The Bucs’ brass says it wants to build through the draft and treat free agency as a last resort. They speak of free agency as if dabbling seriously in it is like admitting to owning a frequent diver card at the Mustang Ranch.

Therefore, the Bucs’ offensive linemen and receiving corps should be breathing very easily right now. The Bucs didn’t draft an O-lineman or a wideout in the 2011 draft.

Joe believes this is a strong clue the Bucs think the NFL is likely to play the 2011 season under the 2010 league rules. If that’s the case, then the Bucs would have already locked up Jeremy Trueblood and Davin Joseph with restricted free agent tenders. And with Donald Penn, Ted Larsen, James Lee, Jeremy Zuttah, Jeff Faine,  Brandon Carter and Derek Hardman, plus Demar Dotson returning from injury, the Bucs are darn deep at the position.

As for wide receiver, rock star general manager Mark Dominik already told Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, during an exclusive interview for WDAE-AM 620, that Arrelious Benn has made a miraculous recovery from his ACL surgery and his ready to take the field.  

Since free agency is The Great Satan, Joe assumes the Bucs like their receiving corps. Rightfully so.

Not just satisfied with picking a tight end who shined in the SEC, the Bucs, with their final pick of the draft, select a tight end for Idaho which plays in the WAC.

Daniel Hardy is the newest Bucs tight end with the second pick of the seventh round.

The positives about Hardy? He’s a good receiver and can exploit creases in the middle and he’s very good at catching passes in traffic.

The negatives about Hardy? He can’t block very well. And he’s not very fast so separation is an issue.

Here is his combine video courtesy of NFL.com.

For those swept away by draft mania the last handful of days, the heinous NFL lockout has returned temporarily courtesy of the courts, meaning no undrafted free agents will be signed today at the close of the seventh round.

The lockout prohibits anything player-related outside of the draft. 

That means Joe gets to drink large quantities of beer and not worry about the Bucs signing new players tonight.

But it also probably puts Mark Dominik at a slight disadvantage. His preparation seems to let him excel at these off-the-street signings, and more time for the competition to figure out the market won’t do Dominik any favors.

The Bucs again drafted a defensive back in their second-to-last pick of the draft with Anthony Gaitor from Florida International.

How far down the radar are teams in their selections in the seventh round? Gaitor didn’t participate in the NFL combine.

Gaitor is originally from Miami and was this season an All-Sun Belt Conference first team member as both a junior and a sophomore. He had 45 tackles as a junior and 52 last season.

The kid is a burner and wanted to play for the Bucs, so reported the Miami Herald this week.

Gaitor wowed scouts at FIU’s pro day by running a 4.45-second 40-yard dash, prompting talent evaluators to give his collegiate game tape a second look.

What they saw was a player who held Troy wideout Jerrel Jernigan, who could be drafted as high as the second round, to just 32 receiving yards in a crucial FIU road win.

Gaitor also limited Toledo All-American Eric Page to just five catches for 24 yards in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in December — his final game in an FIU uniform.

Since the season ended, Gaitor has drawn the interest from the Dolphins, Bears and Jaguars, among others. But if Gaitors had his druthers, the Buccaneers, who also had him in for a visit, would take him. And preferably earlier rather than later.

“He has tremendous instincts on the defensive side of the ball,” FIU coach Mario Cristobal said. “A tremendous ability to cover. In the NFL, you have to be tough enough to take on the backs. Gaitor is that.”

Per the Herald story, Gaitor projects to be a nickel corner. The Bucs have plenty of those, but maybe Raheem Morris sees something special.

Joe dug up some background on “Monster” Allen Bradford, the Bucs’ sixth round pick today.

Bradford, as you can see in the video linked in the first sentence, is a linebacker playing running back and is expected to be a between-the-tackles kind of guy, specifically in short-yardage situations. In the NFL, his skills are pretty much a one-trick pony: pound the rock.

His problem is that too often he thinks he is Reggie Bush and is not nearly as elusive, nor does he have the hands to catch the ball effectively out of the backfield. Here is his combine workout video from NFL.com.

Here are some highlights courtesy of FoxSports.com of Bucs sixth round pick Allen Bradford. For a guy who is 5-11, 242, dude has some wheels.

