Experienced Rookies

Good article at BucPower.com that highlights the experience many of these rookies are bringing into the locker room. Most of the guys the Bucs drafted played in Senior Bowl (which Gruden helped to coach) and come in with more experience than your average rookie.

Cadillac Williams, Barrett Rudd, Alex Smith, Dan Buenning, Anthony Bryant all played in Mobile under the watching eye of Gruden. So these guys already have two things going for them, more experience than your average rookie and Gruden is already familiar with them.

Sure you can make the argument that with the exception of Williams, none of these guys are going to be great players since they don't possess the physical tools to be all stars. But for a club that is rebuilding these are exactly the kind of guys that you need. It's fun to have a guy with a lot of upside at rookie camp, such as Larry Brackins, but Brackins is a much bigger gamble than the other receiver drafted two rounds later Paris Warren. With Warren you know that you're getting a guy who can play that 4th or 5th receiver spot and will contribute on special teams. Brackins, on the other hand, is just as likely to succeed as he is to fail, since he is coming out of a community college.