In simply one of the coolest moves Joe’s seen by a team in a long time, the Bucs signed former Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand today.

He was paralyzed after an on-field injury during the 2010 season.

“Leading up to the draft, I couldn’t help but think that this should’ve been Eric’s draft class,” said Coach Schiano. “This small gesture is the least we could do to recognize his character, spirit, and perseverance. The way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking for in Buccaneer Men.”

Not much for Joe to say about this one and how Schiano chose to honor one of his own.

Whenever the leader of the New Schiano World Order, Greg Schiano, does an interview, it seems he always finds a way to mention that the Bucs will run the football like a 1970s powerhouse and break the mold of the 21st century NFL.

He’s said a couple of times recently that the Bucs’ offense will be out of “vogue” in the pass-happy NFL, and that they’ll “ham-and-egg-it” with LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin. Joe remembers in March when Schiano kept repeating “run the football” with emphasis. Daven Joseph even had some laughs talking about how much Schiano wants the run the football. And in Joe’s off-the-record luncheon with Schiano and other media types, Schiano talked in even more detail about pounding the rock. (Sadly, Joe can’t get more specific from that gathering.)

Ask Schiano what he’s going to do on defense, however, and you don’t get much to sink your teeth into. And that’s fine, the unknown plays in the Bucs favor on defense and they’ve got major personnel questions on that side of the ball.

Now Joe admits he’s fascinated by Schiano’s desire to grind out an old-school running game when many successful NFL teams are throwing the ball all over the field with reckless abandon. It’s even more intriguing knowing the Bucs were hot on the trail of Chip Kelly, who would have brought nearly the exact opposite offensive style to Tampa Bay.

Joe just hopes Schiano has the stomach — unlike Greg Olson and Raheem Morris — to stick with his plan to run the ball behind what should be a beastly offensive line. Perhaps the greatest load of BS floated by Raheem last year was that the Bucs were a running football team. That team abandoned the run — even in close games — faster than Joe would dart from a room if Rosie O’Donnell entered it naked.

Then new head coach Tony Dungy opened the 1996 season with a 1-8 record with a team that could barely move the chains. But Dungy didn’t panic or flinch from his version of the Buccaneeer Way.

Joe suspects the New Schiano World Order will have no problem sticking to its stated core beliefs and plan, even if the NFL beats to a different drum. Frankly, Joe can’t wait to see the Bucs pick up a first down on 3rd-and-3 running behind Carl Nicks.

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There are many accolades coming from all circles on the work of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik during last weekend’s NFL draft.

Count ornery Pete Prisco among the fans of the Bucs’ draft. The CBSSports.com NFL columnist put fingers to keyboard and banged out a grade of every team in the NFL on their picks and he gave the Bucs a “B.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Best pick: They landed a future Pro Bowl player in second-round linebacker Lavonte David. They have their next Derrick Brooks.

Questionable move: Trading out of their spot in the first round to pass on Morris Claiborne and take safety Mark Barron. Corner is a much more valuable position than safety.

Third-day gem: Linebacker Najee Goode is a run-thumper from West Virginia who is worth a look in the fifth round. He plays the run well. Has played inside and outside.

Analysis: The Bucs landed three starters with their first three picks in Barron, running back Doug Martin (who I really like) and David. That’s a nice bounty. I don’t know if Barron is quite the player some think he will be, but Tampa Bay had a big-time need there.

Grade: B

Prisco of late has been a fan of Dominik’s dabbling in the draft. Just two years ago, Prisco wrote how Dominik “owned” the draft and was impressed specifically citing Dominik’s prowess in landing Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Myron Lewis, Mike Williams and Dekoda Watson.

Trevor Olson, not to be confused with the man obsessed with calling the heinous Benn’d around play, is another undrafted free agent body the Bucs have signed and expect at rookie minicamp, which will start soon.

And it’s a safe bet Olson will be there. The left tackle didn’t miss a start in four years at Northern Illinios, so a nice January feature story in the Chicago Sun-Times explained.

Battling future 2009 NFL first-round pick Larry English in practice every day for two seasons helped him get better, said Olson, who will see a lot of Arkansas State standout defensive end Brandon Joiner.

… Fellow linemates marvel at Olson and his streak.

“It’s amazing,” said senior center Scott Wedige, who has 27 starts. “All the injuries you go through, all the bumps and bruises and turned ankles. To work through all those things and never miss a start, heck, he never misses a snap. It’s miraculous to do that.”

Olson was one of two offensive tackles the Bucs added to their list of undrafted free agent signings today. The other is Rocky Weaver of Central Michigan.

