Fantasy Football Today - Draft Talk with Former GM Scott Pioli and Bucs RB Dare Ogunbowale (04/22 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 22, 2020

We've got a couple of interviews for you on today's show as we speak to former NFL GM Scott Pioli and Bucs RB Dare Ogunbowale. Pioli, who worked in many NFL front offices, reacts to the Rob Gronkowski trade and gives us some great GM insight into the NFL Draft. Scott tells us about evaluating prospects and how he and Bill Belichick were able to pry Randy Moss from the Raiders (14:45). Then, Ogunbowale (22:00) talks about all things Bucs including Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, Jameis Winston and the new uniforms. Find out what instrument he played growing up, what the 2020 season holds for him and so much more *NOTE: We spoke to Ogunbowale before the Gronkowski trade 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Want in the PODCAST LEAGUE!? Here's your chance: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/permalink/856529974841302/ Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @YardsPerGretch, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. We've got a fun episode of Fantasy Football Today for you today,

as we have a couple of interviews that we're going to have here on the show i'm jamie eisenberg heath cummings is here he say hi hi there you go man of many words we had a fun twitch interview on tuesday night which was awesome to uh hear some of your questions and answer them on a different format i hope that's something we'll be doing a little bit more of we could talk about that at a later time. But on today's show, like I said, we have a couple of big interviews. The first one is the man who's joining us right now. You may have heard of him. He's a colleague of ours here at CBS Sports, joins us on CBS Sports HQ quite a bit. One of the best executives in the NFL of the last 20 years, Scott Pioli. You may have heard of him with the Patriots,

also been with the Chiefs and the Falcons, the multiple-time executive of the year. Nobody knows the league better than Scott. I don't know how much more superlatives I can keep on you, Scott, but thank you for joining us here on Fantasy Football today. Thank you, Jamie. You've gone way too far. I don't know about the best. There's a lot of people that would argue, but I really appreciate it. Very kind. Thank you. Well, we appreciate you joining us. After we talk to scott we're going to hear an interview that i had with uh dare ogumbawale running back of the tampa bay buccaneers this may be a little bit tampa bay heavy new england heavy at the start of the show because as you guys are aware there was a big trade yesterday between the patriots and the bucks rob gronkowski coming out of retirement to join tom brady in tampa bay he

was traded to the bucks along with along with a seventh-round pick for a fourth-round pick. Adam, Keith, and Ben Gretsch broke down the trade in depth when it happened yesterday with one of our emergency podcasts. But we're going to talk to Scott about that as well as a lot of draft things. We have a fun week of episodes coming up later this week. Tomorrow you'll hear Saquon Barkley on our show.

Adam, Keith, Dave, and Ben Gresh will be talking to Saquon. They'll give you some fantasy analysis. They'll also give you a mailbag. So send in your questions where you normally do. I'm not going to say the email address because I'll butcher it as I usually do. Heath, do you know the email address? Yeah, sure. No, not at all.

There you go. So Adam will give you all that stuff. Don't worry. It'll be in the episode. You know where to send your emails. He's got plenty. So anyway, let's get. There you go. So Adam will give you all that stuff. Don't worry. It'll be in the episode. You know where to send your emails. He's got plenty. So anyway, let's get to the good stuff. So, Scott, you got a chance to see this trade, digest it for a little bit.

So, again, it's Gronk going to the Bucs with a seventh round pick. The Pats get a fourth round pick. Your take on Gronk coming out of retirement and joining Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. Yeah, I think, you know, initially I honestly wasn't surprised there's, because he had never closed the door on whether or not he would play again. And he is one day he would close it the next day he would leave it open, but it always seemed to be at least partly open. So I wasn't that surprised that he, you know, that he wanted to come back,

you know, and players form unique relationships. And I'm sure that he and Tom, it's clear that he and Tom are close. They not only have a professional relationship, they have a personal relationship. And truthfully, just listening to Gronk at the end of his time with the Patriots, it just sounded like he was tired and he was beat up again. I think unless you're a player and you go through the rigors of the physically what they go through, and Gronk has been through a lot of injuries and a lot of time off.

