With the 20th Pick in the NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select....

by JScott on Apr 27, 2008 7:32 PM EDT in News

No. 20

Presented by Buc'Em

Aqib Talib
Cornerback
Kansas

Man what a mind blower... I saw WR Devin Thomas on the cell phone and had his jersey ready to go, then Goodell says Talib and it was on... I'm not going to pretend like i know these guys better than our scouts and Monte Kiffin. If Talib is the guy, obviously he's the guy.. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS, WR Jordy Nelson ate his ASS up on the football field.. Jordy Nelson is a 2nd-3rd round prospect... Just sayin'..

ESPN.com's Jeremy Green on the Bucs drafting Kansas CB Aqib Talib:

That 2nd Round pick has got to be OFFENSE!!!

Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas, 6'2, 205
Emerged as an elite cornerback early in the season, but struggled down the stretch against bigger receivers. Has good speed and great agility. Is a talker and a vocal leader. Mature for his age. Needs work in man coverage. - New Era Scouting

CB Aqib Talib :: 1st-to-Early 2nd
Talib is the cream of this Kansas crop of draftees, having once been thought of by NFL "expert" Mel Kiper Jr. as a Top 10 pick. However, Talib's 'good' showing at the Combine in Indianapolis was overshadowed by 'great' performances from small-schoolers Leodis McKelvin (Troy) and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Tennessee State). Those two will almost assuredly go ahead of him, but after that the next corner taken is largely based off the teams' preference. Talib could be the third corner taken, but he could also slide as far as the sixth corner taken, behind other similar prospects in Mike Jenkins (South Florida), Antoine Cason (Arizona), Brandon Flowers (Virginia Tech) and maybe, possibly behind Justin King (Penn State). A large portion of this drop has to do with his admission of thrice testing positive for marijuana while at KU, now thought to be the cause of his multiple suspensions while in Lawrence. This has led him to supposedly be "taken off the boards" of certain teams, leaving his list of potential employers less than the 32 teams in the NFL. That being said, he could still potentially find himself being drafted in the top half of the first round, and most likely will still be one of the 31 names called by Roger Goodell. - Rock Chalk Talk

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Aquib

Who Knew????? Way to go Bucs!

by lzinn on Apr 26, 2008 5:30 PM EDT 0 recs

I am the ROCKCHALKTALK.COM

blogger, and just wanted to reply to your Jordy-Talib comment... ;)

It was one play, he was completely and utterly on an island, and he got beat. Once.

Still, Talib is an awesome corner and you guys will be glad you picked him up, trust me.

I will answer some ?'s about him if you want, but he has absolutely tremendous ball skills, even played some WR at KU last year, and can tackle pretty well.

Plus, if you guys need a returner, he can be a punt returner.

Excited that my guy got drafted, glad he went this early.

by rockchalk on Apr 26, 2008 5:33 PM EDT 0 recs

tell me about his

punt returning ability, because as it stands he basically has no shot at being a starting CB for the Bucs barring injury this season...

by JScott on Apr 26, 2008 5:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

don't get me wrong

I'm prefectly happy to get Aqib Talib in Red & Pewter, but he got absolutely lit up by Jordy Nelson, yeah it was one play, but Jordy had 10 catches for 137 yards...

If I'm lucky Aqib will have Jordy as a teammate before the weekend is out

by JScott on Apr 26, 2008 5:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

by the way bro

thanks for the analysis, anything you can provide on Aqib would be helpful.. How often did he line up as a Wide Receiver and was he your main Punt Returner? Were the failed drug tests one after another?

Thanks again man!!!

by JScott on Apr 26, 2008 6:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

Here are just some quick answers...

I can get more in-depth later if you want me too...

As far as punt returning is concerned, no he did not return punts for us. We were already playing him every down on defense and a good portion of downs as a WR (he was our #4 WR on a spread offense, so he was out there quite a bit), and after tiring out a similar player (Charles Gordon, now of the Vikings) by having him play CB/WR/PR a couple years earlier, we didn't let Talib return punts. However, he did return punts in the Orange Bowl (because of the extra rest time before and after) and is fully capable of returning punts at the NFL level, IMO.

As previously mentioned, he was our #4 receiver. He was far from the primary option on our team, but is a playmaker. Look no farther than the Orange Bowl pick-six to see that.

He has, as I mentioned, absolutely tremendous ball skills, which is why we played him at WR. He occasionally gets beat, and isn't always the best tackler in the world (he can't stick people up much at all, although it shouldn't be too hard to learn), but was a really solid player for us.

As far as the marijuana issues, they are clearly past him. They were all in his first couple of years at Kansas (he was suspended for two games in 2006 for 'undisclosed reasons', although it is now basically accepted that it was because of a positive drug test), and he was an excellent teammate last season. He had a daughter born over the summer of 07, and he has publicly said numerous times that he is a completely changed man since. He was a model teammate and citizen this past season, and was one of the leaders on this team (not a captain, but a leader) and THE vocal leader of the team. He isn't going to be a behavior problem whatsoever IMO, don't worry about that.

He is a good pick for you guys, especially (like you said) he can be given a year to learn the Tampa 2 and everything. Because with how big he is, he has the potential to be an awesome tackling corner, and that combined with his ball skills and cover skills, and he is one of the better corners in the NFL.

Obviously, I am biased, but it was a great pick by you guys IMO..

by rockchalk on Apr 26, 2008 8:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

thanks alot

for the insight. We greatly appreciate it.. I'm sure I'll reach out to you in the future.. Thanks again man!!

by JScott on Apr 27, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

Man was I thrown for a loop!

I'm with JScott and assummed that Devin Thomas was going to be a Buc. Goes to show you the illusions of live TV. With that being said, I must say I was even more suprised by the fact the Bucs passed on both DeSean Jackson AND Mike Jenkins.

After reading a little more about Talib I must admit that I'm impressed. The great thing is that he returns kicks too. He works perfectly in Kiffin's Cover 2 and can transition slowly into the position. This is beter than throwing him in the fire.

Lots of suprises and lots of players many assummed would be 1st round picks that are falling. Bucs will have a legit shot at landing a Malcom Kelly, Early Doucet, Jordy Nelson, or maybe even DeSean Jackson in round 2.

by TheUltimateBucFan on Apr 26, 2008 6:21 PM EDT 0 recs