ProFootballWeekly.com claims Bucs coaches think LB Quicy Black will emerge as a stud alongside Barrett Ruud

Joe is of the mind that, unless the Bucs load up on linebackers in this week’s draft, the linebacker position may very well be the low rung on the Bucs’ ladder.

Well, the spies at ProFootballWeekly.com suggest otherwise. Their sources tell them the Bucs are very high on linebacker Quincy Black.

The Buccaneers have penciled in Angelo Crowell as their starting strong-side linebacker and Jermaine Phillips, who has only played safety in the pros, on the weak side as they try to replace Derrick Brooks and Cato June, sources say. Looking long term, we hear the outside ’backer they are most optimistic about is third-year veteran Quincy Black. He has contributed almost exclusively on special teams since entering the league as Tampa Bay’s third-round pick in 2007, but word is Black has turned heads in practices and has the ability to become a starter in the near future. His good lateral quickness fits well in new defensive coordinator Jim Bates’ scheme, in which outside ’backers are expected to beat backs to the corner and force them inside. He fits best on the weak side, but will have a hard time beating Phillips out for the job. The Bucs like Phillips’ toughness, which is not a strength of Black’s game.

Joe will believe this when he sees this. Monte Kiffin was no dummy. If Black was this good and Derrick Brooks, who new Bucs general mangaer Mark Dominik threw to the curb like a warm beer, was that bad, don’t you think Brooks wouldn’t have played much last year and Black would have?