It's not just the physical toll that's taken on the player. It's an enormous emotional toll. So I think the fact that he and again, I'm just speculating here. I haven't spoken with him, you know, about this. But to me, I think the time away renews the mind a little bit. And I think it's any time that anyone steps away from something that's intense and that intensive, you have a little bit different look on it. Now he sees an opportunity for a new life back together with an old buddy and it looked attractive. So again, as I understand it, they, his agent,

Drew Rosenhouse had approached not only Tampa, but the Patriots and the deal got done. Scott, the other side of this, the Buccaneers already had a pretty talented young tight end on their team and OJ Howard. There've been a lot of rumors about the possibility of him being traded even before they made this trade for Rob Gronkowski. Can you talk a little bit about what it's like as an executive when those rumors are already out there and everybody else knows that you'd like to move a player and how you can still get a deal done?

Yeah. Well, I'll say this. Sometimes, Heath, you don't know where those rumors started. Everyone makes the assessment that it was the team that was leaking those rumors or they were trying to get it out. Often what will happen or 50% of the time it's the team, 50% of the time it's the player and their agent. Sometimes if a player isn't happy with the circumstance, isn't happy with the situation, they and their agent start putting things out there that can make it look like the team. And then there'll be someone in the media who can make it look like the team.

I think one of the things I learned that I one of the many things I learned in my 26 years in the NFL is when rumors get out there, when things like that get out there, you immediately think that the leak comes from a specific place. But there's so many people that talk, there's so many different angles. And truthfully, there's so many agendas out there, you don't know what it might be. I mean, I'm not saying this is the case here. This could have been a player that was unhappy, or his agent was unhappy, or the combination of them weren't unhappy. So maybe they went out on their own and talked to teams to see if there's interest and they started the trade rumors they started the the whole idea that this is a possibility um so again as a general manager you sit in that chair but people always think that it's the team starting the rumor or leaking it but it's not scott i just want to ask you one more sort of uh front office thing about this um yeah

did they sort of did gronk sort of force the patriots hand here because of what the salary cap situation is in new england that they almost had to trade him well that may be part of it um but my guess is um my guess is that there's a good enough relationship between all the parties because getting the age drew rosenhouse i know i know when i was with the patriots and still with bill drew has a good relationship with the with the patriots he has a good relationship with nick casario so i'm sure those conversations happened before um they had to leverage him because again if you look at it from the patriots side the fact is they know the player's not going to come back to them he doesn't want to come back to them he

doesn't want to play in that system which you you don't take offense by that. You understand this is a business transaction. The reality is the Patriots have a player that's either nothing off the roster or can become a fourth round pick. We understand it's a Hall of Fame player, but his best seasons are likely behind him. Not definitely, but likely behind him. So to get something when the alternative is nothing, it's probably a smart business decision. Whether or not he leveraged them, I don't know. I don't think that the parties involved have relationships where they would try to tuck it to one another. And it makes sense, like you said, for them to get a fourth round pick out of essentially nothing because probably not going to be there. I'll just give my fantasy

spin on it since I wasn't part of the show yesterday. It makes me feel icky to put Rob Gronkowski in the top 10 at tight end just because he's going to be 31. He's coming off one of his worst seasons in 2018. He's got to learn a new system, essentially. He's going to have a lot of talented players around him with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, where he's never played with talented players like that in the receiving core. So I'm concerned. I would still take a chance on him. I went back and looked at the draft we did yesterday, our fantasy draft. And if you look at it, Austin Hooper was the ninth tight end off the board. He went in round nine. If I'm getting Gronk in round nine or later, I'll take it. Most likely, though, he's probably going to go sooner

than that. So for me, it feels a little bit like a bust. But we'll see how this whole thing works out from a fantasy perspective. Scott, we want to ask you a lot of questions, obviously, about the upcoming NFL draft. The draft starts on Thursday night with the first round. Since we are a fantasy show, we're going to probably lean heavily on some running back and wide receiver conversation. And, you know, you look at the running backs, you know, we're probably not going to see a guy go in the first round. At least that's the expectation if you follow a lot of the mock drafts. How are you sort of evaluating that position now in the nfl is it you know uh as an executive do you sort of look at it as these are guys i want to just kind of

