The Bucs will say otherwise, of course, but it doesn’t take a sleuth to figure out the Bucs are trying to force feed quarterback Josh Freeman to become an upper-echelon quarterback, not a bottom rung kind of guy.

He has all the toys a quarterback could want, plus a bruising front wall of an offensive line and a retooled defense to help him hold leads.

Someone with pull at One Buc Palace must not believe Freeman can lead the Bucs to January games given the Bucs drafted third-round quarterback Mike Glennon.

This is not lost on the “Total Access” crew at the NFL Network, as Daniel Jeremiah explains to Paul Burmeister why he thinks Freeman is on the proverbial hot seat now that the Bucs have Glennon.

Not only do Phil Simms and Rich Gannon think a lot of Glennon, so too does NFL Films Xs and Os guru Greg Cosell. He details why below.

When Joe learned the Bucs drafted Michigan State defensive end Will Gholston, let’s say Joe was intrigued. The guy is built like an Adonis and images of Simeon Rice began dancing in Joe’s head.

Then Joe began researching Gholston. How, with a beastly body like his, did he get such poor numbers against garbage Big Ten teams (Joe’s a Big Ten guy, grew up with the Big Ten and never in his life has he seen the conference so miserable. The MAC may have been better in 2012!)?.

It seems Gholston’s play fell off after a promising 2011.

Then Joe found this video of Gholston and was blown away by his personality. What’s going on here? Something wasn’t adding up.

So Joe turned to Jim Miller.

Many of you know Miller, a former Bears and Steelers quarterback, as the unofficial 12th man of SiriusXM NFL Radio. He is always substituting for someone, morning, noon, afternoon or night. Joe half-expects to turn SiriusXM NFL Radio at 3 a.m. and hear Miller.

But the reason to reach out to Miller is that Miller, a Michigan State product himself, is the color analyst for the Michigan State football radio broadcasts. If anyone knows Gholston, it would be Miller.

Per Miller, Gholston came from a rotten upbringing and Miller believes Gholston is still coping from a nightmarish childhood.

“I think he is a real good kid,” Miller said. “He comes from a really rough background [in Detroit].”

Miller noted that as a child Gholston was passed from one relative’s home to another relative’s home and endured homelessness at times.

“At one point he lived out of a car,” Miller said.

But football, Miller said, specifically his high school football coach, Donshell English, turned Gholston’s life around where he was able to attend Michigan State on a football scholarship after being named Michigan’s top high school football player.

After his senior season in 2010, Gholston played in the Under Armour High School All-America Game in St. Petersburg.

“At times, he is tremendous,” Miller said of the Spartans defensive end. “At other times, he struggles. I think it is because he is still growing as an individual.”

Then there was an incident in 2011, when Gholston was suspended by the Big Ten for an incident in the annual Michigan State-Michigan game for swinging at Michigan offensive lineman Taylor Lewan. There was much more to it than that, Miller said.

The two were in a near street brawl at every snap, Miller noted.

“Out of 70 snaps, 35 of them Lewan could have been called for illegal hands to the face,” Miller said. “I am sure they were [verbally] going back and forth [all game] and that is when it crossed the line.”

The line crossed was Lewan dropping  a racial slur on Gholston who responded with a punch and was pulled from the game for one play and later suspended by the Big Ten Conference for a game. Greg Johnson of The Grand Rapids Press, who covered that game for MLive.com, documented the incident.

Gholston was penalized for two personal-foul penalties in Saturday’s 28-14 win over Michigan, one after pulling on U-M quarterback Denard Robinson’s facemask and one after punching U-M lineman Taylor Lewan. The punch came after Lewan dragged Gholston to the ground by his facemask.

In a release from Michigan State following the incident, Gholston said, “Although provoked, my response was inappropriate.”

Miller said Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, a disciplinarian of the highest order, only pulled Gholston out of the game for one play following his punch to Lewan, which seems to suggest Dantonio didn’t much blame Gholston for retaliating after having a racial slur dropped on him, in addition to being slammed to the turf by the facemask.

