In this “Fact or Fiction” segment with Maggie Gray and fight-instigating, barista-training, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King of SI.com, King explains why Johnny Football is the best quarterback prospect in next week’s NFL draft. (more…)

Joe went into double overtime this evening with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620. All things Bucs were on the table.

The Bucs sure have made this offseason go somewhat quickly, even if Joe has been waterboarded with mock drafts until he finally waved the white flag and circled the return of Jack Bauer and 24 next week on his calendar and not the draft.

The pollution, both digital and electronic, that these mockers have littered our life with is out of hand, and Joe is calling for the FCC to step in and put a moratorium on these things for the public well-being. (more…)

Will explosive Lee be there for Tampa in Round 2?

Lurking behind the paywall on BSPN.com lives all kinds of data on potential draft picks. It’s where stats gurus will tell you that Jadeveon Clowney isn’t a good pass rusher and explosive Southern California receiver Marquise Lee is a bust-in-waiting. (more…)

ESPN NFL insider Adam Caplan told WDAE-AM 620 that if the Bucs draft a quarterback next week, then you can wave goodbye to backup QB Mike Glennon.

It is eight days from the draft and it seems all the NFL world is talking about is Johnny Football. Oh, there are some muttering about Derek Carr or Blake Bortles or Jimmy Garoppolo or Teddy Bridgewater or Khalil Mack.

But turn on NFL Network (and try not to gawk at hottie Molly Qerim in her flaming red dress) or SiriusXM NFL Radio, and Johnny Football dominates the chatter. Hell, you don’t see Zach Mettenberger on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but there’s Johnny Football. (more…)

Despite being out of football for a year, quarterback Mike Kafka was hotly pursued by the Bucs and signed in February.

In this exclusive JoeBucsFan.com locker room video, Kafka talks about becoming a Buccaneer and you can enjoy coveted looks from last week’s first practices under Lovie Smith. Enjoy.

Thanks to the Buccaneers and NFL. By league rule, this video can only be seen for 24 hours after it’s published.

Joe was loudly criticized a couple of weeks ago after suggesting Doug Martin might not have a long future with the Bucs.

Those who thought Joe was a complete moron might want to read former Packers salary cap chief Albert Breer’s new column about running backs’ value in the NFL. Martin’s uncertain future is touched upon. (more…)

Jason Licht explained the No. 1 trait he is looking for in a player at No. 7.

Teams often look for certain traits in a player they draft high in the first round. It’s sort of a philosophy that comes from the top of an organization.

With former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, it was being a “Buccaneer Man.” With Raheem Morris it might have been, “who could best chest bump or swill ale with the coach?”  (more…)

The laughter and high-five slapping you’re hearing driving down Dale Mabry Highway are probably coming from the fancy offices of One Buc Palace, as two longtime Bucs scribes and analysts appear to have reached opposite conclusions on the Buccaneers’ draft strategy. (more…)

Yes, the Bucs should be looking for a guard. Right now, as the final hours of April 2014 fade away, the thinnest if not weakest unit on the Bucs is the offensive line.

Joe doesn’t have to go into great details, but banking on the return of Carl Nicks is dangerous and there is already a hole at right guard. So, realistically, the Bucs need to fill two openings. (more…)

Here’s just about every last second of Lovie Smith and Jason Licht hosting a pre-draft news conference yesterday at One Buc Palace. (more…)

Joe can only imagine the look on Lovie Smith’s face when he’s handed a spreadsheet that tries to interpret a college linebacker’s potential cover skills based on some sort of statistic.

After what Jason Licht said today about Lovie’s old school grading system, Joe suspects Lovie isn’t much of data cruncher. (more…)

A lot of Bucs fans believe Tampa Bay’s best move is not to pick at No. 7 at all. Instead, these same fans insist, trade down.

Aa Bucs general manager Jason Licht discussed this afternoon, that’s a whole lot easier to talk about than actually pull off. It’s not like the 31 other NFL teams aren’t aware that in this draft, several positions are very deep. (more…)

As Joe wrote in his practice notes last week, Bucs coaches have really been drilling cornerback Alterraun Verner on the nuances of the Tampa-2 defense.

There is plenty to learn, so Verner told Joe today, and a slice of it surrounds three words that make many Bucs fans tremble in fear: defensive line stunts. (more…)

NFL fans are so hungry for any morsel of football information that anything resembling even a rumor in the offseason is treated like the kickoff for the opening weekend.

It has gotten to the point that pro days are telecast live before breathless fans, thinking a pro day can make or break a player. (more…)

Bucs GM Jason Licht said today he can understand some of the controversial fun in Johnny Football’s past

Team Glazer hasn’t dictated any wacky roster moves to sell Bucs tickets. That should be obvious.

One could even argue Team Glazer did just the opposite when they fired their Super Bowl–winning head coach, hired Raheem Morris, went with a build-through-the-draft and free-agency-is-a-dark-path approach, and passed on Tim Tebow. (more…)

Right now most of the football world is in a draft frenzy. With so many mocks it has become digital pollution. Joe is mocked out; has been for a couple of weeks.

Joe is so weary from the mocks that he is actually looking more forward to the return of Jack Bauer and 24 a week from tonight more than the draft. Really. Joe’s brain can only take so much teasing and s(p)it-against-the-wall analysis. (more…)

Lovie Smith and Jason Licht went before local media this afternoon for a Q&A session about the NFL Draft. The Bucs’ dynamic duo put forth a very relaxed, smiley unified front.

Licht said he and Lovie will continue evaluating players and tweaking and reviewing their draft board until draft day, but it’s been a pretty agreeable process between them. But their methods are different. (more…)

Wait a minute.

Don’t miss the exclusive Bucs locker room interview in this post

In a feature about beastly University at Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack yesterday, fight-instigating, barista-training, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King of SI.com and NBC Sports Fame, omitted the Bucs as a team Mack visited. (more…)

ESPN explains the Bucs’ interest

The rumors won’t stop flying no matter how much the haters want them to go away. In fact, Joe sees the Johnny Football haters running to Treasure Island to bury their heads in the sand because they don’t want to hear the Bucs may just be interested in Johnny Football. (more…)

All kinds of fun today in Buccaneer land! The Bucs are making some players available to the media later, and Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht will get grilled and drilled with questions about the NFL Draft.

Joe advises you to return often this afternoon, but don’t inhale the smoke.

Another Aggie has the Bucs’ interest

Joe remembers when the Bucs interviewed Texas Tech guard Brandon Carter back in 2010. Carter eventually was signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent, but a big reason why he was a chosen pre-draft interview was so the Bucs could get insider dirt on Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy.

Joe broke that story (see link above). It was Carter who had success against both beastly tackles in the Big XII. (more…)

No way former Bucs TE Anthony Becht would trade up in the draft if he were Bucs GM Jason Licht.

Now some nine days from the draft, Joe couldn’t begin to guess who the Bucs will grab at No. 7. Of course, Joe pines for Johnny Football but realizes that wish is unlikely to be fulfilled.

Shoot, if Joe wanted to play devil’s advocate, he could see the Bucs taking a dozen different players at No. 7. It is a total roll of the dice.

(more…)