Joe doesn’t want to take away from their honors, but the Top-100 list always reminds Joe of Josh Freeman being ranked 86th by his peers following the 2010 season, only his first full season as a starter.

Damn, that was “good Josh.” And here’s the link to the video of Freeman’s segment, much of it narrated by John Abraham.

It feels like ancient history, but it wasn’t that long ago that Freeman was a ferocious, fearless, intimidating and consistent presence.

The No Excuses Tour heads to Tropicana Field from Tampa Lee Roy Selmon’s locations. Click here for the schedule.

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Of course Mike Glennon will get more snaps in preseason games this summer than Josh Freeman. Backups always get more preseason snaps.

Joe loves how some people are reaching crazy conclusions believing Josh Freeman’s days in Tampa Bay are numbered. Take the notion that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is creating a smokescreen designed to grease the wheels for Freeman’s exit from the Bucs, as someone suggested in an ESPN NFC South chat.

Luke (Northdale)

I have a hard time believing Dominik when he says Glennon will get “most” of the snaps in pre-season. Are they really considering letting him start right out of the gate?

Pat Yasinskas

As I said before, I’m pretty sure Freeman will be the opening-day starter. If he gets off to a rough start, then we could see Glennon as the season goes on.

Good grief! Apparently people don’t watch the Bucs in the preseason.

Just how many snaps did Freeman have last year in preseason? Freeman was 18-of-34 passing for 164 yards last preseason. So he probably took 50-to-60 snaps. But to suggest a backup will get more snaps than the starter is pretty much a no-brainer. Dominik isn’t trying to con anyone.

Backup quarterbacks regularly get more snaps in preseason games than starters. Dominik stating Glennon will get more snaps in preseason than Freeman is simply common sense.

Bucs fans can debate over cold beers at their favorite watering hole who the most valuable Buccaneer is.

Not counting new arrivals such as Darrelle Revis and/or Dashon Goldson, one could easily make an argument for Vincent Jackson or Doug Martin or Carl Nicks, or even Lavonte David.

As far as defensive linemen go, Neil Hornsby, founder of Pro Football Focus, has determined that Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy isn’t just a valuable member of the Bucs, but he is the second-most valuable defensive linemen in the NFL.

Not sure how Hornsby came up with the calculations for this honor, being a non-stat guy, Joe isn’t sure he wants to know.

Joe found it interesting Hornsby’s research shows GMC to be so valuable, yet how many Bucs fans were ready to run GMC out of town at this point last year, including loud radio voices?

Now ”this Joe” remembers turning to the “other Joe” at about midseason last year saying, “if Gerald McCoy goes down, this team is screwed.”

That, my friends, is a valuable player.

Martin is among the best running backs in the league. If anything, you want to give him more carries (though to be careful, you don’t want to wear the guy down).

Joe finds it interesting that that a sixth-round pick like Mike James is getting so much love. Sure, James, a Polk County guy, seems to be a really good dude, a guy you want to root for. That written, he was a sixth-round pick.

Matt Williams, an NFL scout for ESPN, has written about the Bucs running backs and he too seems smitten with James.

Doug Martin was a phenom in his first season, accumulating nearly 2,000 combined yards even though the Buccaneers were missing their high-priced guards to help pave the way. Martin entered the league NFL-ready with an excellent all-around game. He is a very good, but not great, receiver. The same is true for his pass protection. He should only get better in both areas. But Martin is already a very good runner who can get to the corner with speed, break long runs and handle the physical pounding at the position. He is an excellent interior runner. Rookie sixth-round pick Mike James could be Martin’s direct backup, but Tampa Bay also used a seventh-round pick last year on Michael Smith. Brian Leonard is on the roster, as well. James isn’t flashy but has size and isn’t a dancer. Smith has more quickness to his game, but probably wouldn’t be suited for a large role if Martin were to miss time. Leonard plays hard and is a good blocker and receiver. He is also an accomplished special-teams player and knows how to help a team. Don’t be surprised if the Buccaneers consider adding a veteran running back before training camp opens.

Perhaps there is something to the bouquets being thrown to James. Running backs are a dime a dozen, Joe has often written. Shoot, Mike Shanahan is notorious for finding strong running backs in the middle- to late-rounds. It all depends on the front line.

And yes, the Bucs have strong offensive line, especially with Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks coming back healthy. Last year the offensive line, in the latter stages of the season, wore down. That was not just because Joseph and Nicks were out, but guys starting were worn out because they were not used to starting many weeks in a row.