you know use and abuse or is it if i have a real special one like a christian mccaffrey i'm going to try and get that second contract out of that guy and see if i can maybe milk it as long as i can how do you look at the the running back position in the NFL today? Yeah, I would say, Jimmy, you're never in the situation where you want to use and abuse any player. You know, I know you're not saying it in the truest sense, but I'm saying more from the team standpoint, you know, get the most out of the guy and then let him go someplace else. Well, the way that you get the most out of the guy is if a guy can play every down. Right. And not all not all downs are the same. For instance, players get categorized and running backs get categorized as an every down back, a first and second down back, or a third down back,

right? That's kind of where the whole thing starts. Because there's very few running backs that have the unique and rare skills where they can play at a high level in the passing game and the running game. Because the game is so different right now, it's not like the old days where all you needed was a running back that could run the ball and play well in the running game, nor do you want a back that can just catch the ball or just run routes. So when you start breaking running backs down, excuse me, you want to see what type of back are they. The rare backs that you, again,

we don't use the word run into the ground, but it can be in every down back, that is a rare back, and they have to have special running skills and receiving skills. The other part about a running back that you're going to use in the passing game, people think it's just about their hands and their ability to get open. But one of the key things about a running back that you're going to use in the passing game, people think it's just about their hands and their ability to get open.

But one of the key things for a running back in the passing game is the ability to pass block. And I know that there's not a fantasy football point scoreboard for that. But one of the most important things that's worth remembering is sometimes in the passing game, when you see a blitz coming, there has to be an adjustment and the back becomes the last person between the defender that can have a clean hit on the quarterback or have a free shot at hitting and potentially hurting the highest paid best player on your roster. So when we look at things from a team building standpoint and from a team, we value the position a little bit differently. Again, help me understand and forgive me my ignorance in this. I don't know one of the most important things about a running back, regardless of it's every down, first and second down or a third down back ball security, their ability to hold onto the ball. Does a fantasy back lose points if there's a, on a fumble and or turnovers?

Yes. You lose, you lose points for fumbles for every, every position for most leagues. I mean, there's some that don't penalize you, but I can't hear anything. Oh,

you, you lose, you lose points for, for fumbles and for turnovers yes in in most leagues okay i got you i'm sorry i lost you there for a second my apologies but i but i but i did hear most of that the uh you know and the other thing is are there i know that there's not points if he lets up the quarterback sack or if there's a mental error or if there's an issue so um you know some of the things that are really important again blitz

pickup is critical their third down roll their special teams value you know, some of the things that are really important, again, blitz pickup is critical. Their third down roll, their special teams value, you know, a running back, because if you're not an every down back, if you're either a third down back or a first and second down back, you have to remember there's only 45 be changes to that rule this year. But if you have to limit your roster and you've got so many players that can be active on a game day, the value of a backup running back or a not, you know, if let's say you've got a running back who's really what you call a D-May third down back who's using the passing game. Now, if you're a pass heavy offense, that's terrific. But if you're not a pass heavy offense, you know, you have to find reps for that player. And there's certain positions and certain roles on kickoff cover, kickoff return, punt return, where you have to get enough snaps out of a player. And that becomes one of the keys with all backup players, particularly at skilled position,

Jimmy, having the ability for those players to give you snaps in special teams. Scott, it seems like everybody is a prospect expert now. We're all doing draft analysis, but you're actually a pro at it. Can you tell us specifically with the skilled positions, maybe a thing or two that you looked for in prospects that doesn't get talked about enough by analysts? I think, you know, one of the things I just mentioned, ball security, which leads into dependability, overall dependability. And whether that's, again, skill positions, we're talking about, I know running back, we'll be talking about wide receivers, but quarterback, right? Dependability. Jameis Winston and certain fantasy teams lit it up. From what I understand, he was an incredible fantasy player because of all the touchdowns and all the yards and all this stuff, but he had 30 interceptions. And to me, it's not just the interceptions. It was the number of pick

sixes, the places on the field where the ball was turned over that led to points and how many points those led to. Not all turnovers are the same. So regardless of the skill position, there's this dependability factor. And again, dependability is ball security in the running back position and receiver position. Dependability is in blocking. The blocking game is critical whether a wide receiver can be dependable um to his team and and make blocks downfield to engage um with a defensive back you know because if another player has the ball in his hands and the difference between that player being dependable and or being willing to block um could be the difference between an extra five, six, seven, or 30 yards.

