Bucs take chance on WR Williams, add P, S, LB, DE late in draft

Few players in the NFL Draft raised more red flags than former Syracuse wide receiver Mike Williams.

And, now, Williams is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

The Bucs selected Williams early in the fourth round Saturday, No. 101 overall, on the draft's third and final day. Williams has been compared to former Bucs receiver Antonio Bryant both for his skill set and concerns over his maturity.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik is convinced, though, the team will benefit from rolling the dice on a player who was suspended for the 2008 season and quit his team late last year.

"I believe as a scouting staff we put the most time into this player - more than anybody - because it was that important,'' Dominik said. "He was one of the 30 visits to this organization so we could spend a full day with him.

"I've had multiple conversations with Doug Marrone, the head coach at Syracuse University, and at the end of the day, I feel very good about our selection and about the talent he brings. I wouldn't bring somebody in here if I didn't feel comfortable about it. I don't think anybody spent more time with him than the Buccaneers did and I think we're going to reap the rewards for it.''

The Bucs began Saturday with seven picks in Rounds 4-7 - though only one among the day's first 73 - to use in their rebuilding effort.

With the third pick in the sixth round, 172nd overall, the Bucs selected Virginia Tech punter Brent Bowden.

In the seventh round, Tampa Bay selected Virginia Tech safety Cody Grimm at No. 210 overall, Florida State linebacker Dekoda Watson at No. 217 and Stanford defensive end Erik Lorig at No. 253.

Grimm is the son of former Washington Redskins offensive lineman Russ Grimm, a four-time Pro Bowl selection. Though undersized at 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, Grimm was a first-team All-ACC selection with 106 tackles and seven forced fumbles as a senior linebacker.

Watson, an FSU captain as a senior, had 184 tackles, 11.5 sacks and 32.5 tackles for loss during a 46-game career with the Seminoles. He joins former FSU teammate and fellow linebacker Geno Hayes with the Bucs, though Watson could move to strong safety in the NFL.

Lorig, taken with the third-to-last pick of the draft, switched from tight end to defensive end after 2006. Lorig, 6-foot-3, 281 pounds, was hampered by a groin injury last season, but finished his career with 82 tackles and five sacks.

Tampa Bay traded two seventh-round picks - Nos. 225 and 232 overall - for the Denver Broncos' fifth-round pick in 2011.

Williams, who turns 23 in May ,was the second receiver drafted by the Bucs, who traded up three places in the second round on Friday to select Illinois' Arrelious Benn. By taking two receivers among their first five picks, the Bucs addressed the need to provide targets in the passing game for franchise quarterback Josh Freeman, last year's first-round pick.

With Williams, there definitely are rewards to reap. Considered a first-round talent, Williams has Bryant-like size (6-foot-1, 221 pounds) and speed (4.52 seconds in the 40-yard dash), plus the hands and strength to make catches in heavy traffic.

He has a checkered past off the field, however, that includes a season lost to academic issues, a one-game suspension for violating team rules in 2009 and his decision to leave the team in November for unspecified reasons.

"I'm not a bad guy,'' Williams said Saturday afternoon. "I didn't have off-the-field issues. I just had in-school issues. That was the problem with me."

Williams dislikes being labeled a quitter.

"And I'm not a quitter," he said. "Anyone that knows me knows I don't quit. If I was a quitter, when I got suspended because of my grades, I would have quit Syracuse then. If I was a quitter, when I got suspended for that game, I would have quit Syracuse then.

"I'm never a quitter. That's not my style. Tampa Bay will see that. I'm going to go out there and fight hard for everything I do and get. So it (does) kind of get to me when people say I'm a quitter, because that's not a word I even use.''

Dominik was undeterred.

"This kid did make a mistake in terms of what happened with the Syracuse football team and he regrets it,'' Dominik said. "But we spent countless hours with him at the Combine, here, at his private workout.

"When you go back and do your research and look at what's really in his past in terms of any kind of aggravated assaults, the only thing I can tell you right now is he had a speeding ticket.''

Dominik said the incident that led to Williams leaving the team in 2009 stemmed from an "accident'' that caused him to miss curfew.

"That was the beginning of what happened,'' Dominik said. "But here's a kid that missed a year because of academics. He did the work in junior college and he could have gone to any Division I-AA program, but he wanted to go back to Syracuse, so he did the work, got his grades back up.

"Now, obviously, at Syracuse, with three games remaining, he made a poor choice. I'm not going to debate that. And I think he paid the price dropping all the way to the fourth round because the guy is a first or second-round talent.''

Williams, who set a school record for receptions with 60 as a sophomore, was leading the Big East in catches with 49 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns when he left the team.

Most analysts say Williams can excel in the NFL if he has proper guidance from leaders in the locker room. The Bucs' plan is for receivers coach Eric Yarber to serve as Williams' guide, something Yarber has done before.

"He's coached T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Ocho Cinco, Terrell Owens,'' Dominik said. "He's coached them all, and if you call each one of those individuals, they're going to explain to you how great a coach he is and how he can be a mentor. That's his guy and he's very excited about the selection as well.''

The Bucs loaded up on defensive players the first two days of the draft, picking Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy third overall on Thursday and adding UCLA defensive tackle and Vanderbilt cornerback Myron Lewis on Friday in the second and third rounds, respectively.

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