Boy this is tough. Just when Joe felt like he wanted to pull for Olson to make the team, the Bucs had to go and sign a guy named “Rocky.” How cool would that be to have a Rocky on the roster. Maybe Bullwinkle can come in and play linebacker.

Joe always has a place in his heart for these undrafted guys chasing a dream. Brandon Carter was one guy Joe pulled for a couple of years ago and he made it. And Carter’s dad became a regular reader on these here pages. The Bucs will put these undrafted guys up in some local hotel room and feed them as they try and hit Lotto  to make the team and live their dreams.

The new offensive tackles have a tough go of it. Demar Dotson re-signed and the Bucs added young veteran tackle Jamon Meredith in free agency.

Yeah, it’s BSPN. So Joe’s not about to all of a sudden call this gospel, but at least it holds a little drama and is informative. Todd McShay’s outlines his top-5 winners in the NFL draft.

Virtually every Bucs fan has seen video of new Bucs coach Greg Schiano laying the law down on the very first moment of the very first voluntary workout when he screamed at his players the proper way to line up along the stripes for warm-ups.

Some would suggest that is a sign of attention to detail. Others would think that’s way over the top.

Whatever he may think of it, Bucs linebacker Dekoda Watson has no problem with the law and order ways of Schiano.

Watson, along with fellow Bucs linebacker Quincy Black, attended a ceremony yesterday in St. Petersburg where the Bucs presented a needy single mother ,who largely used public transportation to get around, a new car to help simplify her and her children’s lives.

Joe will have more about that later, but Joe did get in a few questions with Watson. Though tight-lipped about what is going on behind the fences at One Buc Palace, Watson isn’t bothered by the New Schiano Order.

“No,” Watson beamed when asked if Schiano’s ways were a bit over the top. “That all comes with discipline, I’m all right with that.”

The fact that Watson, who battled injuries last year, is considered a strong pass rusher, and with a new coaching staff and Geno Hayes’ departure leaving a hole in the starting lineup, Watson admitted this season brings new opportunities for him. But he would not elaborate.

“I’m very excited with the new opportunity,” Watson said. “There are a lot of things going on on the field for a lot of people. I hope all the hard work comes out this season. Only time will tell.”

Watson couldn’t compare Schiano’s voluntary workout practices to those of jettisoned coach Raheem Morris because Watson explained he never attended a voluntary workout practice with Morris.

Two years ago when Watson was drafted, the voluntary practice came before the draft. Last year there was no offseason thanks to the asinine lockout, which Watson said drove him nuts.

“To be honest with you, I never had a voluntary workout with Raheem,” Watson said. “I am happy for [attending this year’s]. I don’t like sitting around.”

The incomparable and vivacious eye-RAH! Kaufman, NFL writer and Bucs beat writer of The Tampa Tribune, took to the WDAE-AM 620 airwaves yesterday to do what he calls “read the tea leaves” of the NFL Draft as they related to the Buccaneers.

What Kaufman saw in his bag of Earl Grey was a vote of confidence for Aqib Talib.

Kaufman said it’s wise to project that the Bucs waiting until the sixth round to select a cornerback means the organization believes Aqib Talib will walk away from his felony assault with a deadly weapon trial in June with little or no punishment from Roger Goodell and the Texas penal system.

Now while Joe would be somewhat surprised if Talib is found guilty given the apparent flimsy evidence in the case, Joe doesn’t have a clue what’s in Goodell’s head. However, Team Glazer likely does.

The X-factor in all of this is that Talib’s alleged crime took place during the NFL’s asinine lockout. Does Goodell want the inevitable legal and public relations mess associated with suspending Talib for his transgressions when he wasn’t under contract?

Last year during the grotesque 10-game losing streak that led to then-coach Raheem Morris being jettisoned, the Bucs defense turned in a historic franchise low, topped by the ghastly performance at Atlanta where the Dixie Chicks nearly hung half-a-hundred on the Bucs … in the first half no less!

There were many holes and fingers to be pointed at the defense but the linebacker player was especially grim. It reached the point where no linebacker unit in the NFL was worse than the Bucs’.

A mulligan could be handed out to rookie Mason Foster, who was playing out of position at middle linebacker and expected to call the defensive plays, with no offseason to speak of. He was simply in a no-win situation.

The second of the three starters, outside linebacker Geno Hayes, recently signed with the Bears to be a backup.

That leaves Joe with the third starter at linebacker, outside linebacker Quincy Black. Now entering his fourth season as a starter, he has done little to justify the contract awarded him by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik after the 2010 season, a contract that still puzzles people to this day.

