Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has long been known as one of the best executives in the NFL. His work in the NFL Draft has kept Tampa Bay a top contender in the NFC despite losing all-time great players like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
There's a reason for Licht's success, though.
As the way the roster is currently constructed the Buccaneers have 20 of 22 starters on the team having come from the draft. Their ability to select and develop homegrown talent is among the best in the league.
As the Buccaneers prepare for the closure of their pre-draft process, the team is moving forward with draft visits with many potential newcomers. The reason for it is because Licht understands the importance of those visits.
"I just enjoy getting to know them. There are some guys that we talk to at the combine that I wasn't in on the meeting for various reasons and I just enjoy getting to know them," Licht said in his pre-draft availability. "I just like hearing their story and I feel like I can get a lot from it."
The pre-draft process is always a crapshoot. Players give answers that they are told teams would prefer at this point.
Finding the genuine answers, though, takes experience. And that is something Licht has a way of figuring out.
"I know that they're coached up on it. There's really few tactics that some of our guys use to get them off their game a little bit but I just really like hearing their story and just how they've overcome some of the things that they have or some of them haven't had to overcome things but just how they're wired," Licht said. "I just enjoy meeting people, so it's just fun for me in general."
Tampa Bay is looking for the next crop of players to lead them to greatness. Their history has shown they are more prepared than ever to take that next step.