Upon his return, in the next two games, at Nebraska and home against Minnesota, Miller said Gholston played like a man possessed.

“He made 32 legitimate tackles in the next two weeks,” Miller said. “He was all over the field.”

As for Gholston’s lackluster, uneven 2012 season, Miller chalked that up to Gholston still growing up, and being distracted by the brighter lights (and big money?) of the NFL.

“He may have had some ‘agentitis’ in the ear,” Miller said.

Despite not dominating like Miller and other Sparty partisans believed he would last year, Miller thinks the Bucs got a steal in Gholston.

“Some people question his worth at times, but ending up with Greg Schiano, [the Bucs] will get the most of his talent,” Miller said. “He has the DNA, he is an athlete, nobody denies that. He is a freak athletically, now. He is gifted with the genetics. He is very long-armed and is the prototypical defensive end in a 43 front or he could be a five-technique.

“The key is for Greg Schiano to harness that talent. He still needs to grow and mature but he can be a phenomenal, phenomenal football player. I think it is a great pickup by Tampa Bay.

“His upside is tremendous.”

Hat tip to Nick Kostos.

Wide receiver D. J. Monroe

The Bucs announced the undrafted free agent signees today who will take part in the rookie mini-camp held this coming weekend at One Buc Palace:

Deveron Carr, CB, 5-11 190, Arizona State

Jerry Johnson, WR, 6-3 211, UCLA

Evan Landi, TE, 6-3 236, South Florida

Rashaan Melvin, CB, 6-2 193, Northern Illinois

D.J. Monroe, WR, 5-9 175, Texas

Willie Moseley, LB, 6-5, 251, Buffalo

Brice Schwab, OT, 6-7 302, Arizona State

Akeem Shavers, RB, 5-11 203, Purdue

Adam Smith, G , 6-5 325, Western Kentucky

Branden Smith, CB, 5-11 182, Georgia

Nick Speller, OT, 6-5 334, UMASS

Jason Weaver, OT, 6-5 305, Southern Mississippi

Tim Wright, WR, 6-4 220, Rutgers

Couple of players that jumped out at Joe: First is Monroe, who is listed as a wide receiver but played running back at Texas. The Bucs likely signed him more for his return ability than anything else.

As a sophomore, Monroe was a member of the Longhorns All American 4 x 100 meter relay track squad that finished sixth in the nation. In high school, Monroe won the Texas Class 4A 100-meter dash in a time of 10.45.

Smith, the Bulldogs cornerback, was featured by Joe during the East-West Shrine Game practices held in St. Petersburg this winter.

J.P. Peterson isn’t all that enamored with the Bucs draft picks, including defensive tackle Akeem Spence.

Joe knows by the comments just on this here corner of the interwebs that not all Bucs fans are singing Hosannas at the Bucs braintrust for the totality of players selected in last weekend’s NFL Draft.

One person with a microphone who is of kindred spirit is Tampa Bay electronic media czar J.P. Peterson. The part-time host at WDAE-AM 620 panned the Mark Dominik-Greg Schiano two-headed monster’s draft picks, in particular the defensive picks, or lack thereof.

The defensive line has 2 first round picks in Adrian Clayborn and Gerald McCoy and a high second rounder in Da’Quan Bowers. But all have been injury prone and none have proven themselves as elite or even semi-dangerous pass rushers. When you watch the tape Michael Bennett was the most effective rusher and the Bucs didn’t even make an effort to keep him. The additions of 4th round picks Akeem Spence and William Goldston do not scream pass rusher. Spence had 3.5 sacks in 3 years at Illinois while Gholston had 10 in 3 years. 5th round pick DE Steven Means, from Buffalo…and not the Bills…had 18.5 in his career but against offensive tackles who will soon be accountants. Give Drew Brees and Matt Ryan enough time and they can torch any secondary.