So again, as much as the importance of the physical skills and the physical tools and the production, there's things that we call other production and whether a player is dependable can lead to the other types of production. Scott, you've been in the draft room when some Hall of Fame players have been drafted. Do you And whether a player is dependable can lead to the other types of production. Scott, you've been in the draft room when some Hall of Fame players have been drafted. Do on the actually on the phone with matt light getting ready to pick him and we jumped one ahead of him and stole him and he went on to be an 11 year starter three time world champ three-time pro bowler but that story's gotten a little old i think jet fans are tired of hearing about it i think one of my favorite most difficult um trades that i was a part of was when we traded for randy moss and um that was back when the draft the first three rounds were on day one and then day two we picked

up round four it was only a two-day draft and we were trying to get to randy and trying to trade him the oakland raiders and mr davis were trying to move him we were very interested in randy but we also you know we knew randy a little bit We didn't know him real well. We felt like a three was too much. Um, Mr. Davis was trying to wrangle that third rounder from us. And we decided that we use that pick. And at the end of that day, um, we were still talking and I went back to my house that night. We still talking to Mr. Davis and the folks out at the Raiders. And we were going back and forth. And finally, at about one thirty in the morning Eastern time, I'll never forget.

You know, I'd gotten home, but we were in the middle of trying to get this trade done and we were willing to give up our fourth, which I think was either like number one, ten overall or one eleven overall. And I got home and I had and I didn't want to wait for my family. So I'll never forget this moment. I'm sitting on my sofa in my boxer shorts with a blanket wrapped around me, staring at the phone, waiting the phone to ring. I think to myself, my gosh, this is what my life has become. And sure enough, around 1.30, the phone rings and it's Mr. Davis calling back and said we have a deal but now the problem is you know and this is one of the things that that people don't always think about in trading when players are involved with trades generally all trades are done on the

contingency that the trade is not complete until the player reports and passes their physical so the next morning it was going to be like the 10th or 11th pick that morning. And the draft was starting the second day at 11 o'clock in the morning, Eastern time. So we had to get Randy on the plane, on a private plane. He had to fly in, land in the Foxborough area, get to the office, meet with Bill and I have a conversation, take a physical, meet with our doctors, clear him on the physical. And we had to renegotiate his contract down so that we would do a trade and sign. So simultaneously we had to reduce his salary by $5 million. Oh, and he had to be willing to do that. And in our meeting with Randy,

Bill stepped away for a second. I said, hey, listen, Randy, I'm going to listen. I got to call you ready. We're going to have to adjust your contract. We're going to have to. And before I could even before I could even finish what I'm saying, yeah, he looks at me. He leans forward and tears were welled up in his eyes. Listen, P.O., he says, I don't care what it is. Get the deal done. Get me out of there. Please get me here. So we had to, again, we consummated the terms of the trade at 1.30 in the morning, got him there. And then before the fourth round started, we, again, renegotiated the contract, passed him on the physical and got the deal done. And to me, that was one of it was exciting. It was fun. And everyone knows what that season, unfortunately, didn't end in a championship. But we had a very, very strong season that didn't end in a championship.

But Randy was a huge part of that. That's just an amazing story. I mean, I think anybody that's listening to this and certainly knows the history of how that worked out for you guys, the fact that you were able to get Randy Moss for a fourth round pick and convince him to take a reduced salary is just absolutely amazing. Well done by you. Well amazing. Well done by you. Well done. Well done by you here. I'm sorry, guys.

Jamie, I got to tell you, we didn't have to convince him of anything on the pay cut. He just wanted – and that was one of the – that's one of the most misunderstood things about – Randy Moss is an unbelievable human being. He's a good person. He's one of the smartest football players I've ever been around. I mean, he is brilliant and um don't let that west uh that west virginia virginia uh country accent for you

dude is smart and he um when he came in he was he was ready willing and wanted to because at that point in time in his mind in his life um winning and the possibility of winning a championship was far more important than any amount of money he could make. Yep. And unfortunately, he just fell a little bit short with that. But we won't bring up those bad memories. I don't think we have that discussion.