Well, if one can read between the lines of an article typed by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, there were two shots across the bow in last weekend’s NFL draft that Black had best step up his game in a serious way this fall.

In breaking down who might seeing diminished playing time as a result of the draft, he suggested that both linebackers Lavonte David and Najee Goode could push Black to the sidelines if his game is not elevated.

Round 2/58 David Lavonte, LB, Nebraska: Mason Foster.

Lavonte is most effective as an outside linebacker, where he can run and hit. That might also be the best spot for Foster, but it’s more likely he will either remain at middle linebacker or move to strong side linebacker. The Bucs consider Lavonte the best linebacker in coverage in the draft, so he’ll also remain on the field in nickel passing situations. That means either Foster or Quincy Black will leave the field on third down.

Round 5/140 Najee Goode, LB, West Virginia: Quincy Black.

At 6-foot, 244-pounds, Goode is powerful enough to play inside but coverage is not his strong suit, meaning he’s a two-down linebacker. In the Bucs defense, that means he either plays the middle or strong side. Since you would prefer the middle linebacker to remain on the field on passing downs, look for Goode to get a shot to compete with Black, who did not live up to his 5-year, $29-million contract last season.

It appears the gauntlet has been thrown down by new Bucs coach Greg Schiano. Clearly he was horrified by the tapes of the Day-at-the-Races-like defense last season, when it only took a running back to turn the corner for a full-out jailbreak to occur.

At the Buccaneers draft party broadcast live last Thursday, defensive end Adrian Clayborn told Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, that Schiano’s primary for his defense was to focus on stopping the run first and foremost since that was a lost art last season.

And a big reason for that was the linebacker play.

A man rockstar general manager calls one of the great personnel men of all time, Gil Brandt, has weighed in with his top-10 undrafted free agents of 2012.

And the Bucs have one of them under contract, former Largo High star QB Leonard Johnson who turned into a cornerback at Iowa State.

Architect of the Cowboys teams from 1960 to 1989, Brandt, aka The Godfather, is now an NFL scouting guru for NFL.com and Sirius NFL Radio. (The guy’s a walking encyclopedia.) Brandt laid out his take on Johnson for NFL.com.

10. Leonard Johnson, CB, Iowa State — Johnson didn’t run well at the combine, but he ran extremely well at his pro day. He was a high school quarterback. When Iowa State stunned then-No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State in November, Johnson did a very good job defending Justin Blackmon (the first-round pick of the Jaguars). Johnson could be a great special teams player because of his toughness and probably is best suited for a team that runs a Cover-2 scheme. 

“Toughness?” Again that word surfaces with another new member of the New Schiano World Order. 

Click through the limo to learn more about the best in the Bay area.

Leader of the New Schiano World Order got the call to join the national Jim Rome Show on WDAE-AM 620 today. The coach delivered more of his scouting on Doug Martin, in addition to saying he would have taken Mark Barron higher, and more. Schiano talks about drilling the running game — “ham and egg it” with Martin and LeGarrette Blount. Listen below.

Columnist Peter Schrager and popular sports radio personality Adam Schein break down the Bucs draft this past weekend in this FoxSports.com video. Trent Richardson fans may want to brace themselves.

Here’s the lastest official word from the Buccaneers. Barring school conflicts, these guys will be heading to One Buc Palace this week along with invitees for rookie minicamp.

WR Luther Ambrose, Louisiana-Monroe
LB Ryan Baker, LSU
QB Zach Collaros, Cincinnati
C Chaz Hine, South Florida
FB Cody Johnson, exas
CB Leonard Johnson, Iowa State
DT Donte’e Nicholls, Tennessee State
WR Tyler Shoemaker, Boise State
T Bradley Sowell, Mississippi
S Tramain Thomas, Arkansas
TE Tyler Urban, West Virginia
G Michael VanDerMeulen, Toledo
CB Quenton Washington, South Florida
T Desmond Wynn, Rutgers

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Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik did an extended chat with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on Friday following Day 1 of the draft.

Joe found this nugget telling on the evolution of thieving Doug Martin from the New York Giants.

On flipping fourth-round picks to get back into 1st round after Vikings gave up their 4th to do same:  When we got around 22, 23, I started calling all the clubs at the back of the round. And I realized that there must be one team trying to trade up because [I kept hearing,] ‘I got better than that. I got better than that.’  Well, as soon as the Vikings moved [up], I knew that offer wasn’t going to sit around for the clubs behind us anymore. And so that’s when I went in and offered a lot less than what the Vikings did because I felt like those teams don’t have that [offer] anymore. And I found a team in the Denver Broncos that were willing to move out of the first round and flip in the fourth, and I thought that was great value for us to sneak in there and get the guy we really wanted.

