Mark Dominik likes pods, not mock drafts

Bucs G.M. Mark Dominik didn’t get his recent contract extension by following the crowd.

Dominik has a different way of preparing for all the draft day scenarios than most.  While many teams run through mock drafts as a way to prepare for the big day, Dominik prefers “pods.”

“It’s a little different than we’ve ever done around here before. It’s worked for the last couple of years for me. It’s really breaking out players into individual traits and kind of rating them within a pod and then looking at a big picture,” Dominik told Justin Pawlowski on WDAE over the weeked, via our friends at JoeBucsfans.com.

“I don’t look at [mock drafts]. I’m certainly focused on seeing what other people are saying, but for me we do things a little bit differently in our building, and I’m hoping that gives us a competitive advantage.”

We’re not exactly sure what the pods entail, but it sounds like a mix of a tiering system and grouping players based on some individual traits the Bucs look for rather than just by position.

The pods pumped out a terrific 2010 draft class after an uneven 2009 class that was more than salvaged by finding Josh Freeman.

13 responses to “Mark Dominik likes pods, not mock drafts

  1. He was a great hire by the Bucs…. I like the way GM Dominik and Coach Morris run this team so far, especially drafting!

  2. The 2009 draft class was not too bad (or uneven)

    Freeman in the 1st, traded 2nd for Winslow, Roy Miller in the 3rd (solid full time player) and 2 good players in the 7th. Slot WR in Stroughter and third CB in Biggers.

    They missed on Fulton in the 5th and Kyle Moore has shown nothing but is still on the team, but overall not a bad draft.

    10x better then anything Bruce Allen ever did.

  3. Pods are to mock drafts as getting separation is to getting open.

    It’s trying to be too cool for school by renaming something.

    Win/win = It’s all good.

  4. I like the idea of PODS as well. It’s a nifty idea for a storage company to come right to your house to pick up your stuff. Especially because I don’t own a truck, so hauling things back and forth to a storage facility can be a pain.

  5. Yeah, you can see that Dominick is a real rebel. Not some dorky suit cramming an elevator with a bunch of clones. Like peas in a pod.

  6. As a kind-of Bucs fan I’ll be the first to admit I wanted to see him fall on his face after cutting D. Brooks; however, he’s done a great job all things considered and gets my begrudging respect

  7. dbellina beat me to it. I remember watching in amazement as PODzilla dropped off the storage container at my old house. If I were on Angie’s list, I’d totally recommend it.

  8. Yeah, like gatherspeed said, the 2009 certainly wasn’t uneven. Biggers wound up starting a half-dozen games last year, and played pretty well for a second-year player in an injury-ridden defense. Stroughter played well as a rookie, but just got overshadowed by the emergence of Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn.

    I’ve seen a few references on PFT recently about the 2009 draft class not being good, and that’s just not accurate. Except for the incredible 2010 class, I’d say 2009 was Tampa’s best draft since probably at least 2005.

  9. seanmmartin says: Apr 18, 2011 10:30 AM

    Repeat last year’s draft with a running back as successful as Josh Freeman, and the Bucs will be good again.
    —————————————–

    Yeah because signing undrafted LeGarrette Blount didn’t fill that hole.
    7 starts and over 1000 yards at 5 ypc with 6 TDs.
    Lead all rookies in rushing by almost 300 yards.
    We really have a MASSIVE need at that position.

  10. The 2009 draft was a b+ draft for the bucs, I like it, now, after years of Gruden/Allen drafts, it wasn’t that hard to do better.

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