As for the linebackers the Bucs signed Jonathan Casillas who couldn’t start for the Saints defense…one of the worst in NFL history. WLB Lavonte David is a budding star but MLB Mason Foster struggles in coverage and to get off blocks. SLB Quincy Black is no longer on the roster. Adam Hayward will finally get a shot but these seems like a position that needed upgrades and got none.

Joe believes J.P. makes some good points about the defense, though Spence is not, never has been and isn’t expected to be a sack monster. He is the clone of Roy Miller, a tilted tackle who is expected to eat up blocks in the middle and set Gerald McCoy free to ravage the opposing quarterback, a trait that worked well last year. GMC apparently impressed his NFL brethren enough to get elected to the Pro Bowl.

Now Joe will have a story tomorrow from both a college and NFL insider who is really, really high on Gholston, so we shall see. Joe found it interesting that Dominik said Gholston can play in the middle on passing downs a potentially smart move with a giant like that.

Joe also thought Peterson nailed it with Casillas. Joe had learned from an insider at One Buc Palace prior to the draft that Schiano wanted depth at linebacker. He basically got none.

As for Casillas, if he couldn’t start for a garbage defense in New Orleans (unless they faced Josh Freeman), how can or why should Bucs fans have feel secure that Casillas can do anything with the Bucs?

Joe stumbled across a pretty cool biographical video of new Bucs defensive end Will Gholston. Go ahead and enjoy it, as well.

When Bucs fans began rattling off options at cornerback in 2013, it appeared positive.

Obviously, there are Darrelle Revis and second-round pick Johnthan Banks, plus returning starter Eric Wright and second-year guy Leonard Johnson, the corps of corners looked solid.

Oh, and then there was the wild card factor of Ronde Barber’s potential return.

But Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune came out with sobering news this morning while appearing with “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski, of WHFS-FM. In short, Cummings noted that Barber’s days as a corner are over and if he returns, he will certainly be a backup safety.

Justin Pawlowski: I was pretty good in math back in high school and through college. My math and my addition is still here. Let’s see, I’ve got Darrelle Revis, I’ve got Johnthan Banks, I’ve got Eric Wright at corner. Where does Ronde Barber fit in to this mix?

Woody Cummings: Ronde Barber is a safety now and maybe not even a nickel safety but a dime safety. A lot depends on how Ahmad Black shakes out this season and if he can stay on the field and avoid trouble. And also you have Cody Grimm coming back. Not sure what they think of Cody Grimm at this point, I’m not sure what they think of Cody, if he’s just anything more than a fourth down player. Ronde Barber is not going to be a corner for this team; he’s going to be a safety. He would be a depth piece if he comes back.

Proof is in the pudding. A year ago, they couldn’t have been any more desperate at cornerback than they were at some point last year and they didn’t move Ronde. Now part of that may have been they didn’t feel that Ahmad Black was good enough there or maybe not sharp enough. I cannot see that move happening [Barber moving to corner]. I’ve been told by enough people in the organization that he is now a safety ,and if he is going to play for [the Bucs] he will be a safety and my guess he plays again, he will be a backup safety.

Pawlowski: OK, either way, if he comes back as a corner he’s the fourth and if he comes back as a safety he’s the third or fourth safety. Is Ronde going to come back and sit on the bench?

Cummings: I don’t know. I wish I knew, I assume we will find out here very shortly, but I don’t know. He has drug this out quite a ways. I don’t have an answer to it. I have said this before, “If I am Ronde Barber, I am coming back with this team even as a backup for no reason other than I want another shot at the playoffs, I want another shot at a Super Bowl.” I think this team is certainly good enough to make the playoffs and possibly even win their division. They are good enough to go a round or two in the playoffs and if you get in the playoffs, anything can happen.

