On the heels of Gerald McCoy, the Bucs have the best tandem of defensive tackles in the NFC South, explains Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com.

Yes Bucs fans, it is now 16 days before training camp begins. Joe can almost smell the sweat in the heavy Florida summer air and hear the cracking of pads.

Until that horn blows to signal the start of the first practice, you will read all sorts of different previews — in a lot of different places — from all sorts sources. It’s part of how the NFL wakes up from its summer siesta. [read more]

Josh McCown offered a take on being a backup

Joe has spent plenty of time studying all things Josh McCown. And why not? He is the quarterback handpicked to lead the Bucs to the promised land, so of course Joe needs to know everything he can about the man.

In 2011, McCown was looking to get back into the NFL and signed on with San Francisco, where he essentially was post-lockout, training-camp meat for Jim Harbaugh. (That was before Lovie Smith cut McCown after the 2012 preseason.) [read more]

Phil Simms is already pimping the 2014 Bucs

You can tell former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Phil Simms played for Tuna Parcells. There isn’t a question he won’t answer and never will you get a BS answer.

Simms speaks straight from the heart (and head) and he doesn’t give a damn whether he makes friends with his comments or not. Like the time he outraged the Mike Glennon Mob this spring when he told a SiriusXM NFL Radio audience he would very much like to trade for Mike Glennon if he was a NFL general manager, but only as a backup. [read more]

Butch Davis alleges the lone reason the Bucs drafted Mark Barron was to stop Saints TE Jimmy Graham. Thus far, Graham has the decided edge in that duel.

Joe is well aware a lot of Bucs fans are not exactly sleeping at night while wearing Mark Barron jerseys. The third-year safety has been a steady player since being selected seventh overall in the 2013 draft.

Barron has been OK thus far. He’s pretty good against the run. He can deliver a ferocious hit at times (just ask RGIII). As a pass defender, well, let’s just say Barron needs polishing. [read more]

One of the sickening moments of 2013 just got a little sicker

It’s the time of year when Joe has time to drink beer and listen to lengthy interviews of backup quarterbacks on teams based outside Tampa Bay.

Yes, Joe cracked a cold one and listened to former Bucs QB Dan Orlovsky talk to Ross Tucker about a variety of NFL topics recently. [read more]

The Bucs remain bullish on Rashaan Melvin

Yesterday, Joe typed about who he deems “The Forgotten Cornerback,” second-year man Rashaan Melvin, the pride of Northern Illinois. Last year, the undrafted free agent opened up eyes at One Buc Palace and high-ranking members of the Bucs were giddy about his ceiling.

Last offseason, there was no player that Joe received more unsolicited texts about from Bucs sources than Melvin. The New Schiano Order had high hopes. [read more]

It sure sounded like former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is lobbying to be commissioner of a new NFL developmental league.

Speaking last night on SiriuxXM NFL Radio along with co-host Howard Balzer, Dominik made a powerful case for a “March, April” league that would give potential NFL players and bottom-of-the-roster talent some experience and top coaching. [read more]

Just how toxic, rancid and dysfunctional was the Buccaneers’ house last year?

One prominent Tampa Bay player painted a picture that made Joe want to vomit. [read more]

The numbers crunchers over at Pro Football Focus have changed their tune about Will Gholston.

Joe has been a big fan of defensive lineman Will Gholston since former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik drafted him in the fourth round last year. Gholston had all the measurements of a monster defensive end (he also can play tackle). The only question was his motor; his heart.

Well, last year, Gholston showed more than a former second round pick of a defensive end had shown in three seasons. [read more]

Lovie Smith seems to prefer speed over bulk.

Once upon a time in the NFL, it seemed bulk was better. The heavier a guy was often meant he was stronger, and brute force would overcome smallish guys. Speed was fine for a wide receiver or a maybe cornerback, but with linebackers and guys in the trenches, size equaled success.

So, per the research of Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, it seems the Bucs are a throwback of sorts in Lovie Smith’s first year as coach. [read more]

NFL Network analyst Willie McGinest is a big believer in Bucs coach Lovie Smith.