This became a snowball effect. With Nicks on the sidelines, Donald Penn started to get overextended. Jamon Meredith was definitely exposed.

So with a healthy line, maybe there is reason to be excited about James?And Michael Smith is still captain of the inactive list.

Greg Schiano is all fired up about Mason Foster

Nearly channeling the “yungry” moniker of his predecessor, Greg Schiano said he’s jacked up about the young blood on the front lines of his defense.

Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM 620, asked Schiano about the Bucs’ front-7 last night. And it’s clear the head coach is brimming with love and confidence.

“I am really excited about our front-7. I think they’re going to play well. We’re young. We’re aggressive,” Schiano said. “These kids we drafted are also going to be able to provide depth for us. But, you know, when you have a guy like Gerald McCoy, who I think is as good as there is in this league, he sets the tone and he sets the tempo.

“And Adrian Clayborn, I mean you should see him. He’s changed his upper body. You know instead of letting the knee injury become a negative, he made it a positive and really worked hard. Really looks great. And Da’Quan Bowers, same thing. So these guys I really believe are ready. And a guy that doesn’t get any credit is Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. All he did was make plays all last year. You know, no one knows his name, but I’ll tell you what, he makes plays and he does what we ask of him.

“And then the linebacker corps I’m excited about. Everbody knows Lavonte David played lights out. And I think Mason Foster, from the day the season was over this guy’s been working line a madman, and we’re going to be excited to see what he does. It’s going to be fun.”

Joe loves hearing the coach all fired up (you can listen below).

And Joe also hopes Schiano is right when he says he believes Bowers and Clayborn are ready to excel. The Bucs have an awful lot riding on their backs

Interesting chat that Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings had with “The Fabulous Sports Babe” on WHFS-FM 98.7 this week.

Cummings was asked why the Josh Freeman-Mike Glennon faux controversy keeps popping up every two weeks or so, and Cummings said he believes the fires are ignited by none other than Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

”This Mike Glennon thing, I don’t now to describe it? It’s a little campfire that every once in a while it looks like it is going to burn out then all of a sudden it comes back. But you know who is stoking the fire? It is Greg Schiano. Look, he has said repeatedly that Josh Freeman is his quarterback. He has said it, that Freeman can take us to where we want to go, and I assume that means the Super Bowl. Every once in a while Schiano goes out and tells someone like Dan Pompei, a darn good reporter, he goes out and tells Pompei (Freeman is quarterback) unless Glennon beats him out.

“I don’t think that happens, not for weeks, but months or a few years. Again, it’s a little flame in the embers again and we have to go out and put out the fire. It is clear they think they have something in Mike Glennon. We are a long way away out to finding out what that is I think. If something happens to Josh, they think they have a pretty good option behind him.”

It was intriguing that Cummings believes that Glennon is possibly “years” away from starting.

Yes, it keeps popping up, Freeman vs. Glennon. Joe suspects this will carry through training camp and only Freeman will be able to put out that campfire with his play.

Joe will write this again: There is no quarterback controversy for the Bucs. Freeman is clearly the best bet to carry to the Bucs to January games. His future with the Bucs rests in his hands. A good season will bring him a handsome reward. A lousy season may have him looking for work in Chicago or Cleveland or Cincinnati, to name a few possible landing spots.

“Alright Mark, I’ve revised Mark Barron’s 3 p.m. feeding to a 13 ounce grouper sandwich on a whole wheat roll with a side of roasted yellow squash and a sweet potato.”

Boy, that Greg Schiano really knows how to loosen the belt — at least for those who aren’t too fat.

The folklore surrounding the micromanaging of the New Schiano Order is legendary, from limiting hot food, to obsessing about room and airplane temperature, movie titles, pasta noodles and more. But Schiano is easing up a little. Certain Bucs players no longer will be force-fed, so Schiano explained to the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620 last night.

Greg Schiano: One of the things that I’ve always done with every team I’ve been head coach of is I do an extensive survey with our players. And I got a ton of great feedback, and we’ve started to implement some of those changes. You know, I don’t agree with them all, obviously, some of them are half-baked. But there’s a lot of them that are really good suggestions. …

Steve Duemig: What was one that jumped out off the page of the players’ requests. Taco Tuesdays?

