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The Buccaneers continued to invest in their running game with one of their prime commodities, a first-round draft pick, selecting Oklahoma guard Davin Joseph 23rd overall

More OL Help: Bucs Draft G Davin Joseph Oklahoma G Davin Joseph was credited with 108 knockdown blocks in 2005

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have begun their 2006 draft class with the selection of Oklahoma guard Davin Joseph. An athletic, intelligent and strong lineman who plays with an aggressiveness borne of his defensive roots, Joseph should offer the Bucs even more push on a rapidly improving offensive line.

Expect last year?s first-round pick, running back Cadillac Williams, to be thrilled. The 6-3, 311-pound Joseph is an outstanding run-blocker who should be able to open holes for the defending NFL Rookie of the Year. Joseph marks the third straight offensive player taken by the Buccaneers in the first round, following Williams in 2005 and wide receiver Michael Clayton in 2004.

Joseph is the sixth offensive linemen drafted in the first round in Buccaneers in franchise history but the first interior linemen in such company since 1982, when the Bucs snapped up Penn State guard Sean Farrell 17th overall. Joseph is also the highest-drafted offensive lineman for the Buccaneers since tackle Kenyatta Walker, who went 14th overall in 2001, and by far the highest-drafted linemen since Head Coach Jon Gruden?s arrival in 2002.

The selection addresses an area the Bucs have spent the better part of two years improving: The running attack. Just this offseason, the Bucs have re-signed four of their own free agent linemen and added two from other teams, guard Toniu Fonoti and tackle Torrin Tucker. Joseph, who was a consensus first-team all-conference pick in 2005, gives that front line another shot of talent. Last year, he registered an impressive 108 knockdown blocks while helping the Sooners average 355.1 yards of offense per game.

Joseph is an in-state selection, having starred at Hallandale High School in the town of the same name in South Florida. He was the Broward County Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and was recruited by the Sooners as a defensive lineman.

Buccaneers.com will provide additional information on Joseph shortly, including thoughts from Gruden following his press conference, which will be carried live on Buccaneers.com.

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Joseph Seized Bucs' Attention On Tape in 2005

By Mike Cobb

The Ledger

ST. PETERSBURG -- Prior to last year's draft, Buccaneer coach Jon Gruden and his staff were watching tapes of Oklahoma right tackle Jammal Brown when they saw something else.

"All of a sudden, we're saying, 'Who's this right guard?' " Gruden said Monday.

Turns out it was Tampa Bay's first-round pick in this year's draft.

His name is Davin Joseph and as far as Gruden's concerned, "This is the kind of lineman I've been looking for for years."

After watching him from afar for more than a year, Gruden finally got to meet him Sunday night, more than 24 hours after the Bucs had drafted him. Prior to that time, Joseph's contact with the Bucs had been only with the assistant coaches.

The fact that they hadn't met didn't lessen the impression Joseph had made on Gruden going into the draft.

"You can just feel his energy," he said. "You see him interact with players and coaches at the Senior Bowl. You watch him at the combine and see the attentiveness and enthusiasm he has, plus the explosive movement and power that he has."

Now, Joseph steps into the latest role of being a firstround draft pick. The outgoing 22-yearold from Hallandale still seems a bit overwhelmed by it all for the moment, but that's an insight into his personality.

"I'm nervous about what's to come," Joseph said at a press conference Monday morning. "I don't know what to expect, so there's some nerves and anxiety that goes with that."

So just what type of player, and person, did the Bucs get with their first-round pick?

They got someone who could be a good player at either guard or tackle. He was Oklahoma's right guard in 2004 but switched to left tackle in 2005.

He'll begin at right guard for the Bucs, but Gruden said, "We're going to play the best five (linemen) and to do that, you have to have guys who are versatile on the line. "He can play at left tackle, he could play at right tackle, but his best position is at right guard.

"He is, at times, dominating there."

At least he was on that tape Gruden saw a year ago.

They got a guy who's not afraid to be honest. He admits that his long arms and large hands have helped him get away with holding.

"I hold all the time," he said. "They're going to catch me once or twice, but (having big hands) gives me an advantage now and then. Playing offensive line is perfecting holding."

They got someone who's not afraid to work hard.

His father, Elie Joseph, left Haiti 24 years ago for South Florida and the opportunity for a better life. He took a maintenance job at a motel (the Colonial Inn) where he met his wife Minnie, Davin's mom. They married, had two boys and, according to Davin, have spent their lives teaching their kids how to work.

