He began his career as a defensive end, and the Bucs coaching staff immediately recognized he was capable of playing inside. By the end of the season, Ellis Wyms was seeing snaps as a defensive tackle, and with the selection of Dewayne White in the second round, it seems that is Wyms' future.
"His future could very well be inside," GM Rich McKay said.
Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli said White's arrival could allow Wyms a chance to concentrate on playing tackle.
"I think Ellis is a really good fit," Marinelli said. "He can do anything. I want to get to a position where I don't have to move him around too much. He's still going to have to be flexible on those things. The more you get a guy in one position for a while, I think he grows faster."
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: With the first-round pick (No.32 overall) they obtained from the Bucs as part of the compensation for coach Jon Gruden, the Raiders chose versatile Colorado defensive lineman Tyler Brayton. The 6-6, 277-pound Brayton, who played inside for the Buffaloes, projects as an end in the NFL.
Brayton was the 11th defensive lineman taken in the opening round, a record.
CLOCK WATCHING: The Bucs had to wait 7 hours, 28 minutes to be on the clock Saturday night. They used less than three of the alloted 10 minutes before choosing Louisville's White.
SPECIAL OPS: More than a third of the Bucs, including Warren Sapp, Ronde Barber, John Lynch, Kennan McCardell, Shelton Quarles, Dwight Smith, Joe Jurevicius and Shaun King, will receive a glimpse of the playbook used by the Special Forces Units when they visit MacDill Air Force Base on Tuesday.
MR. INTANGIBLES: Gruden and McKay made a point of mentioning Chris Simms' father, Phil, who threw for 33,462 yards and 199 touchdowns with the Giants from 1979-93.
"Intangibles mean something at that position," McKay said. "Phil was the king of intangibles."
McKay said the younger Simms demonstrated more intangible qualities as his college career progressed.
"I think Texas people will tell you he got better at that every year," McKay said.
WILD, WEIRD STUFF: McKay didn't hesitate when asked what he thought was the biggest surprise of the day.
"When I saw about 8,000 picks come off the board in about 30 seconds in the first round. You just don't see that," McKay said.
He was referring to Minnesota, picking No.7, failing to make its choice on time, and Jacksonville and Carolina racing ahead of the Vikings to choose Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich and Utah tackle Jordan Gross. Minnesota then selected Oklahoma State defensive tackle Kevin Williams.
NEVER TOO MANY: Considering the depth at defensive line and quarterback, the Bucs proved Saturday that they are willing to draft players at positions already considered strengths.
Gruden indicated that with their four picks today - two in the fourth round and one each in the fifth and sixth - the Bucs will take the best player available.
"We've got two picks in the fourth round, and they're late picks. One is a compensatory pick from the NFL - we appreciate getting some compensatory picks, we've given a few of those away," Gruden said. "We're going to use the theory that we've done a good job working hard to study these players, and we're going to try and pick the players that we think can come in here and compete and potentially make this a better football team."