Yes, it is NFL siesta season. It is 18 days until the beginning of Bucs training camp, and those involved with the Bucs are in virtual hiding, even going so far as to hanging in Nicaragua, doing anything to get away and enjoy and decompress while they have the chance.

Once July 25 hits, it’s full-bore, non-stop football for at least the next five months. [read more]

Rashaan Melvin may be the Bucs’ forgotten cornerback. His performance this summer could determine if the Bucs have a deep secondary.

Joe has, in the past, referenced how Bucs fans just love names they recognize. Throw out a player’s name who has started in the NFL for two or three years, and many Bucs fans consider said player an automatic upgrade, solely because – “Hey, I know his name!”

This is the only logical reason Joe can deduce as to why so many Bucs fans went wild when the Bucs signed castoff Mike Jenkins. You would have thought Ronde Barber came out of retirement by the reaction. [read more]

Fact: Last month, Lovie Smith said Carl Nicks passed his physical and is expected to be healthy and ready for training camp, (first practice in 18 days!)

Fact: Carl Nicks said he expects to be ready, too. [read more]

There’s a common theme among most preseason breakdowns of the NFC South: every team is ready for greatness.

Former juicehead and superstar Shawne Merriman likes what he sees from Tampa Bay. [read more]

Joe’s been keeping track of blade-in-the-thigh, mattress-in-the-yard, stripper-pole-friendly Mike Williams ever since the Bills coughed up a sixth-round pick for him in April.

They’ve been loving Williams up in his hometown Buffalo. [read more]

Akeem Spence could finally put his bad January day in Alabama behind him this afternoon.

Spence has been on the hook after state police claimed he was driving over 100 miles per hour while in possession of marijuana. [read more]

All signs point to Bucs MLB Mason Foster blowing up this fall.

Now that the Fourth of July is behind us (damn, what a weekend Joe had. Hope you guys had fun, too), the next important date of the sporting/drinking calendar is Friday, July 25, the first training camp practice open to the public.

Yes, folks, that is 18 short days away.

It always neat to try to sit back and figure out who is in line for a monster season. [read more]

Breaking down Josh McCown.

The nerds over at Pro Football Focus have spent the better part of the summer breaking down quarterbacks. Joe has to give the football Sheldon Coopers over there some mad props.

To Joe’s knowledge, no one, that means nobody, has pumped out quarterback info like that outfit has this past handful of weeks. [read more]

Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com isn’t yet convinced the Bucs have an elite running backs unit.

On paper, Joe is damn impressed with the Bucs’ stable of running backs. If there is a deeper position on the team than running backs, then, please, tip Joe off.

From the Muscle Hamster himself, Doug Martin, to Bobby Rainey to Mike James to highly touted rookie Charles Sims to an Olympic track star in Jeff Demps, that’s a pretty damned talented and versatile backfield. [read more]

It sure seems like the great Bucs receiving hope, rookie Mike Evans, is not the kind of guy who will live in a fancy rented house with a bunch of friends and family, launch a rap group, install a stripper pole, and host blowout house parties culminating in the front lawn looking like Tempur-Pedic showroom.

No, Evans likes quiet. [read more]

The WalterFootball.com crowd crows about how the Bucs now have stability at quarterback. But do they?

Joe remembers when the WalterFootball.com crowd came out with their 2013 season preview and predicted the floor would cave in under the Bucs en route to a 5-11 mark. Joe scoffed, writing if that happened, then there likely would be a new head coach and maybe a new general manager.

But the reality was worse. The Bucs became a laughingstock, losing their first eight games. [read more]

Greg Schiano led a “toxic” team and was “unprepared to be an NFL head coach,” explains a noted Bucs analyst.

One common reason noted experts give for a potential radical Bucs turnaround this season is the change from Greg Schiano to Lovie Smith.

Simply stated, many believe the Bucs moved from total loser to proven winner. That’s gotta help, right? [read more]