Looking to throw stones for draft failures? Aim at Dennis Hickey.

Youve been hearing about it for the last few days, since the season has ended. The Bucs will get to pick 3 of the top 42 picks, and 5 of the best 99 college players; but do we trust the Bucs to pick the right people. You look at the Bucs 3-13 record and say "Raheem Morris isnt qualified to pick them" . Well maybe he is not, since it's not really his job. While the ultimate fate of their outcome may fall upon him, the onus is on the guy who has been doing it for the last 5 years... Bucs Director of College Scouting Dennis Hickey.

Like Mark Dominik, Hickey is with the Bucs for a long time, 14 years to be exact. He has only held the director position for the last five however. Yet that is long enough to pin the blame on him for, you guessed it. 

Dexter Jackson.

Gaines Adams.

Of course, you cant just give the bad, you have to throw in the good. With Hickey's assistance, the 2006 draft produced four rookies who saw action in their first season, but mostly Davin Joseph is the only one to really be proud of. 

We can also give him the credit for Aqib Talib, Geno Hayes, and Clifton Smith, along with Sammy Stroughter. It would seem the last year has wiped some of the stain off of Hickey's past. But that past is getting harder and harder to overlook as we examine the impact of it.

Sure Hickey found Barrett Ruud and Martin Gramatica by being a midwestern scout for the Bucs before becoming the director, but no one can deny the fact that a second round pick was wasted on Jackson, who is not even on an NFL roster at present time; and Gaines Adams, who was taken one spot below Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, and Darrell Reavis. Of course hindsight has perfect 20/20 vision, but directors of college scouting should know some of these things right?

And if not, can we trust him to do the right thing in 3 months, when the most important draft in Bucs recent history convenes?