TAMPA - Dennis Hickey, the Bucs director of college scouting, took some time out from what is arguably the busiest week in his work schedule to speak to the Bucs press corps on Tuesday.

Hickey certainly didn’t reveal any secrets. In fact, the more specific the question, the more vague his answers became. He did, however, offer up some insight into what goes on behind the scenes this time of year.

Here are some of the highlights:

Q: Is your draft board, at this point, done or is it still a work in progress?

A: All of our scouts, it’s been a nine or ten month process for them. Our scouts have evaluated these players, our coaches have evaluated these players. We’ve lined them up, assigned them grades and at this point we’re lining them up within the grades, stacking them you might say, and just seeing where our coaches are at, where we’re at and where we see these players.

Q: How much predicting of the first round do you do?

A: We try to get somewhat of a feel. Of course, it’s a lot easier when you’re picking fourth like we were last year as opposed to 20. You generate a certain pool of players, which of course is bigger the further away you are from No. 1. Each player has been treated the same from one to 350 so we’re prepared for all the players. But there’s a certain group we think will be there when we pick in that range.

Q: Is it the best available player or is there a certain position you look at (in the first round)?

A: We go with the best available player for the Buccaneers.

Q: You put a lot of emphasis on watching film. When you bring a player in for a pre-draft visit, what exactly are you trying to glean from that meeting?

A: the draft visits will be for a couple of reasons. Sometimes it could be medical. Maybe our doctors want to see a prospect again. Or maybe we want to have the rest of our organization see them. During the combine there’s a lot going on. We want to get another look at the guy. Sometimes it’s comparing two guys. Maybe we want to see how they fit in organizationally with everyone here.

Q: Can you talk about how much bluffing goes on by teams leading up to the draft?

A: We don’t get into that much. I know there’s a lot of posturing, especially at the top of the draft. We’re focused on evaluating the players correctly. That’s our focus - making our evaluations and getting right the guys that we have targeted or that we have at that pick.

Q: Can you talk about all the preparation that goes into this day? Based on your past experiences, does it go the way you expect or do you see a lot of curveballs?

A: We try to eliminate as much of the surprise as possible, as much as we can control. The No. 1 thing, as I said before, is evaluating the players correctly. That’s what we’ve been doing the whole past year. Coaches started getting involved in the process in late January. The last two weeks we’ve talked about players and hashed out disagreements, and we do have disagreements. It’s a subjective business. We’ve tried to line those guys up as we see them organizationally the last two weeks. As always there are surprises, guys you thought would go earlier or later, that kind of thing. For the most part we want to be prepared for ourselves whenever we pick.

Q: How does this draft stack up with the past couple of drafts?

A: I think it’s comparable. Each year it’s a whole new animal. Each year there are different strengths at different positions. Really the best way to judge is not in the moment but when you look back on it after three years. That’s the best time to really judge a draft.

Q: Not having a Top 10 pick this year, are you more relaxed this year or do you feel the pressure to get the pick right at 20?

A: I treat it the same regardless of where we’re picking. We feel like we’re going to get good players at every round. So we have the same mindset if we’re talking about a fifth-round prospect or a first-round prospect. We want to get them right. That’s our job as scouts. We know the player backwards and forwards, how the player fits for our team so we treat them all as important.

Q: With only five picks, is there less margin for error in the later rounds?

A: We have them graded the way we want them and it’s a matter of the best player available. Each pick has pressure. We want to get each pick right. It doesn’t mean we always will but it’s my job to get that right.

Q: Is the pick made by committee? Who has the final say?

A: It’s been a collaborative effort. We’ve gotten together with the coaches the last two weeks. We’ve gotten together as an organization and hashed it out. There are a lot of different opinions and in the end we come up with the final decision on draft day. But we have them lined up the way we see it organizationally.

Q: Do intangibles come up during the draft? Does someone say, ‘Hey, in my gut this guy may not measure up but I just know he’s going to be a star someday.’ How often does that happen in the room?

A: We evaluate each player first of all on their tape and their performance, their play and production — the player. But we also evaluate each prospect on their makeup and character. How will he fit into our locker room? How will he fit as a teammate with our current team? Each player is evaluated in that way.

Q: What goes on in that time frame between picks, inside the war room; who’s talking, whose putting in the final analysis?

A: Once we get about five or six picks away pull out the players that we’re going to consider there, and we just kind of talk through them, go over their medical, talk to the area scouts, talk to the coaches. But most of the work has already been done in that way so that we have clear heads where we have time to go back and look at tape where we have disagreements, that’s done in this last week and this week. We try to eliminate as much of that as possible.

Q: What’s a bigger day for you, draft day or the season opener?

A: Oh, season opener. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about winning games. That’s the fun part. This is the role that I play in our organization, but it’s all about winning games here.

Q: Some analysts have suggested there may not be a first-round worthy receiver in this draft. Do you agree with that?

A: Each player we grade we line up where we feel within our grading system and each player individually.

Q: What’s the deepest position in this draft?

A: You’d have to say this is an unusual year for offensive tackles. It’s very deep there. And pretty much that’s by far the one that stands out in this year’s crop.

Q: Where does cornerback stand on the list of priorities?

A: You can take any guy at any position that can help your football team, that’s how we look at it. It’s a good year for corners, a very solid year.

Q: How tough is it to trade down?

A: It takes two parties and sometimes that’s hard, depending on what’s happening, whether the player is there. And sometimes you don’t know what other teams are thinking about certain players. It’s always hard. You have an idea in preparation for that. But you have to have a willing party.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or at rcummings@tampatrib.com.