Look, if he can come back as a backup, he might be able to string out his career a year or two. Maybe he could be part of another Super Bowl team. I don’t think he would have a problem with that but maybe Ronde is looking at it differently. Maybe he is looking at being a starter and nothing else. Maybe he doesn’t feel the grind and all the time put in physically to prepare for a season, especially at his age, is worth it, if he is not starting on Sundays.

But you know, the other thing you have to think about if you are Ronde is injuries always happen. People always go down. You could start the season as a backup but end it playing 12 or 14 games as a starter.

My gut tells me he is coming back but I just don’t know to be honest with you.

But the walls are closing in. The Bucs big time beefed up their secondary. Joe has no issue with this. The Bucs, without any definitive word from Barber, had to proceed as if Barber was gone. To do otherwise would have been irresponsible.

Second-round pick Johnthan Banks ability and experience against big receivers is part of what has Anthony Becht setting very high expecations for the 2013 Bucs.

That didn’t take long.

The Bucs finished their draft about 36 hours ago and expectations are rising fast.

Buccaneers Radio Network analyst and former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht talked about the Bucs’ draft on WDAE-AM 620 today, and Becht was clear that the Bucs now have to be a 10-win team — at least.

“Ten wins, for me, is baseline,” Becht said. “Whether that gets you in the playoffs or not, we’ll see. But you how, you gotta come away from this thing with 10 wins.”

Regarding the draft specifically, the length of 6-2 cornerback Johnthan Banks, and how he uses it, was part of what had Becht giddy about Banks’ selection with the No. 43 overall pick. He said Banks is “great against the big receivers,” who are a big growing part of the current NFL.

You can hear the whole audio below. Becht also reveals interesting research on fourth-round pick Akeem Spence and his feats of strength.

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Former Georgia CB Branden Smith is now in the mix

Like all breathing Bucs fans, Joe witnessed how painful the Bucs’ pass defense was last season. So despite the addition of rehabbing superstar Darrelle Revis, stud rookie Johnthan Banks, and the retention of unreliable Eric Wright, Joe still has a keen watch on the position.

Depth behind those top three includes Danny Gorrer, Leonard Johnson, Myron Lewis, James Rogers and Anthony Gaitor, so Joe sees a real opportunity for an undrafted free agent cornerback to win a roster spot.

Now Joe doesn’t get too dreamy about these undrafted guys, but Joe will methodically introduce readers to interesting prospects.

Georgia cornerback Branden Smith, signed by the Bucs over the weekend, has an interesting background, and that’s not because his weed arrest had a happy ending.

He ran a 4.38 40 yard dash time at his Pro Day, and the guy has returned kicks and punts, run the ball, and gotten low level SEC honors for his cornerback play. Keep in mind that after Banks was selected, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano were oozing respect and love for SEC cornerbacks.

Arizona State corner Deveron Carr, another new Bucs cornerback hopeful, seems a little less impressive.

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If defensive end Will Gholston can develop into a feared pass rusher, this Bucs draft could grade out tremendously.

Yes, it’s risky if not reckless to grade out a team’s draft just hours after the three-day affair is over. And while prickly Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com admits it’s best to wait three years to see how a team’s draft stacks up, he goes ahead and gives his readers what they want anyway: draft grades!

Prisco has been kind to the Bucs in the past with draft grades and continues his pattern, rating the Bucs draft as pretty good.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Best pick: Fourth-round defensive tackle Akeem Spence can step in and start next to Gerald McCoy. They stole him in the fourth round.

Questionable move: Trading their first-round pick to the Jets to get Darrelle Revis, who is coming off an ACL.

Third-day gem: Fourth-round defensive end William Gholston has a lot of ability, but didn’t always play to it. Can they get him to do that?

Analysis: If you count Revis, they had a nice draft. They also took corner Johnthan Banks in the second round for more corner help. Third-round pick Mike Glennon could be an indictment of Josh Freeman.

Grade: B+ (counts Revis)

It’s interesting that Prisco seems high on a couple of players from the hated Big Ten. Interesting.

