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The Surprise 5

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By ROY CUMMINGS

Published: December 9, 2007

Updated: 12/09/2007 12:13 am

HOUSTON - In his second-floor office at One Buc Place, Mark Dominik watches tape of one football player after another.

You don't know the majority of the players Dominik is looking at. Aside from their parents, their closest friends and NFL personnel directors like Dominik, virtually no one knows them.

For many, they exist only on grease boards like the one in Dominik's office or the one in an office across the hall where the Bucs have posted every NFL team's depth chart, down to the last practice squad player.

Several current Bucs regulars once were at the bottom of one of those grease boards. They were, at least, until Dominik and others like him pushed the Bucs to pull them off.

It has proved to be a master stroke.

Without the contributions they have received from five such players, the Bucs probably would not be in the position they are in today to clinch their third division title in six seasons.

Earnest Graham

You're in one of those offices at One Buc Place. Not the one with all the depth charts on the walls, but one with a big movie screen on one wall and a big conference table in the middle. The Bucs are watching tape of their own players, running backs in particular, following an offseason workout last spring. Out of nowhere, and to no one in particular, Jon Gruden asks, "Is Earnest Graham our best running back?"

The answer doesn't come right away. It comes a few months later, after injuries to feature back Cadillac Williams and backup tailback Michael Pittman force Graham into the lineup on a regular basis.

The answer, it seems, is yes. Williams is still the Bucs' best runner, but Graham, who was never drafted after finishing his career at Florida and spent three years playing special teams, appears to be the better pass catcher, the better pass protector and is clearly more durable than Williams.

"He has been an MVP of this offense," quarterback Jeff Garcia says of Graham. "Whatever is asked of him, he does at a high level and he does it mistake-free. I mean, he doesn't turn the ball over, he doesn't miss blocks and he picks up tough yards."

He picks up big yards, too, often all at once. Through 12 games (seven starts) Graham has 19 touches that have resulted in gains of 10 yards or more and five that have resulted in gains of 20 yards or more.

A year ago, Williams had 17 touches that resulted in gains of 10 yards or more all season. Graham is also on a pace to become the first Bucs back to gain 1,000 rushing yards since Williams did it as a rookie two years ago.

"It's all about opportunity," Graham said. "I always believed I could be a productive back in this league. I just needed an opportunity to prove that, and that opportunity came this year."

Greg White

He wasn't sure he could handle another rejection. You would have felt that way, too, if you had been dumped by seven NFL teams in a span of four years.

Besides, after years of searching, White finally had found his niche. Even better, he'd found an adoring fan base. Arena League fans in Orlando had fallen in love with him. Why leave that, he thought.

But Jay Gruden, his coach for two years with the Predators, promised him this NFL opportunity would be different. This time, Gruden said, he'd get a real chance to prove he belonged.

When defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and Gruden's brother Jon, the Bucs head coach, told him the same thing last summer, White agreed to give the NFL and the Bucs, who had dumped him once, another shot.

It was better than delivering pizzas or bottled water or working in that syrup factory, he thought. White had done all of that during the six years he spent chasing his dream of playing in the NFL.

The closest he got was that stint with the Predators. Now, the Predators may never see White again. After leading their team in sacks last season, he leads the Bucs in sacks with 5.5.

He also has forced a team-leading four fumbles, recovered a fumble and made 35 tackles. Not bad for a player who wasn't sure he wanted to be here, who didn't even join the Bucs until two weeks remained of training camp.

"No one knew much about this guy except for my brother, and I should give my brother a raise for pushing him on us because we're happy we got him," Jon Gruden said of White. "He's a great story, and I don't think he even knows some of the great things he's done here. But I'm not going to tell him, because I still think there's a lot ahead for him."

Donald Penn

You're back in Dominik's office, peering over his shoulder as he looks at film of the 2006 Minnesota Vikings practice squad players. See that big guy working at left tackle? That's Donald Penn.

A keen eye can see that Penn is not as strong as he needs to be. Still, there's something special about him. It's his mobility. Men who stand 6-foot-5 and weigh 305 pounds aren't supposed to be that nimble.

Now, it's October 2006. Left tackle is something of a weakness for the Bucs. They don't have a solid backup behind starter Anthony Davis, so they decide to sign Penn off that Vikings practice squad.

Less than a year later, during training camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports, the Bucs are convinced they made the right move. Penn is proving to be their best pass protector. Good thing, too, because they would soon need him. During the fourth week of the season, Luke Petitgout, the veteran left tackle the Bucs signed to stabilize a young offensive line, was lying on the ground at Carolina's Bank of America Stadium, writhing in pain, his knee mangled.

Penn stepped in, and the Bucs barely notice a difference, not just that day, but virtually every day thereafter. Two months later, Gruden is wondering where the Bucs would be had they not pulled Penn off the Vikings practice squad.

"He's an example of what I tell our practice squad guys," Gruden said. "He's an example of what hard work and believing in yourself and keeping yourself ready can do for you.

"A number of guys here have done that. So it's a great teacher to sit there and see a guy come from nowhere, see a guy come out of obscurity to the front line and get the job done."

Jovan Haye

It's NFL draft day in 2005. The Bucs are looking for a defensive tackle. With the 178th pick, they choose to pass on a Vanderbilt defensive end who seems better suited to play tackle and settle on Anthony Bryant, a big project of a player out of Alabama.

A little more than a year later, it is clear Bryant isn't working out. The Bucs go to their grease board looking for a possible replacement. There, they see that Vanderbilt end. He's with the Browns now, but he's on their practice squad, which means he's available. His name is Jovan Haye.

"We always thought he would be a better tackle," Dominik says now. "He had good functional football strength and real strong hands and he plays with good leverage. That's what you need to be a good defensive tackle in this league, and he's got all of that."

It shows. After White, no member of the Bucs defense has more sacks this year than Haye, who has five. In addition, he's got 78 tackles, the most among defensive linemen, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

It is already the best overall season the Bucs have had from a defensive tackle since Warren Sapp put together a Pro Bowl season in 2002. Haye has played so well that he is even drawing some comparisons to Sapp.

"They're really getting after the quarterback now," said an NFL scout who requested anonymity. "They're playing like they did in the Warren Sapp days, and Haye has a lot to do with that. He's one of the reasons they're where they are."

Luke McCown

Bucs General Manager Bruce Allen is looking at his own depth chart. It seems a little thin, particularly at quarterback, where all the Bucs have on draft day 2005 is Brian Griese and Chris Simms.

Allen goes to the grease boards, then to the phone. He learns that all the Browns want for rookie Luke McCown is a sixth-round draft pick. Allen has two sixth-round picks, so he agrees to give the second one up for McCown, thinking the move is sure to pay a dividend at some point.

That some point comes more than two years later, during what may have been the Bucs' biggest game of the season. With Garcia on the sideline nursing a sore back, McCown led the Bucs to a 27-23 victory over the Saints last Sunday that all but assured them of winning the NFC South division title.

Afterward, Graham was among those praising McCown, who has proved the Bucs can indeed win when Garcia is not their quarterback by completing 29 of 37 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns.

"He's one of those guys, just like me, who's kind of come out of nowhere and he's getting his chance and he's stepping up," Graham said. "We've been getting that all year from guys, and that's part of what you have to have if you want to be successful in this league."

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