From the west coast of the east coast, the Bucs decide to pluck a running back from the left coast.

In the sixth round with their sixth pick of the draft, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik picks up a running back from USC, Allen Bradford.

Though Bradford wasn’t the leading rusher for the Trojans, he did have the highest yards-per-rush average with 7.2 yards a carry and scored five touchdowns playing in an NFL-style offense under Lane Kiffin.

Pete Carroll once said of Bradford, from the USC website: “You can see his explosiveness, the great hand-eye coordination he has and the big plays in him…He’s really a stud. He’s tough, he’s physical, he plays hard every day, he won’t back down from any challenge. The players respect him because they know he’s hard as nails and brings it. It’s a quiet toughness.”

The Bay area’s most astute Buccaneers analyst, former Bucs DE Steve White (1996-2001), has put his Twitter stamp of approval on the Tampa Bay’s fifth round pick, undersized and speed-challenged Ahmad Black from the University of Florida.

White’s running commentary on select draft picks included this:

@sgw94 Ahmad Black. Like the pick becuz he’s productive. Also you can hide speed deficit some with cover 2. Safety is definitely a need

If Black’s the smart, instinctive player he seems to be, the Bucs probably didn’t go wrong. Joe’s research also uncovered praise for Black’s future value on special teams.

On a side note, Joe’s also raising a cold beer in hopes that White resumes pounding out incredible Bucs analysis on his blog. C’mon, Steve. We’re aching for some of that meaty stuff.

It appears Bucs coach Raheem Morris will use Florida cornerback Ahmad Black, who the Bucs drafted in the fifth round today, as a safety. The way Pat Kirwan talked about Black, that would be a smart move.

Currently the Bucs are loaded at safety as Joe types this:

Vince Anderson (practice squad)
Larry Asante
Ahmad Black
Dominique Harris
Cody Grimm
Tanard Jackson
Sean Jones
Corey Lynch

With all of these safeties, Joe has a hunch: Could it be that all Bucs fans who have been kvetching over the fate of troubled cornerback Aqib Talib be talking about the wrong stud in the secondary?

Could it be that in fact, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will jettison Tanard Jackson when his suspension ends and not Talib?

Here are some Ahmad Black highlights courtesy of the good people at FoxSports.com.

Well, the Bucs finally drafted a cornerback Ahmad Black from Florida.

Pat Kirwan on Sirius NFL Radio is not high on Black at all due to his slow 40 times.

“He doesn’t fit in [Raheem Morris’] defense if he is really a 4.7 [in a 40-yard dash] guy, but he can play fast. His cone drills say he can move faster.

But [the Bucs] are not playing press-man there. They play some off-man, but they will play around with a guy like this to try to find a spot. He will be around the football and he will break in as a special teams guy and if he continues to run slow he will be cut in a couple of years.”

A lot of fans — granted, not all — are pretty stoked about the drafting the past three days by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. But it seems it’s not just Bucs fans who are happy.

Enter “The Professor,” John Clayton. After monitoring the first two days of the draft, he believes Dominik has pulled off the greatest haul of any NFL team.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: You’ve got to be kidding me. Last year, the Bucs rebuilt their defensive line with the additions of defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, their top two draft choices in 2010. After getting a pass-rushing defensive end in Adrian Clayborn in the first round Thursday, the Bucs landed Da’Quan Bowers in the second round. Bowers has talent to become rookie of the year, but he has knees that might not allow him to last through a five-year contract. No problem for the Bucs. They will sign him to a four-year deal at second-round money. Drafted with the 51st pick, Bowers will be eager to prove his worth. To make life even better, the Bucs added linebacker Mason Foster in the third round.

Well, naturally, it will take roughly three or four years to see how this draft pans out. But Joe likes the attitude and character of the guys Dominik has drafted thus far.

There are various ways players celebrate being selected in the NFL draft.

Some, like Gerald McCoy, get to celebrate at Radio City Music Hall and bear hug NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell.

Others celebrate with family members.

Perhaps Joe’s favorite player celebration was when Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas decided to get away from all the hoopla and went fishing, despite being a high first round draft pick. Thomas was spotted by a helicopter getting the news with rods in the water.

Now in the 21st century, players have a different way of celebrating: Social media.

