Bucs' history says draft could be good, bad or ugly

Well, it's draft week.

How's your 40 time?

How's your trunk adjustment?

How's your war room board look?

By the way, if you have a war room board, it's probably in your basement, you're probably 44 years old, most definitely single, and your mom is calling to you because the bus is coming and you're going to be late for work.

It's NFL Draft week, and experts are everywhere, especially when it comes to deciding just who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should take with their first-round pick.

Not that the Bucs will listen.

And they've got the history to prove it.

There might be no first-round history like Bucs first-round history - there's some great, some good, a lot of bad and some just plain ugly.

Ranking the Bucs' worst first-round picks is like lining up so many prize pigs at the county fair - you just don't know who should get the blue ribbon.

It isn't even the guys they picked in the first round. Sometimes it's the guys they got by trading their first-round picks.

The Bucs have five of their first-round picks on their roster, Davin Joseph (looking good), Aqib Talib (shows promise), Cadillac Williams (poor Caddy), Michael Clayton (boom, then poof) and, of course, Gaines Adams, who might be ready to have his bust placed in the Bucs' First-Round Bust Hall of Fame. Stay tuned.

I'm sure all of you out in Bucs Land have ideas about who were the best and worst the Bucs have ever selected in the first round, so feel free to chime in at any time.

Funny, but for a team with an ugly first-round history, the Bucs started out of the gate in spectacular fashion.

In 1976, with their first pick ever, they took defensive end Lee Roy Selmon. Hall of Famer, right out of the box.

They took running back Ricky Bell in 1977, and he had a great season or two, and might have been a great one, but for his tragic death after being traded to San Diego.

They took quarterback Doug Williams in 1978, and he led the Bucs to the NFC title game a year later. He eventually won a Super Bowl with Washington.

Not a bad start, eh?

Then ... night fell.

The Bucs traded away their first-rounder in 1979 for: Bears defensive end Wally Chambers.

They traded away their first-round pick in 1983 so they could get defensive end Booker Reese in the second round of the 1982 draft. They would have taken Reese in the first round in 1982, but some Bucs underling handed in the wrong card in New York, and the Bucs accidentally selected guard Sean Farrell. Of course, Reese was a bust. Farrell didn't turn out half bad.

Onward.

The Bucs traded their first-rounder in 1984 to Cincinnati so they could lay their hands on quarterback Jack Thompson.

Onward.

The Bucs picked someone named Ron Holmes, a defensive end, in the first round in 1985.

They threw away their first-round pick in 1986, too, although the selection's name might ring a bell: Bo Jackson. Thing is, Bo had made it clear before the draft he would never play for Tampa Bay and owner Hugh Culverhouse. The players on the team advised Bo to stay the hell away from the Bucs. As you know, Bo never did do Tampa.

The Bucs took Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde with the first pick in 1987. It never worked out for Vinny here, though he played on and on, throwing for thousands of yards. He lives in Tampa today. Good guy.

The Bucs hit bedrock with tackle Paul Gruber in 1988. He was a stalwart, the best offensive lineman in team history and the bridge between the awful years and championship seasons. Good guy, too.

Then ... night fell.

There was linebacker Broderick Thomas, first round, in 1989. And linebacker Keith McCants, first round, 1990. And tackle Charles McRae, first round, 1991. A trilogy of terror if there ever was one.

The Bucs didn't have a first-round pick in 1992. They'd traded it two years earlier for Colts quarterback Chris Chandler.

Then ... night fell.

1993: Eric Curry, defensive end, University of Alabama. Slower than some dead people. Busto. I remember fellow Tribune reporter Ira Kaufman nudging me in the ribs while in the press box high atop old Tampa Stadium during the Curry era. Ira handed me his binoculars and said, "Fennelly, look at Curry; just watch him. He's awful. AWFUL." And so he was.

Then ... daylight began to shine through.

There was quarterback Trent Dilfer in 1994. No, Dilly was never the greatest quarterback, but he led the Bucs to their first playoff season in 15 years, and he eventually won a Super Bowl, though not with the Bucs.

And then came THE defining draft in Bucs history: 1995.

Yes, there would be good first-rounders after that (running back Warrick Dunn, 1997), and bad ones (receiver Reidel Anthony, 1997), and so-so ones (defensive tackle Anthony McFarland, 1999) and bad ones (defensive linemen Regan Upshaw and Marcus Jones, 1996; tackle Kenyatta Walker, 2001) and traded ones (two to the Jets in 2000 for receiver Keyshawn Johnson and picks in 2002 and 2003 to Oakland for Coach Jon Gruden).

But there can be no doubt, at least in this mind, that the greatest draft in Bucs history - maybe the greatest day in Bucs history - was the day in 1995, when defensive tackle Warren Sapp was picked after slipping to No. 12 overall and linebacker Derrick Brooks was still there at No. 28.

It's the day a defensive dynasty was born. Period.

There's no Super Bowl trophy without that day.

Two Hall of Famers - Brooks is a lock and Sapp would have been if he'd hushed every once in a while, but he'll still get into Canton.

Two Hall of Famers in one day.

Period.

The Bucs have the 19th pick in the first round of this weekend's draft.

History says this franchise could do most anything with it.

Good, bad, ugly.

What do you think?