was disappointment after disappointment
April 19th, 2022 at 7:28 pm
I believe that’s when I started reading JBF and people were calling him Adrian Slowborn. Definitely wasn’t a first round talent but he churned out a solid career.
April 19th, 2022 at 7:57 pm
Yea, let’s believe Dominik when he says he was wrestling between Clayborn and Jordan.
Dominik would pick the expired tub of ice cream while one made yesterday was right next to it.
April 19th, 2022 at 8:05 pm
I had them taking Jordan as Clayborn went into the draft with health issues. It was a dumb pick on the day of the draft, and is still dumb today. With that said Clayborn still played for a long time, but clearly, they should have taken Jordan.
As for the Bowers pick, that’s more complicated. He was, at one point, considered a #1 overall pick, and fell because of injuries. Frankly, from where the Bucs were picking in the 2nd round, I think it’s a defensible pick. Yeah, it was a lottery ticket, the odds weren’t in your favor, but the payoff was potentially huge. It didn’t work out, but I have a lot less of an issue gambling on a guy with health issues in the 2nd, than in the 1st.
The big thing from that draft is that you don’t take two guys with health issues at the same position with your 1st and 2nd round picks.
April 19th, 2022 at 8:22 pm
That makes way better sense to me Cam Jordan’s Disrespect toward the Bucs. We may have had conversations about drafting him and we didn’t. Fuel for his machine.
April 19th, 2022 at 9:25 pm
Awful draft
April 19th, 2022 at 9:51 pm
Bowers health issues were more than just a knee. It turned out he had a congenital defect that made him susceptible to frequent hamstring pulls. Severe ones. Basically, most of the time if the guy tried to run fast it was if he was being held by two O-linemen. By the upper legs. A freaky degenerative genetic condition that only got worse. One of the many reasons it’s not unreasonable for a Bucs fan to feel cursed. Poor Da’Quan. Poor Bucs’ fsn.
April 19th, 2022 at 10:26 pm
The failure, Dumbanik, was so weak he couldn’t make anything happen unless it disadvantaged the Bucs. Stay fired you panzie.
April 19th, 2022 at 11:17 pm
Clayborn was a good pick, injuries happened.
Bowers was great value in round 2. If he overcomes his injuries he has the potential of being a pro bowl edge rusher for a decade.
There are definitely picks that can be second guessed but it’s kind of ridiculous to go back and second-guess most draft picks.
Someone mentioned Richard Sherman around five… OK so every team in the NFL ignored him for 4 rounds, just like they ignored Brady for several, it’s ridiculous to second-guess that
April 20th, 2022 at 1:31 am
Injury history: ignore it at your peril.
April 20th, 2022 at 8:32 am
Dominick’s evaluations of injuries were terrible. He continually overvalued players with talent but a history if injuries and it destroyed the Bucs: Price, Benn, Clayburn and Bowers to name a few. It’s one thing to roll the dice once or twice but continually they gambled on damaged goods and got burned. Dominick was always a cap guy.
April 20th, 2022 at 11:53 am
Dominik was a joke as GM.