Bucs fourth round draft pick Luke Stocker, a tight end from Tennessee too to Twitter to celebrate the good news.

@LukeStocker88: I’m a Buc!!!! Words can’t describe how happy I am right now!!!!

Joe thinks that this Stocker will fit in very nicely for quite a few years.

It seems the Bucs got a well-rounded tight end in Luke Stocker. The Tennessee product is equally adept at blocking as he is catching passes in traffic, which he excels at by force of necessity as he isn’t quick enough to separate in man-to-man coverage, though he does have good hands.

Joe knows that Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune had said all along the Bucs were going to draft a tight end and many fans mocked him for it.

To Joe, this may signal that the Bucs have a hint of concern over Kellen Winslow’s knee. Remember last year that Wiinslow skipped most training camp practices to spare his knee.

Perhaps the Bucs are planning to use Stocker in an effort to take some wear and tear off of the tread of Winslow’s tires thereby extending his shelf life?

For the draftniks out there, here is Stocker’s combine workout video.

Here are some highlights of Tennessee tight end Luke Stocker who the Bucs traded up for in the fourth round to grab. Video courtesy of FoxSports.com.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik wasted lilttle time this afternoon to pull off a trade to move up in the fourth round to pick Tennessee tight end Luke Stocker.

Stocker is a former basketball player who was recruited to play at Kentucky.

Pat Kirwan, on Sirius NFL Radio said of Stocker, “Two things jumped out at me with Stocker in the Senior Bowl: “He can catch in traffic; he muscled the ball away from people. And he totally understood route running and running into zones. He knew exactly what to convert the route to.”

The Bucs gave up this year’s fourth round pick and next year’s fourth round pick to move up in Philadelphia’s position. Barring another trade, the Bucs won’t pick again until the 20th pick in the fifth round.

Former Bucs great Warren Sapp is a Bucs legend through and through. Those his playing days are long over, he’s trying his best to help out.

Last year much was made of Warren Sapp taking a good chunk of his time to work out with Gerald McCoy at One Buc Palace.

It looks like Sapp plans to do the same with Da’Quan Bowers. On Twitter last night, Sapp reached out to Bowers and it looks as if Sapp wants to get rolling with Bowers.

@QBKILLA: @DaQuanBowers93 Gotta a Few Things For You Young Fella!!

Joe just thinks this is cool that Sapp is still trying to help the Bucs return to their glory days, despite the fact he can’t help on the field.

Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com gives his report outside Radio City Music Hall of what he loved about Day 2 of the NFL Draft. In this FoxSports.com video, No. 1 on his list was Bucs third round draft pick Mason Foster.

Joe’s absolutely loving all this real football chatter during draft week. Joe is fired up for the season.

Here are links to videos Joe just watched to help you get fired up, too, as if you need it.

1) The “Top 100 Players of 2011” series kicks off tonight on the real-man channel: NFL Network. Here’s the preview of Mike Williams, who checks in at No. 83. If you don’t get chills, seek medical attention.

2) THE OPTIMIST, who runs the fabulous BucStop.com, has unearthed video of the 1981 draft from ESPN, when it was about sports and not shtick. It’s a great old school look at the NFL. Joe confesses his parents didn’t have cable TV when the ’81 draft aired. Joe was probably hoping Pete Rose was playing on the NBC Game of the Week.

Enjoy.

As Joe hammers out more research on linebacker Mason Foster, the Bucs’ third-round pick out of Washington, Joe keeps seeing a common thread: Foster has a high football IQ enhanced by his time switching from defense to quarterback during his senior season in high school and playing multiple linebacker spots in college.

Former Bucs coach Herm Edwards and Foster come from the same Northern California coastal neighborhood (Foster’s going to get a rude awakening from the Tampa humidity and heat) and it seems Edwards knows the kid, so he told their hometown newspaper, The Herald of Monterey County, Calif.

Foster, among his other comments, thinks he flew under scouts’ radar and his savvy can make up for his physical shortcomings.

“Honestly, I kind of got overlooked playing on the West Coast,” said Foster before the draft. “On the big stage, I raised my game to another level.”

Foster’s versatility was an attraction. The 6-foot-1, 245-pounder can play the run inside, or line up on the outside and blitz or drop back into coverage.

