One great mystery surrounding the Bucs’ 2013 draft plans is how a Darrelle Revis deal/no-deal factors in.

Yeah, one could say the Bucs will draft the best player available and/or they have so many needs on defense Revis won’t affect the draft, but that’s all dream-world talk. There’s no way the Bucs won’t be influenced by the state of the Revis union/non-union come three weeks from today at the NFL Draft.

Renowned Sirius NFL Radio host Pat Kirwan, who also coached Jets linebackers with Monte Kiffin and now works for CBSSports.com, believes he has the Bucs’ draft figured out in his latest mock draft for CBS. Kirwan says the New Schiano Order will stay focused on the trenches in the first round.

12. Miami Dolphins: Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State: Rhodes has a rare combination of height, long arms and skills to cover. Sean Smith is gone in Miami and Rhodes is a solid replacement.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ezekiel Ansah, DE, Brigham Young: The Bucs will think long and hard about a corner like Trufant and Rhodes if he was still on the board. Bucs head coach Greg Schiano watched the New York Giants closely when he was the head coach of Rutgers and he knows a defensive end with Ansah’s skills is always a solid pick. You can never have enough pass rushers in the NFL.

14. Carolina Panthers: Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah: The Panthers need to shore up the inside of their defensive line. Lotulelei is versatile and can play either nose or 3 tech. He has quickness to penetrate, and a burst to pursue.

Might the Bucs draft another DE with a premium draft pick, after snagging DaQuan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn just two years ago?

Joe would hardly be surprised, as Joe’s written previously. But the absence of any new cornerbacks bodies in free agency makes that less and likely by the hour.

As for Kirwan’s breakdown, in this scenario, Joe would prefer to see the Bucs bag Lotulelei, who might do more for the pass rush than John Abraham Ansah.

Intrigue is developing at One Buc Palace and it’s about Bucs fans favorite subject the past few weeks: cornerbacks.

Largely considered the top cornerback in the draft, Alabama’s Dee Milliner, had an extended long visit at One Buc Palace, notes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune by way of Ian Rappoport of NFL.com.

Milliner was scheduled to arrive at One Buc Palace on Wednesday evening and extended his visit through today, which is in an interesting development.

The Bucs are obviously in need of cornerback help, especially after passing on them so far in free agency, and this could be an indication they are willing to move up to get one – namely Milliner.

Of course, moving into range to get Milliner could require quite a leap. It may even require getting into the top five, because Cleveland, which picks sixth overall, is believed to be after cornerback help as well.

Now this could be viewed in several ways. It is highly unlikely, barring some unforeseen red flag only NFL teams know about that would allow Milliner to slip past Detroit, among other cornerback-needy teams. So on face value this sure smells like a smokescreen.

With the draft loaded through the first three rounds at cornerback, why would Bucs rock star general manager trade up for a corner when he likely could get just as good of a corner, such as Desmond Trufant or Xavier Rhodes?

More likely, as Dominik likes to say, it may just be the Bucs doing their due diligence just in case something crazy happens and Milliner falls.

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So get to Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa on Saturday for your chance to win!

Will Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik target Utah DT Star Lotulelei at No. 13 if the Bucs land Darrelle Revis?

Yes, cornerbacks, or a lack of them, is all the rage with Bucs fans. Joe gets this because he reads the angry comments each day.

If Bucs fans are not pining for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, they are up in arms because troubled Eric Wright remains on the Bucs roster, or they’re cursing at their favorite bartender because the Bucs haven’t signed a corner yet, any corner, even a mummy, just so they can rest easier at night.

Well, when Revis comes, says “The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN, the Bucs will get more help than just an All-Pro corner.

Clayton is convinced the Bucs will draft a defensive lineman at No. 13.

Q: I have a Tampa Bay question. I’ve been a fan ever since the late John McKay era. What is your gut feeling about Darrelle Revis to the Bucs? Do you think if Tampa doesn’t get Revis it would drop down to get DE Margus Hunt from SMU in the lower part of Round 1? The Bucs spent a long time interviewing him, and if they pick up another second-rounder do you think they would pick two CBs in Round 2 and another DL in Round 3?

