Bucs wind up with their fantasy choice

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 22, 2001

TAMPA -- The names were flashing past Rich McKay. It was as if a slow day had been put on fast forward, forcing McKay to lean forward to relive the moments.

It was late in the afternoon, after the dealing and after the drafting of the first round. The Bucs' draft room was empty. Across the building, McKay sat in his office, watching the names of the teams and their players as they crawled across the bottom of his television screen.

Okay, Rich. Imagine a gun to your head.

Now answer: Which of those names would you rather have than Kenyatta Walker?

The list began again, and McKay watched the names stream by. "Not him, not him," he said. "We like that guy. Not him. Not him. He can play. Didn't like him. Not him."

McKay sat back. He shrugged. He smiled.

"There were two guys, maybe three, whose grades were up there with Kenyatta's," McKay said. "But we didn't have a need at their positions."

This is where you start with Kenyatta Walker, Buccaneer. You start with the knowledge that the Bucs are absolutely, unquestionably, head over heels in love with the kid. You start with the appreciation of how much they appreciated him.

And then you hope they were right.

The Bucs swung for the fences. They spent

their first-round pick, and their second, to draft Walker. And they still think they got a bargain. If you believe what the Bucs believe, they picked a player with nice ability, nifty agility and a nasty attitude. For the next decade, no applications are being accepted for the job of left tackle.

"This guy," said director of college scouting Tim Ruskell, "can be a Gruber."

Does that give you an idea? If not, consider this:

The Bucs liked Walker better than Leonard Davis, the No. 2 pick.

They liked Walker better than Chris Samuels, the No. 3 pick in last year's draft. They liked Walker better than, well, just about anyone.

Okay, let's be honest. The Bucs would have written sonnets to whomever they picked Saturday, even if they had picked Charles McRae all over again. Teams always love their pick, and they are always amazed to find them still on the board.

How, then, do you know the Bucs really, really loved Walker?

Well, you could have joined offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen early Saturday afternoon. It was 12:30, the draft was just under way, and Christensen was talking about the draft.

"Kenyatta Walker," he said in that faraway voice of the dreamer. "That's our dream pick. If we could end up with that guy . . ."

At the time, Walker seemed like an unreachable star. He was going to go in the top 10, if not the top four. When you're drafting 21st, that's too far to even imagine.

How much did the Bucs think of Walker? The offensive coaches put together their own evaluations of the top athletes. They had Michael Vick first. They had Walker second. If you factored in need, they had Walker first.

"I've been evaluating players for 10 years, and he's one of the best I've ever seen," line coach Chris Foerster said.

Great size will get a man drafted as a tackle, but to be a great player requires more. Teams rank on athleticism, temperament, production and the way he uses his hands. Walker got a five on all counts. Give him a very good four on intelligence. It's a pretty good package.

And so it was that the Bucs agreed on two things. First, Walker was going to be a great player. Second, he was going to do so somewhere else. No one really thought the team had a shot at Walker. Why should they?

But when the Cincinnati Bengals passed in favor of Justin Smith with the fourth selection, something tickled in the back of McKay's head. Maybe, he thought. Just maybe. The Bengals chose to pass on Walker because he has played right tackle, and they wanted a left tackle. The Bucs, however, weren't concerned. In their view, Walker had pretty much played left tackle on the right side at Florida. In other words, he had played in space, without a tight end next to him. He had done a lot of pass-blocking. And when the team worked him at left tackle, Walker looked comfortable.

When Walker got past New England at No. 6, McKay began to dial the phone. He called Bill Walsh, who had the ninth pick. "I'd love to do business," Walsh said, "but we just traded up to No. 7."

From previous conversations, McKay knew Seattle and Green Bay wouldn't deal. Carolina was a possibility, but not once Dan Morgan slipped that far. St. Louis was determined to stay put and draft defensive players. Jacksonville threw a bit of fear into McKay, who thought the Jags could take Walker and use him as a bookend with Tony Boselli. But the Jaguars took Marcus Stroud.

That left Buffalo, which was looking for a cornerback. Because no corners had been taken, the Bills could afford to move back and still get the player they wanted. The Bucs offered their first, a third and a fourth. The Bills demanded the first and second.

A high price? Maybe. But consider this. Between 14 and 21, a lot of players the Bucs liked -- Rod Gardner, Santana Moss, Jeff Backus -- were taken. That would have left the Bucs taking Arizona State tight end Todd Heap in the first round and a leftover lineman -- say, Mike Gandy -- in the second.

So there is your trade. The Bucs shipped Heap and Gandy for the player they liked most in the draft.

Again, if the grades were right, it was a bargain.

"This one didn't take a lot of smarts," coach Tony Dungy said. "We got lucky."

So go ahead. Imagine him as a rock. Picture him opening holes and smothering pass rushers. Envision him protecting the blind side of Bucs quarterbacks for a decade. Believe that he will be as good as the team that dared to fantasize.

Go on, dream.

For Kenyatta Walker, for the Bucs, a dream is where it all began.

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