A Dominik Special At Tackle
February 11th, 2014
An O-lineman for the Bucs, if they trade down?
Fans of former Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will pay close attention to this post. The anti-Dominik crowd will now know one guy they absolutely don’t want to draft.
Dominik played studio analyst for BSPN yesterday on NFL Insiders and NFL Live. Dominik was asked to pick a standout from his time scouting at the Senior Bowl in January. Interestingly, Dominik went right for a position he was averse to drafting during his time as the Bucs’ personnel chief: offensive line.
“I thought one player that really came on was Zack Martin, the offensive tackle from Notre Dame. I mean I thought he played really well,” Dominik said. “I heard from a couple of people that he interviews exceptionally well, that he’s really combined his strength and his power, and he’s versatile left and right. And so Zack Martin looks like one of those guys that’s really going to accelerate through this combine process.”
Martin is widely projected to be a mid first-round draft pick in May. He made a whopping 52 starts at Notre Dame and, like so many Notre Dame guys, he’s already spent a year in graduate school. He’s also a big-framed young man at 6-4, 308 pounds.
Perhaps he’s a guy the Bucs would consider if they traded down from their No. 7 overall pick.
Yes, Dominik didn’t believe in drafting offensive linemen. The earliest the Bucs have snatched an O-linemen in recent years was Jeremy Zuttah (third round) under Bruce Allen and Chucky in 2008.
Dominik’s mindset was that the prevalence of spread offenses negatively affects the ability to evaluate offensive linemen in college, so an NFL team was more wise to find O-linemen after game film of them was available — even if it was just preseason. That philosophy was how Dominik was a force behind landing Ted Larsen and Donald Penn.
Of course, after failing with Gabe Carimi in the first round in Chicago, Lovie Smith also might be gun-shy on taking an O-lineman in the first round.
Regardless, Dominik has offered one to watch, one that could be an upgrade for the Bucs and is big enough to potentially play guard.
February 11th, 2014 at 3:08 pm
NFL Insiders? Isn’t Joe’s Rock Star an NFL Outsider?
February 11th, 2014 at 3:09 pm
Credibility is questionable.
February 11th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
Let’s see how Martin fares at the combine. Dominik had his moments and had his share of failures just like all of us would if we were the GM drafting players. I still think his Barron, Martin, and David deal was brilliant. Using hindsight makes it easy to criticize. No-one is impervious to making mistakes evaluating college talent, and if you say you are, you’re an imbecile and a liar.
February 11th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
We need some new starters on the o-line. I see two new starters this season. Need some young nasty lineman. I hope they trade down to get more picks.
February 11th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
Martin’s arms measured very short at he Senior Bowl and is now projected to play Guard in the NFL. Good call Dom
February 11th, 2014 at 3:42 pm
those arms in the pic resemble my thighs
February 11th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
Just me, but I’m thinking since we’re not going QB early, it’s BPA for OL and DL in the first two rounds.
We can pick up a CB, SLB, TE and Slot WR in later rounds or in FA.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:07 pm
Although the offensive line isn’t a sexy pick, it is necessary for success to have solid lineman. This year can we please go sexy, exciting ?? I love my Bucs, born and raised in Tampa Bay and always have. But I would like some excitement around here. More specifically I would like Johnny Manziel here. Our o-line would be fine the way it is with that guy. Trade the picks, we are already missing a 3rd, trade the money, inject the Bucs with instant excitement. If he sucks we can always try again, it’s already been a quarterback carousel for years.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
dominik use of “spread offense” as a reason not to draft OL is a joke. since when have we ever come close to running a spread offense? Most of the dlinemen, especially top DE’s are very highly drafted, and to think you can beat these guys with low round picks and UDFA is another reason he’s gone. I will give him credit for Penn, but his best days are over and we have ZERO depth.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
Doubt any of the 3 Qb’s will be there at #7, so if Watkins is available, I take him, depth at Wr is as bad as oline, if he’s gone, I think I go best rated OT. Although, I think we desparately need a pass rushing DE, not sure if Barr/Mack are real DE’s. Or trade back a few spots and go for Ebron and use extra pick on best available OL.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
“buccanAy Says:
February 11th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
use of “spread offense” as a reason not to draft OL is a joke.”
I think you missed what Dominik said. He couldn’t evaluate college OL based on game film because so many played in the spread. He needed to wait until he had NFL film to evaluate. This is not a defense of him, just the opposite, he couldn’t do what many others could, project talent to a system without seeing the talent in the system.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Dominick giving advice on the draft is like trusting Bernie Madoff with your retirement fund….
Let’s hear it from the Buc Realist on Dominick’s draft prowess…
February 11th, 2014 at 5:08 pm
Talk to the hand, Dom!
February 11th, 2014 at 5:47 pm
Donald Penn was with the Bucs in 2006/2007 dominick was GM on 2009. So dominick could not “land” Penn, Allen did.
February 11th, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Still shocked at how the media in this town never cAlled this cat out. I reckon credibility wasn’t a big thing for them to have.
February 11th, 2014 at 9:06 pm
The most shocking part of this story is that Joe still thinks the pop-star still has fans!
February 11th, 2014 at 9:58 pm
This guy must have bad knees or a gimp arm if Dominick likes him.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Wasn’t Aaron Sears a 2nd rounder?
February 12th, 2014 at 11:46 pm
if he’s handicapped dom loves him…ooops there goes your “inside information” little dog