As always, it’s most fair to wait three years before judging a draft class. Time will tell if Schiano will be able to develop the third-day picks into productive starters and role players.

The Bucs have yet to confirm their signings of undrafted free agent college players. However, below is a list issued by the NFL.

Now Joe is not a guy to get all excited about undrafted free agents and pretend there’s a superstar in the mix, although there could be.

Wyoming OL Nick Carlson
ASU CB Deveron Carr
Northern Michigan OT Jace Daniels
Pitt TE Hubie Graham
Mount Union WR Chris Denton
Temple/Boston College RB Montel Harris
USF TE Evan Landi
Miami OL Jeremy Lewis
Purdue QB Robert Marve
Northern Illinois CB Rashaan Melvin
UMass OT Nick Speller
Arizona FB Taimi Tutogi
Arkansas DE/LB Tenarius Wright
Rutgers WR Tim Wright
ASU OT Brice Schawb
Purdue RB Akrem Shavers
Georgia CB Branden Smith
Georgia Tech RB Orwin Smith

As the signings are confirmed by the Bucs, Joe will dive into the backgrounds of many of the players, talk to some at rookie minicamp, explore the organization’s interest, and bring you what Joe finds interesting.

Last year, Bucs fans saw the likes of Jordan Shipley, Arrelious Benn, Michael Smith, Roscoe Parrish, Sammie Stroughter, LeQuan Lewis and Preston Parker (preseason) return kicks and punts.

None were close to special, and Parrish remains a free agent and Smith, captain of the gameday inactive list, continues to be buried on the depth chart after yesterday’s drafting of University of Miami running back Michael James, the next Earnest Graham.

On Friday night, Greg Schiano was asked whether new cornerback Johnthan Banks might get a shot at returning, something he did a little bit of at Mississippi State. Schiano casually said everyone with ability will get a chance to tryout for those roles.

The Bucs’ failure to address the returner role is somewhat odd to Joe. Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Schiano often talk about their obsession with productivity on fourth down, in all phases. (And no, trading for track star Jeff Demps, who might not commit to football, doesn’t count.)

Micheal Spurlock returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns last year. Perhaps he’s worth a tryout.

Yesterday, Joe wrote about how the Bucs flushed their quality No. 2 running back depth down the toilet for 2013 when they needlessly traded LeGarrette Blount to the Patriots for the NFL equivalent of a box of Q-Tips.

The Bucs then turned around moments later and drafted versatile University of Miami running back Mike James. Somewhat ironically, James was compared to Earnest Graham by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik, who was given the “Insurance” nickname by Raheem Morris.

“What makes Mike so special is he can play on first, second, third and fourth down, very dependable, very trustworthy. And out of all the respect in the world, an Earnest Graham type of player,” Dominik said. “Because I loved Earnest Graham and what he did for this organization. Mike’s a bigger, taller guy than Earnest, but Mike is selfless like Earnest and can really do a lot of different things.”

Joe’s written countless times about how good running backs can be had late in the draft every year. Perhaps James is one of those guys. But it’s still a gamble that James could fill the shoes of Blount if Doug Martin were to get hurt this season, a season in which the Bucs expect to be contenders.

Joe can’t wait to see the differences, if any, between new Bucs nose tackle Akeem Spence and departed Roy Miller.

Last year, Greg Schiano raved about Miller and called him the “custom-built” nose tackle for the Buccaneers defense. Yesterday, Schiano was extremely fired up about Spence and says he’s “tailor-made” for Tampa Bay.

“We didn’t use that pick for him to watch,” Schiano said of Spence. “You know, we want him in the mix and competing. We think he’s tailor-made for what we do defensively. We really do. Like Mark [Dominik] said, we went to get him.”

On Spence, the guy the Bucs moved up for in the fourth round, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik confirmed he is “a tilt nose tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.” Dominik said the Bucs had Spence directly targeted and didn’t want to “miss or lose him” and called him a consistent force inside.