Schiano: Not far from it. (laughing) Not far from it. You know, some of things, like the guys who were consistently making their weight, why should they have to have mandatory meals? They’re grown men. And I agree with them. You know, but it’s just something that you don’t think about and they didn’t share with me. But one of the things that helped last season is I would meet with our captains every Friday morning, and what a great thing that was. They would keep me abreast of what kinda the feeling was in the locker room. We made adjustments as we went. So I think that helped. And then the surveys and being able to gather that information was real, real helpful.

Joe gets a real laugh out of the obsessiveness of the New Schiano Order. As long the players buy in, which they seem to do, and Schiano remains honest and communicative with them within the regime, then Joe doesn’t have any problem with the discipline.

Schiano will be viewed as a controlling loser if the Bucs don’t win, and he’ll be a 21st-century, old-school genius if the Bucs are winners. So he might as well do it his way.

The No Excuses Tour heads to Tropicana Field from Tampa Lee Roy Selmon’s locations. Click here for the schedule.

Catch the famous No Excuses Tour bus departing Lee Roy Selmon’s locations in Tampa for this weekend’s entire Yankees-Rays series.

Your Paradise Worldwide Transportation chauffeur is waiting — and it’s only $9.95 roundtrip!

More than 1,000 fans have enjoyed this amazing service.

Start your day with the Morning Cup of Joe from HootersCalendar.com. And don’t forget to visit HootersCalendar.com for amazing videos, pictures and cool gifts. It’s Joe’s second favorite website.

Bucs news forthcoming.

Man, if anything happens to Eddie Van Halen (God forbid!), here is his perfect replacement for Van Halen. A 14-year old girl pulls off maybe the best “Eruption” version since “The King” first played the song some 35 years ago. Amazing. [YouTube]

This video is a bit tough to watch but no less dramatic. The school that was wiped of the map by the Oklahoma tornado this week? Someone (a student?) shot video of the chaos outside what was left of the school just after the tornado passed and apparently before first responders arrived. [NewsOK]

Dixie Chicks may sign Richard Seymour. [FoxSportsSouth]

Trent Richardson is hurt. Again. [Cleveland.CBSLocal]

New Jersey bars filling top shelf liquor bottles with “swill.” No! [CBS Philly]

The playoff percentage chances for the Rays appear grim. [RaysIndex]

Well, it seems that the New Schiano Order changes were very evident during this week’s OTA practices, so explained Gerald McCoy in this Buccaneers.com video after a team training session this week.

“Having a year under our belts and just knowing what to expect has helped out a lot. You know, guys are not complaining anymore,” McCoy said. “They know how things go around here. And it’s just ritual. It’s not routine anymore. We call it, ‘ritual.’ So it’s ritual to work the way we work now, and everybody’s enjoying it.”

McCoy went on to praised the tempo of practice versus this time last year, as well as the conditioning level of the team.

Whether the improved attitude and work ethic translates into wins is unknown – hey, Raheem won 10 in 2010 – but it surely can’t hurt.

With the possible exception of the Cardinals or (in recent years) the Raiders, few NFL teams look to regress in the offseason. How much a team improves, only the regular season determines that.

In typing a list of the most improved teams in the NFL, Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune submitted a piece to NationalFootballPost.com saying the Bucs are the most improved team in the NFC South.

They lost a couple of solid defensive linemen in Michael Bennett and Roy Miller. But the Bucs won’t need as much pass rush with the improvements they made in the secondary. They added one of the best safeties in the league in Dashon Goldson, the best cornerback in the league in Darrelle Revis and one of the best cornerbacks in the draft in Johnthan Banks. Derek Landri also was signed to give the Bucs some interior pass rush and offset the free agent losses. On the other side of the ball, the Bucs made Josh Freeman’s seat a little hotter, and the depth at the quarterback position better, by drafting Mike Glennon.

Joe respects the hell out of Pompei, Joe’s known him for about two decades. He’s a class act, stand-up guy. But Joe’s going to quibble with a few of his elements.

Yes, Joe believes Pompei is correct. The Bucs should be the most improved team. Whether that turns into a playoff berth in the rugged NFC is a different matter.

Joe isn’t sure the Bucs will miss Roy Miller, only because they believe rookie Akeem Spence can fill the void and a sleeper at that positions is Derek Landri.

If the pass rushers the Bucs drafted pan out, William Gholston and Steven Means, fans will quickly forget about Michael Bennett.