Lots of great stuff here, so listen below. Great question by The Commish asking Dominik whether the talk of Ronde Barber playing safety was just smokescreen to help keep Mark Barron available. And catch The Commish live on WQYK-AM 1010 from noon to 3 p.m.

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The Bucs didn’t draft an offensive lineman, but now it seems they have scored a left guard prospect in undrafted free agency.

Rutgers G Desmond Wynn has Twittered that he is “reuniting again with Coach Schiano.” Joe acknowledges this Tweet could mean the two will meet for a casual corned beef sandwich in South Tampa this week, but Joe suspects it means Wynn is among the bodies signed for the Bucs’ rookie minicamp that starts this week.

Wynn has a looong list of injuries during his college career and hasn’t played a ton of games but did play all of last season. He’s 6-6, 300 pounds.

If nothing else, Wynn is sure to set a shining example of how to practice in the New Schiano World Order. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t an exemplary worker.

Joe’s seen all the draft grades, heard all the pundit chatter, and read all the wrap-ups. The consensus gives the Bucs and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik excellent marks for the 2012 draft. Average it out, from BSPN to NFL Network to draft geeks like Walter Football to national writers, and the Bucs probably get somewhere between an A- and a B+.

So what does it mean? Well, not much until the team hits the field and the players perform.

However, Joe found a couple of interesting takes out there.

First, Charles Davis of NFL Network detailed how this was an extraordinarily skill-specific draft with teams across the league maneuvering and angling to draft for need. On that front, Davis, part of the Man Channel draft guru team, was very high on the Bucs’ moves to address their needs. Davis (and seemingly everyone in the free world) sees Mark Barron as a can’t-miss player, and he liked the patient Dominik plays to get in position for Doug Martin and Lavonte David, who Davis said is a not only a sideline-sideline linebacker but a goaline-to-goaline player in pass coverage.

Second, Joe found the praise of Mike Lombardi, also of NFL Network, intriguing.

Lombardi rambled on yesterday about how the Greg Schiano stamp is found in this draft with a bunch of tough-guy players that will help erase the bad mentality in place last year. Schiano sent a message that “you better be tough” if you want to play for the Bucs, explained Lombardi.

Lombardi had blasted the Raheem Morris way during last year’s preseason, and then again ruthlessly in November, (which led to Raheem telling a story about how he beat the crap out of a kid that made fun of his grandma’s running style). Lombardi believes the Bucs 2012 picks are the kind of self-motivated, football-loving tough guys that will infect the entire roster.

It doesn’t take a genius to know some of these picks will be busts, but Joe likes Lombardi’s line of thinking. Even those who don’t pan out from this draft will enhance the New Schiano World Order, which seems to be the right direction for all things Bucs.

NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas suggests the Bucs need to be careful about playing Ronde Barber at safety in this ESPN video. This was recorded prior to this weekend’s draft.

Two guys Joe figured would be chugging Tums during and after the NFL Draft were Myron Lewis and E.J. Biggers.

With a strong likelihood entering the draft that Morris Claiborne would be snatched and placed in a starting job and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik would take a later-round cornerback, Joe figured Biggers and Lewis expected a fierce flame would be soon cranked up under them.

But it didn’t play out that way.

The Bucs added sixth-round-pick cornerback Keith Tandy, plus Eric Wright in free agency. So with Elbert Mack gone and Aqib Talib a question mark, Biggers and Lewis emerged yesterday with about as much job security as they could have hoped for at this point.

One would think Lewis, as a high third-round pick in 2010, called the deepest draft in NFL history by many, would get every opportunity to prove he belongs this preseason. And Biggers, whose effort has always been there, at least has some experience and success on his resume. (One could also speculate the Bucs waited until the sixth round to select a cornerback because they have faith in these guys.)

Regardless, two Buccaneers many fans wanted to become trivia questions have a darn good shot to be a part of the New Schiano World Order come September.

One of the more intriguing nuggets to come from rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s post-draft news conference Saturday was a trade offer Dominik received for backup Utah State running back/speedster Michael Smith, who was drafted by the Bucs in the seventh round.

Dominik said after he snagged Smith another team offered the Bucs a sixth-round pick in 2013 in exchange for Smith. Dominik passed on the deal and said it was the first time in his career he had experienced that kind of offer for a player right after he was drafted.

Joe hopes Smith can flourish with the Bucs, but Joe’s got to wonder whether Dominik should have taken that deal to give the Bucs more trade-up ammunition in next year’s draft.

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