Our buddy Adam Mazur is a Giants fan, so he probably enjoyed the way that that one ended. But in any event, Scott, we appreciate you taking some time to join us here. You can catch Scott on all of our draft coverage on CBS Sports HQ. Scott has one of the best home setups you will ever see. He's got the Lombardi trophies displayed. Scott, I think you rotate your Sports Illustrated covers, correct? I do. I do. And I try to, I have this huge Sports Illustrated collection. And what I try to do is whatever's happening at the moment i try to make it somewhat relevant for instance when we during the playoff run i was rotating um different playoff games or playoff covers that were on there then during the super bowl i rotated some old

school super bowl ones i had a len dawson one i uh you know and then the one of the again it makes it a little bit fun for me um also when free agency started one of the again, it makes it a little bit fun for me. Also, when free agency started, one of the cool things I was able to do, I had the Reggie White from 1993, the first year that the NFL had free agency and that that Sports Illustrated cover. And I also right next to it had won a 1968 Sports Illustrated cover of Kurt Flood catching a ball against the Ivy and Wrigley. And as we all know, anyone who's a sports fan knows that Kurt Flood was the man behind free agency in sports, who did all of the work in the heavy lifting and took all the beating in order for it to happen. So, yeah, I love to honor those guys. Well, Scott, we appreciate you taking some time here with us.

Again, you can check out Scott's coverage along with many of our cast of characters on our NFL draft coverage on CBS Sports HQ starting Thursday night. It's going to be great. We're going to have you locked and loaded with everything coming up for the NFL, everything coming up for fantasy this season. And Scott, again, we appreciate you taking the time to join us here on Fantasy Football today. Jamie and Heath, thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Coming up, you're going to hear my interview with Dare Ogumbawale, Tampa Bay Bucs running back. We recorded that interview before the Gronkowski trade,

so there will be no Gronk conversation. But Dare was great talking about the Bucs, talking about the backfield there with Ronald Jones. And he's a Wisconsin guy, so he gave us a little insight on Jonathan Taylor and maybe what Taylor can be once he gets to the NFL. Enjoy that conversation. Again, we appreciate Scott taking the time.

And don't forget, we're going to have Saquon Barkley on the show here on Fantasy Football today. I cannot wait to hear Adam just swoon over the Giants running back. Thanks, guys. I'm Jamie Eisenberg here with Daria Gumbawale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Daria, thank you for taking some time to join us here on CBS Sports. We appreciate it. I just want to ask you, man, what's what's what's quarantine life like for you right now? How are you holding up? I feel like it's the same as everybody's, man. I work out in the morning and then I sit around all day just hanging out on the phone with family or watching TV, playing video games.

It's just boring. But, you know, you got to do watching tv playing video games um it's just boring but uh you know you got to do it but uh yeah it's definitely boring i noticed you uh you play the piano i want to talk to you about that coming up in a little bit as well but you mentioned that you're working out tell us how you're staying in shape to get ready for the upcoming season obviously it hasn't been the norm but what are you doing to prepare yourself yeah it's a garage workouts you know just getting stuff done in the garage we still got access to a field that's the nice thing about being in tampa that is warm so we can still run routes and um i'll just get some cardio get some conditioning then i have to feel but it's definitely been different been different process uh and guys not being able to be in the facility uh it's tough but um we're figuring out a way to do it though are you are you

working out with any of your teammates? Are you throwing the ball around with any of the guys? No, I've been by myself mostly. I'm by myself in the backyard, or not backyard, but my patio area, or like I said, garage. Not too much team stuff right now. Yeah, it's got to be hard, a little frustrating, especially with some of the new additions. Obviously, everybody's excited about the new quarterback that you guys are going to have. Can you talk about Tom Brady and what that signing has meant for you and for the team and maybe for the city of Tampa as well?