George in Alba, Texas

A: I think they will end up getting Revis before the draft. They are the most logical team. They could trade a No. 1 pick and a mid-round pick to get him. They have the cap room to handle a new contract for Revis. It’s a great fit. The Bucs also need help along the defensive line. By keeping the first-round pick this year, the Bucs can get some help at either tackle or defensive end. I’m not sold a trade-down is the answer. Draft the best player possible.

This is interesting, but Joe doesn’t totally agree.

Even with Revis, Joe sees Dominik drafting a corner in the first round, though a defensive lineman at No. 13 wouldn’t knock Joe backwards.

The Bucs’ defensive line is razor thin thanks to the departure of Michael Bennett and Roy Miller, and banking of Da’Quan Bowers to be fully healthy this season and Adrian Clayborn recovering 100 percent from knee surgery is a gamble.

This “Draft War Room” segment from NFL Network is pretty compelling stuff.

A case is made that the Bucs should deal for Darrelle Revis, insist on keeping their 2013 first-round pick, and then select Florida State stud corner Xavier Rhodes to play opposite Revis. (It’s somewhat humorous hearing that discussion as NFL Network cameras focus on Leonard Johnson and Myron Lewis on the Bucs’ depth chart.)

Charles Davis, of NFL Network, also plays out a scenario that has the Bucs drafting pass-rushing defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson in the first round, who recently was featured on JoeBucsFanTV, and then drafting Boise State cornerback Jamar Taylor in the second round to play with Revis.

Imagine all that and Ronde Barber returning.

Be one of the first 5 people to like Festa Italiana sponsor Brandon AutoMall Fiat on Facebook and post on their Facebook page to receive a pair of free tickets to attend this wonderful event! Act now!

Sunday is the 16th annual Festa Italiana main event of the four-day celebration, in which a true taste of Italy arrives in historic Ybor City.

Taste the finest cuisine from over 30 of the Tampa Bay area’s best restaurants and caterers. Enjoy the premier entertainment on the main stage featuring some of the world’s top headliners. Experience the excitement from the Grape Stomping presentation, cooking demonstrations and contests. Festa’s Kidz Zone offers Italian costumed characters, children’s activities, amusement rides, magic shows, face painting and much more.

Yes, the Darrelle Revis to the Bucs chatter shows no signs of letting up, partially because at this time the Bucs have two moon craters roughly the size of the Grand Canyon at cornerback.

Bucs fans are anguished, upset, frustrated, nervous, angry, and fed up with seemingly no movement in sight — in their eyes — to try to fix one of the worst cornerbacks stables in NFL history, despite the draft around the corner and the regular season not kicking off for another four months.

Joe’s of the mind Bucs fans are so peeved a cornerback hasn’t been signed, they’d settle for a cripple so long as his first name isn’t “Myron.” Now there are fans out there who believe Darrelle Revis is not the answer. In fact, these same fans believe Revis alone is not a savior, and he can’t single-handedly put the Bucs in the playoffs.

The person who would have to get the team over the hump, even with Revis, said fans belelive, is Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.

One of these fans fired off an e-mail to 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.

RICK DOESN’T THINK REVIS IS WORTH TWO HIGH DRAFT PICKS. “Trading that much for Darrelle Revis is a bad idea. The Bucs are not one player away from winning it all. Revis has proven himself as a player more focused on his contract and he uses the media to push that agenda. Greg Schiano isn’t the type of coach to condone that. The Bucs are a young team. I am not sure Revis is the type of player you want mentoring your young players. I say one second-round pick and a contract worth no more than $9 million a year considering the current CB market would be a fair trade.”
— Rick, Providence.

That’s not going to get it done — either in compensation paid to the Jets, or contract paid to Revis. You may be right about the Bucs not being close. But I will say that they were playing well at the start of last year, and if Josh Freeman can be a B quarterback, they acquire Revis, and Revis stays healthy, there is no reason why Tampa Bay can’t win 10 games and be a playoff contender.

Though Joe wouldn’t lose too much sleep if the Bucs get Revis, coughing up two first round picks is a bit much.

