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Bucs To Give Smith Extended Look

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By ROY CUMMINGS

rcummings@tampatrib.com

Published: February 20, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - It's all about the measurables at the scouting combine. Everyone wants to know how tall you are, how fast you can run and how much you weigh.

Some, such as Bucs rookie return man Clifton Smith, never quite measure up. Viewed as too small by most scouts, Smith was overlooked on draft day last year. He won't be overlooked again.

The Bucs, in fact, are planning to take a hard look at Smith in the capacity that made him a draft prospect in the first place - his ability to make big yards as a running back.

"We're really fired up about him," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said of Smith, who joined Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent last summer and proceeded to earn a Pro Bowl berth after only half a season returning kicks and punts.

"I mean, you don't make a mistake and fall into the Pro Bowl as a return man," Morris said, "so you better give a guy like that a chance and see if he can go to the Pro Bowl as a back, too."

Morris didn't say what role Smith might fill but with Cadillac Williams coming off another knee injury and Warrick Dunn nearing the end of his career, a role as the top complement to lead back Earnest Graham is a possibility.

Smith's background suggests he could adequately fill such a role. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry during his college career at Fresno State and averaged 5 yards per carry, albeit on eight carries, with the Bucs last season.

At 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds, though, one has to wonder if Smith can maintain those production levels. As Morris noted, however, at least one back has already proved it possible.

"Darren Sproles just got franchised and that's a pretty good back that's Smith's size," Morris said, referring to the 5-6, 180-pound Chargers back. "And I don't know if he's as fast as Smith."

Speed the likes of which Smith possesses is one of the things the Bucs will be looking to add this offseason. It ranks second, however, behind toughness on the list of things the Bucs believe they need to improve.

"All forms of toughness," said Morris, who came to the conclusion after watching tape of the Bucs' late-season losses at Carolina and against Oakland.

The Bucs lost the Carolina game, Morris said, because they weren't physically tough enough. They lost the Oakland game, he said, because they weren't mentally tough enough.

"That game against Carolina was a toughness game, and they were a tougher team that night," Morris said. "Going into the Oakland game, everybody is saying you got to win this game and everybody was tight as a drum.

"I mean, look at the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. They were the toughest team in the league all year. And in this game the toughest team usually wins.

"The more physical team, the team that can run the football, the team that tackles, the team that hits is always going to be better. So we have to get tougher."

One player who could make the Bucs tougher, at least from a physical standpoint, is Albert Haynesworth, the Tennessee Titans' 6-6, 320-pound defensive tackle.

Haynesworth has said he intends to test the free-agent market when it opens on Feb. 27 and the Bucs appear to be one of the teams gearing up to make a run at him.

"I'm not even sure if it's legal for me to talk about him yet, but he definitely has talent, he's definitely on the radar and we'll see when that time comes," Morris said in response to a question about Haynesworth.

Haynesworth won't come cheap. He is said to be looking for a deal that includes approximately $30 million in guaranteed payouts and an average salary of about $12 million per year.

That may be too expensive, even for the Bucs, who had approximately $42 million worth of cap space before placing the franchise tag on receiver Antonio Bryant. That's why Morris is taking the toughness issue into his own hands.

Like his friend and mentor Mike Tomlin, the Steelers coach who calls for padded workouts well into the season, Morris says he'll have the Bucs practice in pads more next season.

"We have to be a tougher football team to win more football games consistently," he said.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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