It's huge, man. It's huge. You know, growing up, you watched, I watched him, you know, watch them win Super Bowls when I was younger, watched him when I was older. And just when you get in the league, you're always excited about playing against guys like that or being in the coin toss with guys like that. But now being in the huddle with him, the greatest player ever in the NFL. So it's exciting. You know, it's really exciting. He's a great player. A lot has gone into him being great. And we get to see that firsthand. You know, he gets to make our team better. He gets to make me better um just from us watching how he approaches things so we're all excited about that and uh expecting a lot of big things here do you have a tom brady memory like you said you grew up watching him is there something that stands out when you think of tom brady that comes to mind

uh well i guess it's not from from when i was younger. It's more so the Super Bowl against the Falcons. And even though it was James, you know, James, James White's one of my good friends. But just that whole comeback, that's what I think of when I think of him. And obviously, like I said, James and that was just a good moment, a fun moment to watch. So that's probably my biggest memory, I guess, and it's not really old. You mentioned James White. Obviously, I'm sure you're referring to your time together at Wisconsin. James has been one of the biggest benefactors from what Tom likes to do with running backs out of the backfield.

You've got Danny Woodhead, Kevin Falk, Deion Lewis. James is the latest one. How excited are you about that maybe possibility of him throwing some passes to and and maybe being the passing downs back for Tampa Bay this year? Very excited. You know, I'm just any time you get get a role, you know, in the offense like I had last year was great. But now you put that with Tom Brady, you know what he likes to do and getting the ball out of the stands real quickly. It opens up a lot of opportunities for me and a lot to get get to make plays um get in space so yeah i'm really excited about that show my route running ability show my pass catching ability so um that's definitely going to be a big part for me this season has there been a moment or

or you know any ongoing conversations text messages maybe with uh with any of your teammates when you knew that this was official that tom is going to be there? You know, was there anything that you heard from maybe, you know, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, anybody on the team? Ronald Jones was like, this really happened? Yeah, I mean, all those guys really. It was just mostly just kind of, I wouldn't say surprised, but more of a shock type of thing. Like, this is really happening.

This really is for real. And then, obviously, it was the whole joke around the team, what number is Chris going to wear now? was that was one of the first things we thought about but no it's uh it was definitely exciting and the fans the team the locker everybody was really excited about it I mean it's uh you know you don't get that opportunity in in in your career very often let's talk about the backfield there in Tampa Bay you said you know you're looking to build off what you did last year and and just happy to have a role uh talk about what this backfield looks like right now and maybe what it could look like after a week from now when the NFL draft happens I'm

sure you're probably following some of the rumors that Tampa Bay may be looking at a running back but right now you and Ronald Jones obviously look like the top two guys tell me about what you guys can do as as a duo and and maybe talk about Ron a little bit just what he brings to the table yeah I mean we we definitely uh have a solid group of backs. I mean, there's obviously going to be additions. That's just the way it works in the NFL. So we're excited to see whoever that is and bring them in and get a chance to win games and make plays together with him too.

But, yeah, I like our group, man. And Rojo, he's a great back. I'm excited to see, you know, he keeps making strides. After his first year, between that to his second year, he's a great back. I'm excited to see, you know, he keeps making strides after his first year between that to a second year, he made huge improvement and I know he's working hard this off season. So get a chance to see him going into year three. And then yeah, me, me and him and TJ Logan, great returner. So, I mean, yeah, I like our group of backs. And like I said, when we add,

whoever we're going to add in the draft and then undraft a free agency or even free agency, just bring him into the room and get him up to speed and get a chance to win some games. Do you think Ronald kind of gets a little bit of an unfair rap after what happened in his rookie season? Like you said, he had a good second season looking to build off that in year three, but he kind of, I don't think, gets the credit he deserves

for a 1,000-yard season last year and what he was able to do, especially closing the season. Yeah, I mean, I don't think gets the credit he deserves for a thousand yard season last year and what he was able to do especially closing the season yeah i mean i don't think he cares about it too much but in the public eye people people do have their own uh opinions of rojo but i mean guys in our locker room we know how talented of a guy he is talented of a player and um once once it all starts clicking for him even more and more i mean just even more and more plays made he's really explosive player um he is a smart player too and uh i'm excited to see him prove that come this season what about you what are you looking to prove what are some of the expectations you have for yourself uh just like i said build on last year you know um be even more dependable um a third down and um so i can continue to run the ball. Special teams, you know, special teams, that's really what got me into the league.