As Joe has stated many times before, the Bucs are not one player from a Super Bowl, far from it. While Revis will surely help, Joe just cannot see the Bucs hoisting a Super Bowl trophy aloft in victory just because Revis is wearing pewter and red.

Will Revis help? Sure. Is he the answer? Not unless Freeman can prove his 2010 season was the norm.

If Captain Munnerlyn of the stinking Panthers is to believed, the reason why the Bucs have not signed a free agent cornerback, which has caused too many Bucs fans too many sleepless nights, is that Bucs rock star general manager is waiting on Jets general manager John Idzik to make a decision on whether to trade cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Bucs.

Munnerlyn appeared with Joe’s good friend, “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski, of WHFS-FM 98.7 to discuss the NFC South today. Munnerlyn admitted the Bucs contacted his agent “several times” and seemed serious about signing him but the Bucs, Munnerlyn thought, failed to close the deal because they are handcuffed by indecision from the Jets.

“I had six or seven teams [reach out],” Munnerlyn said. “I was waiting on Tampa too, but I think they are waiting on Darrelle Revis. [The Bucs] contacted me several times. Them and my agent were going back and forth but couldn’t get [anything] done. I guess they are waiting on Darrelle Revis.”

Munnerlyn claimed the Bucs were up front with his agent and claimed they were waiting to make a move at corner but were hesitant not knowing Revis’ status.

“I had made up my mind to stay in Carolina,” Munnerlyn said of signing with the stinking Panthers. “My heart is in Carolina.”

Munnerlyn broke down the Bucs defense and lauded safetes Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron, claiming they may be the best tandem in the NFL. He was not as complimentary about the Bucs’ corners saying, “I could come in and play right away” had he signed with the Bucs.

Also, Munnerlyn claimed Josh Freeman played “a lot smarter” than in 2011, Vincent Jackson changed the Bucs offense, and he said Greg Schiano “did a wonderful job” in his first year with the Bucs.

The entire Munnerlyn interview can be heard by clicking here.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

Very much a must-watch video below, in which Ronde Barber sits down with JP Peterson and talks a bit about the New Schiano Order’s unique and detailed ways and why they exist.

Barber believes they were necessary because they exposed Greg Schiano’s personality and every great team needs to reflect that from its head coach.

Also, Barber said he was impressed by how Schiano craved details and feedback from the entire roster.

“And to his credit, him and his staff, they met with every single player at the end of the year and they basically went through a checklist of things they can do better, things they did well, and got real feedback, not just, ‘I’m going to talk to my captains,’ Barber said. “They got feedback from 53 or 62 however many guys we had available at the end of the year on what they can do better. And I think that will help.”

Very interestingly, Barber was quick to say the Bucs’ offseason moves are a factor in his return. “Our competitiveness going into this year will weight into it. That’s for sure,” Barber said.

Joe noticed during the last two weeks that Bucs fans, seemingly out of nowhere, began pounding the drum to draft West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin.

Then Joe found out the genesis of this nonsense: it was another Todd McShay throw-feces-against-the-wall-without-any-research mock draft.

Austin was never going to happen, and now that the Bucs signed two receivers to compete with Tiquan Underwood for a slot position, Kevin Ogletree and, yesterday, ex-Giants Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith, that pretty much cements that this silly notion of the Bucs drafting Austin at No. 13 is dead.

Joe just doesn’t understand how thinking Bucs fans could ever come to the misguided conclusion that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik would draft Austin at No. 13. To do so would mean someone would have to sit.

So you’re Bucs coach Greg Schiano, who do you sit, Vincent Jackson, who the Bucs have a massive investment in, or new daddy Mike Williams, who has evolved into one of the best No. 2 receivers in the NFC? You’d have to sit one because no one with a sober mind would keep a No. 13 pick on the bench.

Go to a three-receiver set? Fat chance. The Bucs use a slot receiver as a part-time player. To scrap this offense means not only would Schiano likely have to jettison offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, but he’d have to limit the touches of one of the best young players in the NFL, the Muscle Hamster, Doug Martin, who by the way Team Glazer also has many, many Benjamins invested in.

