Bucs' GM Dominik says this draft can fill many needs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik certainly was not satisfied with the team's 3-13 record in 2009, but sees promise in the future.

Talking publicly for the first time since the season-ending loss to the Falcons, Dominik met with reporters at the Senior Bowl on Tuesday to discuss a wide range of topics, from head coach Raheem Morris to the upcoming NFL Draft.

Here's what he had to say.

Q: In your opinion, what are this team's greatest positional needs?

Dominik: There are a lot of spots and that's the fortunate thing about where we're at in terms of the 10 draft picks we have. We're going to look at free agency. But as I study it, I'm a firm believer that we're going to build this thing through the draft. So, when people (ask), 'Hey, did they spend a lot of money in free agency?' I don't know that we're going to be big players in free agency, because I firmly believe that you build it through the draft. The teams that have had the continued success - Pittsburgh, New England, Baltimore and the Colts - they build it through the draft, they trade for players and maybe once in a while they'll go out and buy a free agent.

Q: Won't that require a lot of patience from the fans?

Dominik: It will require some, because it's going to be somewhat of a process. But I think we took a big step last year, and I think the fans started to see that pay off with (rookie quarterback Josh) Freeman. Knowing that you have that quarterback that you can build around is a big piece, because as you see here at the Senior Bowl, there's maybe 16 teams out here saying, 'We have to find that quarterback,' and that's a hard thing to find.

Q: It seems like you're putting a lot on Freeman?

Dominik: That's the nature of the beast. If we take a defensive tackle or a cornerback with the 17th pick everybody just kind of goes to sleep on it. You take a quarterback and it's not that way. But that's OK. That's what the position is. And at some point you have to address it. We decided to address it at the beginning of our opportunity and it was very unpopular at the time, because this year's class was supposed to be the great quarterback class of all time.

Well, what would you say about that today? The point is, you take a quarterback when you have the conviction and I think there's a lot of people that have a lot of confidence that Josh Freeman can be one of the best quarterbacks that has been here.

Q: How do you feel about your third overall draft position?

Dominik: I feel we're in a good spot. We're going to have options (to move) in any direction and we're going to have the opportunity to stay put. I actually feel very good about where we're at.

Q: What's your goal in the draft? Do you feel you have to come away with three starters, four starters?

Dominik: I don't look at it from the starter perspective. But I do want to see a lot of production from this draft. Immediate impact is important, but it's important for us to start finding Pro Bowlers in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. That's very important. And so that's a bigger piece of the puzzle for us to find this year. That's another reason we've done so many things internally to get ready for this draft.

Q: What kind of job do you think Raheem Morris did as head coach last year and why should he be back after a 3-13 season?

Dominik: I feel like Raheem did a very, very good job of keeping this football team upbeat and motivated. I think that was very, very important. I feel like Raheem did a fantastic job calling the defense and being head coach at the same time and I feel like it actually improved his head coaching ability. I think he had a chance to not only get back in the defensive meeting room, but I felt like he came even more alive in practices. I think he felt like he was a more integral part of what was going on, on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense.

Q: Was there any hesitation among the Glazers about Raheem, and if not, why did they feel compelled to put out a statement saying he'd back?

Dominik: Not that I know of. And I wouldn't talk about our meetings but there were a lot of false reports out there that they felt were unfair, and that's why the statement came out because they wanted to make sure that people understood the direction we were headed in and that we were staying the course we started 12 months ago.

Dominik: We put him in a difficult situation last year, (making him offensive coordinator just 10 days) before the start of the season. But I felt like (the offense got better) as the season went on and certainly at the end of the season. And I want to continue to let him work with Josh Freeman and have an entire offseason where he can get everything under control and to where he likes it.

Q: What's your vision of what this offense should be?

Dominik: I think it's similar to what we talked about last year. You want to build around the quarterback, but you certainly need to be able to run the football. I see us being a football team like the Jets. That's the kind of football team you've got to be and that's the kind of football team we want to be, a team that runs first. I think it's a good philosophy in general. I think everybody is going to say we want to win on the heels of our backs and then let the quarterback move the ball downfield on third down with deeper throws.

Q: What needs to change, then, in order for this offense to become what you envision?

Dominik: I think it's that simple word: consistency. It's easy to say but it's something we have to become. And not just in our reads and protections but also with our backs getting comfortable. I think an offseason is going to do a lot of good for a lot of players on this football team.

Q: How would you assess the play of the offensive line? Is it set?

Dominik: I wouldn't say it's set because we're in a good situation where we have those (draft) selections. A big fundamental philosophy of mine is to protect and attack the quarterback, and protect means you have to have patience, because you don't get a lot of good draft-day grades drafting offensive linemen. They're not sexy, they're not fun, but everybody notices when you don't have them. So, you have to have the due diligence to continue to look there and if you have an opportunity to upgrade the team you do so.

Q: Will you continue to run a zone-blocking scheme like last year?

Dominik: We won't have as much. We're going to run a hybrid of the two. The more we talked to Coach Morris and the more he and Coach Olson talked, the more we wanted to be this tough, physical team. It's going to be power football, so we're going to adapt more power football into it.

Q: On defense, do you feel like you found a recipe for success late last year after Raheem took over that side of the ball?

Dominik: I felt good about the direction the defense was heading. I thought Raheem was creative. We all saw different ways of getting to the quarterback, whether it was a double-A (gap) blitz, or a corner or a safety (blitzing). It was different looks that we haven't seen. I'm excited about that, because I think Raheem's been able to mentally put together that hybrid defense that we want. Now it's up to us to continue to work with the guys we have and add to the talent pool to become the defense that Tampa all loves and knows.

Q: A lot of the things you guys tried last year just didn't work out. It left the impression you guys didn't know what you were doing. How do you respond to that?

Dominik: I think every organization has things that didn't pan out the way they wanted them to. But I will say this for Tampa Bay: What we started a year ago was a youth movement that we believed in and executed, and through that we learned a lot about the guys that were on this roster already and about guys that aren't on this roster anymore. The main goal last season was to go through the youth movement and move forward and we did that, and we're looking forward to adding to that nucleus. And I believe that with Josh Freeman we have a big piece of the puzzle intact.

Q: But doesn't young mean losses?

Dominik: Youth means you're going to have some growing pains. But we're not sitting here now saying that no matter what we have to get younger next year. We went from being the seventh-oldest team in the league and having one of the oldest lineups to at one point having the second-youngest lineup in the NFL last year. So it's not like we're going to get a lot younger. We still have guys on this football team that have experience and hopefully a lot of these draft picks show up and play on Sundays, so the goal is not to stay perpetually young. That can never work.

Q: What happened to Michael Clayton this year?

Dominik: He's under contract and we'll see what happens there. There's no hurry on our part. The ball's really in Michael's court. It's on him to see how his offseason goes, how he prepares mentally and physically, so it's really up to Michael. I have no problem telling Michael, 'It's on you and we'll see how you do.'

Dominik: I think you have to win. That's a key element to anyone showing up. But we have to have a team that this town is really excited about and wants to fall in love with like we had. That's important to us as we spend a lot of time preparing for this 2010 draft.

Q: What did you learn this year?

Dominik: I would say (being the GM is) certainly demanding, but it's also fantastic. And I'm aware that 3-13 is the reality, but I'm still excited about the direction we're headed. I really am. As you sit here today, you can pick apart the roster but I do believe that the guys that are in our locker room, the guys we added in 2009 and the success we had with our trades - every trade we made over the last 12 months - were all correct. All the decisions we had to make were difficult, but I believe they were correct and I do believe we had a successful draft last year. And I think those are things we can build on.