That's been the foundation of my whole career, and that's still going to be big for me. You know, being a captain last year, I plan to follow it up with another good special team season. So that's my goals for this season, and obviously to win a lot of games and stuff like that, too. But personally, those are what I'm looking for. We're just talking about you right now. We'll get to the team goals in a minute. You sort of alluded to this, James White, yourself, a good collection of Wisconsin running backs. I want you to put on your analyst hat for a second.

Tell me about Jonathan Taylor and what he's going to do when he gets to the league. Obviously, where he ends up in the draft and the NFL team is going to determine that. But tell me about the next great Wisconsin running back coming into the nfl he's a dog man he's a winner um and he's explosive i don't even have to say that you guys saw what he did at the combine it's uh i'm excited for him man he gets into a good system he could he'll have a great great career um he uh real talented player, patient player, great runner, proved that he can catch the ball now this past season. So, yeah, I'm excited to see what he can do, man. He definitely the best back in the draft, in my opinion. And I hope he should be gone early. Definitely should be gone early. That breakdown was too good. You're going to probably take my job at some point if you keep giving that kind of analysis.

I want to ask you something because you came into the nfl as an undrafted guy and a lot of people don't really realize how tough that could be to end up not just getting into the league but sticking around for a couple years uh that's going to happen to a bunch of guys after the draft next weekend just talk about that process what it was like for you your nfl draft experience maybe you know sitting through the couple days of the draft and then what it was like the couple days afterwards until you got that call from Houston yeah it's tough it was definitely tough you know um you hear a bunch of things you hear a bunch of things from scouts from GMs from coaches but just where where they think you'll go and then obviously there's a chance that

you don't go and I didn't get drafted um but throughout the whole draft you know there was about five five five teams that were um calling me throughout the whole day, you know, there was about five teams that were calling me throughout the whole day. Or the last day, I should say, just saying that if you're not picked up, we want to sign you. If you're not picked up, we want to sign you. So that was promising. And, you know, it was a little positive. But still, obviously, it's always a dream of yours to get drafted when you're a kid, you know. So that didn't happen.

But then, like I said the texans i signed with them about 30 minutes after the draft ended and uh you know got to work you know and um i felt like i was doing well and with them doing well with all the teams that i've been on and uh it's just a hard journey you know it's uh it's tough you you're always kind of on the um on the bottom looking up when you're undraft, regardless of your skill set or talent level. And you just kind of got to prove. You kind of got to wait for a chance to prove it. And, you know, it's always the teammates.

You know, the locker room, they know. It's just kind of the front office. You never really know if you're going to get a chance to prove it. But the locker room knows who the good players are. And I feel like everywhere i was at guys looked at me as like i was a good player so that that always kind of drove me you know that always pushed me just because knowing i had the confidence for my teammates and stuff like that does your path kind of keep a chip on your shoulder as well oh absolutely absolutely and then you never forget

it you know i talked to a bunch of undrafted guys and they always remember that and that sticks with them and um it's definitely part of the success that you have, being able to get through that and then now fighting just like everyone else. So you play with a very interesting and exciting coach in Bruce Arians. A lot of people like to hear Bruce Arians when he gives his press conferences. I'm sure it's got to be a lot of fun to be around him. Give me a good Bruce Arians story about maybe something he's either said to you, something he said in front of the team. Very similar to what I asked you about Tom Brady.

When you think of Bruce Arians, what comes to mind? Oh, man. I guess I can't think of a particular quote or moment, but I would just say our first couple practices last spring when he got here. And you hear about it all the time hear about how much he yells or how much he cusses but uh when you see it firsthand it's uh it's funny it's funny it's funny when it's not you it's funny when it's not you uh i haven't gotten i haven't gotten a bad one um there's been a couple but i haven't gotten a bad one but sometimes you get to hear some of the stuff he says and uh he's creative i'll say that he's creative he's creative with his word choice i'm i'm sure it is we always like in the media to be around