Slicing Martin’s workload and scrapping a run-first offense simply makes zero sense.

Oh, and if the Bucs were to go to a three-receiver, pass-happy set, that means quarterback Josh Freeman would have to learn his fourth new offense in five years. Talk about needing a shrink!

The NFL is not a video game or fantasy football. Only Matt Millen drafted guys high in the first round at a position that was already stocked. How’d that turn out for him?

No, Austin is not coming to the Bucs. Never was. But, if so inclined, you may draft him for your fantasy team come August.

It seems as if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has addressed in some fashion every weakness this offseason, both real and perceived, on the Bucs roster but one.

That would be cornerback. This has positively driven Bucs fans bananas (which, in turn, has been great for sports websites and local sports radio). The inactivity by Dominik to address cornerback in free agency has, Joe is sure, meant brisk business for area shrinks.

Now there is a guy in the draft that may not be a quick fix at cornerback but could be a profitably long-term project, David Amerson from the college football hotbed of North Carolina State.

Amerson is a tease on some respects. He gets the combine crowd all worked up with his measurables. He’s big, tall and not exactly slow.

But then, you turn on the video and, egads, he can be toasty. This is why Amerson is intriguing. Yeah, he should have stayed in school another year. Are his failures on the field because he’s just way overrated or is it just bad coaching?

“Definitely the amount of touchdowns I gave up this season was disappointing,” Amerson told Joe and other pen and mic types at the NFL Combine. “Just the way I approached this season, not having the right mentality about it. I was just playing to get interceptions, trying to match the 13 [NCAA record]. I’ve definitely never been the type to point the finger. If I give up something, I’ll be the first to admit it. It’s just the way it is.”

Given the fact that cornerbacks of Amerson’s size don’t grow on trees, he’s worth a gamble, maybe not until the third day of the draft.

“It allows me to get my fingers on the ball sometimes when I’m not supposed to,” Amerson said of his height. “And as far as getting hands on receivers and making plays that a guy a little bit shorter than me probably couldn’t make, it definitely helps me.

“When you have receivers like Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, big, tall freaks of nature, you definitely need someone to match up against them. So that’s probably why bigger corners are more popular now.”

If Dominik is willing to roll the dice on Myron Lewis, why not Amerson and hope Bucs coach Greg Schiano, a former secondary coach himself, can mold him?

“Hopefully [NFL teams] see my good plays outweigh my bad,” Amerson said. “Whatever happens, happens. I can just go out here and perform to the best of my ability and show them what I can do as far as me being an athlete. Just see how it plays out.”

JoeBucsFan TV kicks it up a notch in this latest installment. Draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski talks big-name cornerbacks, small-name corners, dope smoking and more.

Stop watching American Idol re-runs and praying for a Stanford Routt signing. Enjoy some JoeBucsFanTV right now!

Who knew the Schiano edict of more competition would find its way so quickly to the Bucs’ receiving corps?

Per USA Today, the Bucs have come to terms with former Giants, Eagles and Rams receiver Steve Smith, who caught 107 balls for the Giants in 2009 and went to that season’s Pro Bowl. His position coach that season? Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan.

Smith has agreed to a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to a person informed of the progress of negotiations. The person, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the financial terms weren’t to be discussed publicly, said it’s for the veteran minimum of $840,000.

Joe’s not getting all hot in the pants about this signing. Smith, who turns 28 next month, did a whole lot of nothing in Philly and St. Louis the past two seasons outside of being banged up. Joe wonders if Smith still has the blazing, 4.3 speed that made him a second-round pick out of Southern Cal.

But what intrigues Joe are the Bucs’ moves to bolster depth in their receiving corps and force bigger competition among the ranks in the slot, adding veterans Smith and Kevin Ogletree to Tiquan Underwood, and jettisoning disappointing Arrelious Benn.

This also seems to be a sign that the Bucs will make some fans unhappy and not draft West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin with the 13th overall pick, if he’s even there for the taking.

Donald Penn has fought Jared Allen, dodged Aqib Talib swinging a deadly weapon at his head, fended off unsubstantiated cheap shots from the Tampa Bay Times and come out smiling and playing hard.

