Martin Gramatica comes to the defense of Bucs' draft pick

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Drafting another kicker has been the post-draft talk in Tampa. So who better than to talk about kickers than the Bucs' best-drafted kicker ever, Martin Gramatica?

"Who would have thought that a kicker would bring this much attention," laughed Gramatica.

The 1999 third-round pick is talking a lot on his new morning radio show on WWBA 820 AM. Martin is now on the other side of the microphone and had a perfect perspective about the Bucs' decision to draft Utah kicker Matt Gay in the fifth round.

It has fans in a frenzy after the failure of Roberto Aguayo, the Bucs' second-round pick in 2016. 

"I was shocked," Gramatica told FOX 13's Kevin O'Donnell. "After the Aguayo thing, that's all you hear, if you hear anything negative about Jason Licht, it's Aguayo. You can't really blame the Bucs for talking Aguayo. He was the best kicker in college history."

While Martin was shocked at the selection, he feels using a fifth-round pick is a win for the Bucs.

"I think the Bucs think he's going to be the starting kicker at the start of the season," said Gramatica. "If that doesn't work out you have Cairo [Santos] to fall back."

Bruce Arians also added a swing specialist.

"You have a kicking coach, which the Bucs have never had," continued Gramatica. "Chris Boniol was a great kicker and it's proven that he's made special teams players better. He's helped out punters, the kickers out, that he's coached. So that's also going to be an advantage that we've never had a kicking coach. So that is going to help."

Martin knows that Matt Gay has a ton of pressure on him coming into this situation. His advice to the Bucs is to get their rookie into Raymond James Stadium to practice because fans don't realize just how tough it is to kick at RayJay.

It's considered one of the toughest venues for field goal kickers in the NFL.

"You think you're in Florida, the weather is hot, it's nice," said Gramatica. "It's really windy and it's a tricky wind in the stadium. So the guys need to adjust. So the best thing to do is have as many practices at Raymond James Stadium or at least send the kicker out there to kick. Just to get used to that wind."

Matt Gay has yet to make a kick for the Bucs and Martin knows the best way to get the fans behind you is to split the uprights.