bruce whenever he's talking how do you how do you think that relationship's going to go between him and tom you know just given the fact that 20 year veteran and and bruce having sort of being set in his ways how do you think that relationship's going to be i won't be a problem at all i mean it's uh i'm excited i mean you did you put the quarterback guru with with the greatest quarterback of all time. I mean, you you're bound to have some good things happen. So I think it's a match made in heaven. I want to ask you about Jameis. Obviously, he had a great season last year, but it's hard when you're going against the GOAT in terms of somebody coming to take your job. What do you see for Jameis down the road? what's his next step going to be in your mind oh i'm not sure man but regardless he's he's a talented player he's a smart great quarterback and uh he'll be successful wherever he ends up and and whatever city that's

in you know um he he'll be fine uh he's too good of a player to you know end up not having a great career in my opinion he uh he uh a lot of things didn't go his way here, and there are a lot of other circumstances that went into it. But at the end of the day, Jamison's a great quarterback, and I don't think that'll be a problem for him at all. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm excited to see where Jamison does end up. Hopefully he gets a chance to be a starter.

He won't be wearing the new uniforms, though, for the Tampa Bay Bucs. What's your thought on the uniform change? I like them. I like them. I was one of the few people that didn't hate our old uniforms, our past ones. I mean, I guess the font was a little funny. But I liked our old ones. But I definitely liked these ones more.

Going back, the history of the Bucs, you know, I guess the uniforms before the last ones. And then the color rust ones are cool. I like that instead of the bucks you know um i guess the uniforms before the last ones um and then the color rust ones are cool i like that instead of the all red um so no i like in the black face mask is dope in my opinion so i know i definitely have a fan of the news yeah well hopefully everybody follows suit and likes them as well it seems to be a little mixed reaction on twitter but i think when you see when you see him in person. Exactly. Exactly. Speaking of Twitter, people can follow you. I want to get this right. Is it at DG 0 2 3 underscore? Yeah. Yeah. OK, so they can follow you on Twitter. They're at DG 0 2 3 0 2 3 underscore. Tell us about your piano skills, because you posted something a couple of weeks ago playing the piano. How long have you been playing and what do you like about playing the piano?

So I've been playing since I was eight. My dad had me and my siblings taking piano lessons every wednesday night for years up until high school uh i stopped in high school because it wasn't cool and uh he uh he still had me playing in church though so i played throughout my whole life really um so i still obviously play every now and then um more i can't really read music like I used to, more so by ear, but it's still fun being able to play songs that are on the radio and stuff. That's one of the things that I have been doing to stay busy during quarantine, trying to learn some new songs. That's been, I guess, one of my hidden talents,

but that's something that's been a big part of my life throughout my whole life. Music and my whole family, it's been a big thing. Yeah, again, people should definitely go check it out it was uh it's a worthwhile performance to definitely hear that's at dg023 underscore you mentioned uh your siblings i think a lot of people probably hear your last name they think of your sister as well talk about uh akira and and maybe what you know she's been doing during quarantine from from what you know and uh tell me who the better basketball player is in the family oh for sure she's uh she's a legend i mean i can't i used to be able to beat rk back in the day but um yeah it's not the same anymore she's uh she's too good but no she uh she's up in milwaukee um with my family um my brother and my parents they're uh

they're enjoying time up there a little colder up there but she's she does have access to a gym and she's uh she's been doing well uh training up there and but she does have access to a gym, and she's been doing well training up there and staying with the family. But, I mean, she actually was in Turkey playing overseas when all this kind of started. So that was a big thing for us trying to figure out if she'd be able to stay over there if their season's going to continue. But, no, she got back safely, and she's just training up there and looking forward to her WNBA season starting.

I mean, she's expecting a big season this year, so hopefully they get to start, hopefully at least in the summer. But whenever they start, I'm excited to watch her. Yeah, Rike, part of the Dallas wings of the WNBA, also from Notre Dame as well. You're certainly going to check out some of the highlights if you're interested of Darre's sister, and like you said, the better basketball player in the family. All right'm gonna let you go on this one Darre at the end of the 2020 NFL season people are going

to say blank about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they're going to say blank about you and the season that you had about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they'll say congrats at the end of the season. You guys can take that however you want. And about me, they'll say, damn, I didn't know you could do that. Perfect answers for both. All right, Gubalwala,

I appreciate you taking some time to join us here on CBS Sports. Good luck with the season. Good luck with the Tampa Bay Bucs and enjoy those new uniforms. I appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me.