Penn is never one to shy away from confrontation. In fact, he embraces them on the football field.

For those yearning for tough-guy football talk, Penn delivered recently, via his Twitter account. Penn gave an inspiring Twitter welcome to the Bucs’ newest tight end, Tom Crabtree.

@DPenn70  – @TCrabtree83 welcome 2 the squad can’t wait 2 double the shit out these Lil DEs

It’s chatter like this that makes Joe yearn for a real football game.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

Two years ago, Joe’s corner of the interwebs nearly melted his server because Bucs fans almost tore down the gates of One Buc Palace to demand Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik sign corner Nnamdi Asomugha. That same year, nearly as many Bucs fans slammed their fists on their laptops wanting Dominink to draft Mark Ingram. Last season, some Bucs fans nearly gave themselves a stroke screaming for Trent Richardson.

Interestingly, all three have underwhelmed, though Richardson not so much for his running. He’s become a posterchild for the NFL taking yet another giant leap to powder puff football.

Joe finds it intriguing that, damn the facts, some Bucs fans are still determined to see Dominik land Asomugha, despite the Eagles cutting him loose after Asomugha stole money from them for the past two seasons.

Even Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune is getting tormented about Asomugha in a TBO Bucs Q&A.

Q: I am not that thrilled with the thought of giving up a first-rounder for Revis (or worse two of them). Too many unknowns with his injury. My question is why has there been no interest in Nnamdi Asomugha? Did Philly break his spirit?
– Richard Brown, Venice

A: The problem with Asomugha is that he’s 31 years old and he’s coming off what scouts say were two really crummy seasons. There’s a reason the Eagles let him go and why everyone else is laying off, too, and those issues are a big part of it. Price is the other concern.
— Woody Cummings

It’s pretty ballsy of Asomugha to be asking for the sun and moon from teams after he went John Dillinger on the Eagles. Joe’s just about convinced Asomugha is more interested in his acting and dancing career than he is playing in the NFL.

The only reason Joe would sign Asomugha is if he played for the NFL minimum with a contract loaded with incentives. If Asomugha doesn’t like it, he can go perform on Broadway —  or in one of those two-bit starving actor houses in St. Petersburg.

It may be opening day for the Rays, but draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski was up into the wee hours this morning pumping out his latest two-round mock draft for 987TheFan.com.

Joe’s highlighted an excerpt from the second round, where Pawlowski has the Bucs snatching their first cornerback of the draft. And Pawlowski reveals that the New Schiano Order is extra big on details like 40-yard-dash times and other minutiae. Whaddya know!

38. Arizona Cardinals – Tyler Bray – QB – Tennessee Commish’s Comments: A slight surprise here especially with the Cardinals recent moves at QB, but Bray has the arm strength to make the throws down the field which are necessary in Bruce Arians offense.

39. New York Jets – Eddie Lacy – RB – Alabama Commish’s Comments: Lacy is a powerful runner with very good vision.

40. Tennessee Titans – Alex Okafor – DE – Texas Commish’s Comments: The Titans need a defensive end that can get to the quarterback.

41. Buffalo Bills – Zack Ertz – TE – Stanford Commish’s Comments: While at Syracuse, head coach Doug Marrone always had dangerous tight ends.  Ertz can be that for him in the NFL.

42. Miami Dolphins – Kyle Long – OT – Oregon Commish’s Comments: Long is gaining momentum, but the chips just fell this way. He’d start at right tackle for the Dolphins.

43. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – David Amerson – CB – NC St. Commish’s Comments: I was debating with myself early in this process if Amerson would play safety or corner in the NFL.  There is no doubt that he has natural ability to play corner.  While his 2011 film is superb with 13 INTs, his play dropped off in 2012 as he was beat for many long touchdowns.  The assumption is that Amerson tried to duplicate his special year from 2011 and took far too many chances in 2012.  The natural talent is there. Amerson will need proper coaching on technique to help him reach his full potential.  The word I’m getting is that the Bucs are very big into measurables this year when drafting players.  Well, Amerson is 6’1” 205 lbs and ran a 4.44 40-yard dash.