"They're hard-working people," Davin said. "They don't get paid a lot, but they work their butts off.

"They always wanted me to have something they never had," he said. "They wanted me to have an opportunity to fulfill my dreams."

Now, he has that opportunity.

The Bucs officially announced the signing of South Florida running back Andre Hall as an undrafted free agent Monday.

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The apple fell close to the tree with Davin Joseph, who has used the opportunity and work ethic his hard-working parents gave him to fulfill his NFL dream Family Strength

G Davin Joseph called football a "beautiful game," one he enjoys studying in hopes of mastering

May 02, 2006 -

Elie Joseph came to the United States 24 years ago looking for a better opportunity than those he could find in Haiti, his homeland. In the decades since, Joseph has worked steadily, found and married the love of his life and raised three children. In the process, he succeeded in the ultimate American dream: Passing on an even greater opportunity to his kids.

Davin Joseph, Elie?s youngest son, was selected 23rd overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2006 NFL Draft on Sunday, which means he will soon be a) pursuing his passion at the highest level and, b) very wealthy.

Elie Joseph works in industrialized cleaning. Minnie Joseph, Davin?s mother, does maintenance at a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida. When they met, they were both working at a hotel. However, the specifics of their employment isn?t what matters to Davin Joseph; it?s the manner in which they approach their jobs that counts.

?They worked [at the hotel] together, ended up getting married and had me,? said Joseph. ?From there, they?re just hard-working people. The thing I love about my parents is they?re hard-working people, they go to work every day, they don?t complain about anything and they did everything in their power to make sure that me and my brother had everything we could ever need.?

In the final analysis, Elie and Minnie may have passed on something even greater than opportunity to their sons: The drive and work ethic to make the most of it.

" That?s what I think is a lot of fun, trying to learn the game. It?s always something different, it?s always a different perspective. That?s what has always fascinated me about Xs and Os."

?They don?t miss work,? said Joseph of his parents. ?They don?t miss anything. When it comes to something, they do everything they do 100%, 110%. That?s the same take I take with football. Everything I do is 110% or else you might as well not even do it. That?s something I carry with myself, knowing that you have to seize every opportunity that you get and everything you do has to be quality.?

That type of attitude explains how Joseph, who had started for two seasons at right guard on a very strong Oklahoma offense, was able to make a seamless move to left tackle as a senior. The move was made out of necessity given injuries and the Sooners? personnel, but it was never a switch that either he or the team came to regret. Because he approached the move with his father?s brand of hard work, he managed to make it work, both for the Sooners in 2005 and for his long-term career plans.

?Switching to left tackle, I learned a lot,? said Joseph, who also credited his coaches and teammates with making the move as painless as possible. ?I became better as a player. I was able to learn more going back my senior season. It helped me in the NFL now. It was a great decision for me. I had a lot of fun my senior year. It started off rough, but it ended well.?

Joseph is expected to start his NFL career back at guard, though he knows unforeseen circumstances could make his abilities at tackle quite valuable again at some point. He is in for another significant transition, though, as the challenges at the pro level are significantly greater than in the NCAA. Joseph welcomes the trials ahead.

?Football is such a beautiful game,? he said. ?You look at Xs and Os and it?s such an aggressive and tough and nasty game when you look at the film. Learning football is something that I love to do. It will be a lot of fun trying to catch up to [Head Coach Jon Gruden]. That?s what I think is a lot of fun, trying to learn the game. It?s always something different, it?s always a different perspective. That?s what has always fascinated me about Xs and Os.?

Think that kind of talk revs Gruden?s engines? You bet.

?He is a great young man,? said the coach as he introduced Joseph to Tampa on Monday morning. ?He loves football and he?s one hell of a player. I?m not going to make a lot of predictions today, but I do know that he brings tremendous character, passion for the game. Davin Joseph is what we are looking for as a football player.?

Joseph was there to be found because of the hard work and sacrifices of his parents, because of the opportunity they gave him and his decision to make the most of it. That?s why he was just as happy for his family as he was for himself when the Buccaneers came calling on Saturday.

?It means a lot to my family because they always wanted me to have something they never had,? said Joseph. ?They wanted me to have an opportunity to fulfill my dreams. So they helped me, they supported me, they gave me everything I needed up here [in my head] to be able to go out and get anything I wanted. They?re happy that I?m here, they?re happy that I?m finally getting this chance to play pro football and they look forward to experiencing it with me.?