Will the Bucs be improved at nose tackle in 2013?

That might depend on how Schiano defines “custom-built” and “tailor made.”

The way University of Buffalo defensive end Steve Means, who was drafted by the Bucs yesterday, is built, it sure seems he would be an outside linebacker in the NFL.

He may be, but not for the Buccaneers.

After the 2013 draft came to a close yesterday, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and coach Greg Schiano spoke about the day’s drafts and both were clear: Means is staying at defensive end.

“He is going to be a defensive end where he lines up,” Schiano said. “He will have an opportunity to rush the passer.”

Dominik noted that he did additional research on Means and is convinced he can help the Bucs put pressure on the quarterback.

“He might be a little bit off of your radar but he was not off ours,” Dominik said. “We put a lot of time on him an put in a lot of resources on him and had a private workout with him. We believe he is a developing pss rusher. We think he has tremendous traits in that ability.

“Any chance you have to get a pass rusher, you don’t pass that up.”

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In a division packed with stud tight ends, the Bucs will ride the backs of tight ends Luke Stocker and newcomer Tom Crabtree, who caught 18 balls with the Packers over the past three seasons.

Joe sees this as a huge vote of confidence in Stocker, who was a Bucs fourth-round pick in 2011.

Stocker’s blocking has improved and he’s got a pair of hands. Yes, Joe’s also seen Stocker look bad and slow, especially in practice, and he’s no Pro Bowler. But Joe believes Stocker can be effective.

A bigger question is how much the Bucs have devalued the pass-catching tight end role in their offense, as was done for years by the Giants when Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan was there following Jeremy Shockey’s departure.

Joe realizes lots of his readers aren’t draft junkies keen on devouring endless information on Bucs draft picks.

So for those joining Joe for the first time this weekend. Here’s a recap:

The Bucs snagged stud Mississippi State cornerback Johnthan Banks last night in the second round, before scoring a quarterback, yes, a quarterback, in Round 3. That would be 6-7 Mike Glennon out of North Carolina State. Greg Schiano said he knew of him going back to his high school days, but the Bucs honchos insist Josh Freeman is “The Guy.”

Today, the Bucs moved up 12 spots in the fourth round to grab run-stuffing defensive takcle Akeem Spence out of Illinois and, with their other 4th round pick obtained from the Patriots in the trade for Aqib Talib, the Bucs drafted underachieving yet monstrous defensive end Williams Gholston out of Michigan State.

The fifth round brought defensive end Steven Means out of the University of Buffalo, then the Bucs traded LeGarrette Blount to the Patriots for a seventh-round pick and track star Jeff Demps, who may quit football.

The Blount trade opened the door for the Bucs to trade up in the sixth round to grab Miami tailback Mike James, who is rather Blount-like, but smaller and likely a better receiver.

Now you’re up to speed before the seventh round. And you’re welcome to surf around and read more on all the picks.

One knock, which Joe is convinced was overblown, on now former Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount, was that he couldn’t catch a pass out of the backfield.

That won’t be the case with new Bucs running back Mike James from Miami. One of James’ biggest skills was catching the ball, and he was not bashful about talking about this trait with the Bucs pen and mic club this afternoon when asked what his greatest virtue is.

“I am an excellent ball-catcher out of the backfield,” James said. “I am a one-and-cut-and-go player. I can line up anywhere and be a mismatch.”

James, the Bucs’ sixth-round pick, shared carries at “The U,” so he has no illusions of taking Doug Martin’s spot in the starting lineup. Rather, he hopes to make plays whenever Martin needs a break.

“I just want to be as valuable as an asset as I can be to help the team win more,” James said.

James seemed almost speechless being one step away from reaching virtually every young player’s dream: to make the NFL.

“I can’t explain, this is one of the best days of my life,” said the Polk County native, who grew up going to Bucs home games. “I’m happy to be a Buc, man. It’s a blessing.”

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Here are some highlights of new Bucs running back Mike James from “The U.”