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Bucs could have had Ray Rice

Posted Jan 11, 2010 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Jan 11, 2010 at 01:20 PM

By IRA KAUFMAN
TAMPA—That Dexter Jackson pick is looking worse by the minute.

The Bucs traded back six spots in the second round of the 2008 draft and selected Jackson, a speedy WR out of Appalachian State whose claim to fame was a dynamic effort in an upset at Michigan. Jackson turned out to be a bust with Tampa Bay and he was released two weeks before the 2009 season opener against Dallas.

What makes the pick even more depressing for Buc fans is the caliber of some players that were drafted between Tampa Bay’s original No. 52 slot and the No. 58 choice the Bucs used on Jackson after a trade with the Jaguars that added a fifth-rounder in 2008 and a seventh-round pick in ‘09.

Ray Rice, the shifty running back out of Rutgers who led the Ravens in rushing and receiving this season, was still on the board until the 55th pick of the 2008 draft. Rice is one of the most versatile backs to enter the league in a decade and he keyed Baltimore’s playoff win at New England Sunday with an 83-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage.

The man would not look bad in pewter, developing his prodigious skills next to QB Josh Freeman.

Had the Bucs remained at No. 52, they could have selected QB Chad Henne, who threw for 2,878 yards and completed 61 percent of his pass attempts for the Dolphins in 2009 during his first year as a starter.

Freeman may have more a intriguing upside than Henne, but it appears Miami landed its QB of the future.

By moving back six spots in Round 2 of the 2008 draft, former GM Bruce Allen didn’t do Buc fans any favors. In addition to bypassing Rice and Henne, Tampa Bay made a costly blunder by choosing Jackson, who never caught a pass in pewter.