“You don’t have to be a big linebacker to play in that system,” Edwards said. “You have to be instinctive. That’s what Mason is. He’s going to get a shot right away.”

Foster’s stock began to rise at the Senior Bowl. During the NFL combines, he was praised for his understanding of defenses during meetings with teams. What might have hurt Foster was his 40-yard dash time, which was 4.75 at the NFL combines. He had a best of 4.65.

“Some players are workout warriors,” Foster said. “But can they play?”

Per the Seattles Times, UW coach Steve Sarkisian said [Friday] that he thinks Foster will be “a great pro.”

“He’s such a versatile guy. He’s got the ability to play in space but yet play hard-nosed football. He’s an excellent pass rusher, and he’s got ball instincts. I don’t know how many times in two years, the ball gets tipped into the air and it finds its way into No. 40’s hands. He’s just got great instincts, and in the NFL he equates to a three-down linebacker, meaning he can play first- and second-down football, but even in nickel situations, he can rush the passer or cover people – he can do that really well too.”

Joe likes Foster’s legitimate versatility. Hopefully he can light a fire under the asses of all the Bucs’ starting linebackers, assuming they’re still wearing pewter when the dust settles on free agency.

If there’s clearly an end to the lockout come next week, courtesy of the courts, it seems the NFL would have to rule immediately on what to do with all the restricted free agents who were tendered by their teams in February.

Plus, the league would have to craft operating rules for 2011 to avoid chaos, as the legal mess plays out in court and negotiation resumes between owners and players.

Popular speculation has both sides agreeing to play 2011 by 2010 rules.

If so, that means a pile of Bucs restricted free agents could have new guaranteed contracts by virtue of Mark Dominik tendering them offers before the lockout. The Tampa Tribune reported the list of Bucs in that boat back in February.

Defensive ends Stylez White and Tim Crowder were given tender thumb-ups by Dominik, and with Da’Quan Bowers, Adrian Clayborn and Michael Bennett all but locks for the roster, Joe’s sniffing the end of the Kyle Moore era. That would leave E.J. Biggers, Sammie Stroughter, Roy Miller and Josh Freeman left from the class of 2009.

Also on the tendered list, per the Tribune, were Jeremy Trueblood, Davin Joseph and James Lee. With Demar Dotson coming back from injury, Joe wouldn’t be shocked if the Bucs don’t touch an offensive lineman in Day 3 of the draft.

Joe’s good friend Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net gives his take on the Bucs first two draft picks, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers. Dedicated that he is, he filed his video from Wheaton, Ill. You know what Wheaton, Ill. is famous for? First, it was the birth place of the Galloping Ghost, Red Grange, and it’s a friggin’ dry town… in Illinois of all places!!! A dry Friday night? Joe simply cannot fathom!

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

What’s amazing about this Da’Quan Bowers pick is every team, including the Bucs, passed on him obviously because of his crappy knee. This morning, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported Bowers has a bone-on-bone condition. There’s no cure for that, folks.

The last Buccaneer with a bone-on-bone knee was Antonio Bryant. You can read about it in Joe’s archives.

But Mark Dominik calls Bowers great “value.” Nice.

So what’s Dominik trying to prove? Sure, the GM does his homework and sorted through character issues with Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount and came up with gems, but you don’t talk to third-grade teachers and grill coaches to solve a knee. Bowers is damaged goods, and the Bucs gambled when they didn’t have to.

God forbid the Bucs went the seemingly safer route and prepared to break the bank to pay Ray Edwards, a healthy 26-year-old free agent coming off two eight-sack seasons in Minnesota.

THE PESSIMIST supposes the Bucs don’t think it’s prudent to actually pay a young proven player in his prime. Why the hell do that when you can toss a second-round pick after a busted up college dude?

THE PESSIMIST finds it comical that the Bucs say they’re building a lasting contender and they just drafted a guy unlikely to last.

The Bucs may have found the new Sack Exchange, but right now it’s rookie Bowers with a bumb knee, Brian Price with a mysterious hip/hamstring, Gerald McCoy coming off surgery, and Adrian Clayborn with one arm shorter than the other and coming off a 3 1/2-sack college season.

THE PESSIMIST can’t imagine any team will be scared of that bunch for a while.