Hargreaves has snagged some interceptions during pre-training camp workouts and has been woking as the second teams outside corner and as nickel, but every opportunity he’s had, he has capitalized on. “That’s what they drafted me for. I’m supposed to make plays. Not necessarily too big of a deal, I just have to keep making them.”
And continuing to make them, he will.
Hargreaves role is not yet defined, but he feels that he is comfortable in Mike Smith’s defensive scheme. Dirk Koetter is happy with the first-round picks performance and is sure that Hargreaves will have the chance to play.
“He’s going to play. The guy has made plays every single day. Vernon is a football player, everything we thought when we drafted him. He’s going to play. It will all fall in place. A lot of that will be determined by health, but I’m very confident that Vernon can either play inside at the nickel or play outside. For whoever doesn’t know the difference, the nickel corner plays over the slot and regular corners play outside on the wide out and Vernon can play both.”
Hargreaves is comfortable with either position. Although he is not used to playing all the positions, he’s a quick learner and is more than happy to learn whatever position he can. “I’m fairly comfortable, not all the way yet but it’s new. A new position, with new techniques I need to learn. It’s a learning process, but I’m enjoying it.”
When it comes to first-round draft picks, expectations are high, but VernonHargreaves has been impressive and so far in practice has turned out to be everything the Buccaneers have expected. His comfort level in the Buccaneers defense is eye opening and encouraging. He seems more than ready to head into training camp, late July, as he has shown to be ready in OTA’s and in minicamp. “If the ball comes my way, I gotta be ready and for the most part, I’ve been ready this minicamp.”