It’s interesting that The Commish’s intelligence (he was part of the Buccaneers Radio Network in 2011) is telling him rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and the New Schiano Order are big into the “measurables” now.

Is that one reason Myron Lewis remains employed?

Lewis has more length and the same clocked speed as Amerson. Perhaps Schiano believes Lewis really can be resurrected with proper coaching.

Lord do the Bucs need cornerbacks. Joe’s pretty certain a man dying of thirst stuck in the Mohave doesn’t need water as much as the Bucs need corners.

Joe is pretty convinced the Bucs will draft at least two,  and one corner that intrigues Joe is Blidi Wreh-Wilson of UConn.

No, UConn is not the SEC. Hell, it’s not even the Big Ten. Wreh-Wilson has Joe’s eye because he is one of the top corners in the draft, maybe a third-round pick, but he seems to have a high ceiling.

Wreh-Wilson is 6-1 and has limited football experience having played soccer. But he told Joe and the rest of the pen and mic club at the NFL Combine that soccer gave him great footwork and his athleticism enables him to play all sorts of different coverages.

“I played soccer from the time I was 5 until my junior year,” Wreh-Wilson said. “I played football in sixth, seventh, eighth grade, and I made the final transition my senior year from soccer to football. I played — freshman, sophomore, junior year soccer. I was little bit smaller, so my dad was kind of wary on the football thing, and he was kind of worried about my safety. But I made a decision I wanted to play football and he was all for it.”

Wreh-Wilson credits soccer with his ability to hang with receivers.

It has helped a “lot. Yeah, a lot,” Wreh-Wilson said. “The body control, the footwork — a lot of things like that transferred. You don’t use your feet really in football. You can’t kick anyone, so I guess I’d have an advantage on people if you could do that.”

Wreh-Wilson’s size has really been an attribute.

“You’ ve got to know when to strike, because those guys are going to be bigger than you and they’re going to run into you and things like that,” Wreh-Wilson said. “If you’re getting caught up in that, you might take yourself out of position. So you’ve got to know the right timing, the right placement and how to be crafty with your style of play.”

You know what is really interesting about Wreh-Wilson? It’s who he patterns his play after.

“I base my game off Darrelle Revis,” he said. “The same techniques he uses we used at UConn. We watched a lot of his film.”

And we all know how much Bucs coach Greg Schiano likes Big East players. Just something to think about in about three weeks.

The Rutgers running back/fullback who starred in Ray Rice’s shadow, Brian Leonard, will wear a Bucs uniform, so reports beat writer Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

Leonard was a second-round pick of the Rams in 2007, and he was used there as a complement to Steven Jackson before getting traded to the Bengals in 2009. Leonard, 29, is versatile. He has 113 career catches and 174 carries with just one fumble. He’s been a third-down back, a fullback, and a short-yardage back.

Joe wonders whether the New Schiano Order is preparing to oust LeGarrette Blount. However, Joe suspects D.J. Ware’s roster spot is far more vulnerable.

Joe is asked this all the time and Joe just cannot figure out why so many Bucs fans have a fetish for cornerback Mike Jenkins, who is nearly as allergic to tackling as Joe is to peanuts.

The former Cowboys corner is on the open market for good reason but rarely does a day go by that Joe isn’t asked about the guy?

Why, is Stanford Routt not good enough?

It seems Joe is not the only media member covering the Bucs who is pestered about Jenkins. So too was Woody Cummings in a recent TBO Bucs Q&A.

Q: I do think that the Bucs will be able to eventually get a Revis deal done before the draft takes place in April. How do you feel about pairing him with Mike Jenkins? He did go to USF and people forget that he was injured the year before the Cowboys drafted Claiborne, and he was becoming one of the better corners in the NFC.

— Keith, Baltimore

A: I think the Bucs would like to pair Revis with a young corner but not necessarily Mike Jenkins. My guess is they’d rather pair him with someone they pick up in this year’s draft, so I would look for that to happen before I’d look for them to go after Jenkins.

— Woody Cummings

Look, there is a reason last year the Cowboys went out and signed a top free agent corner available, and then drafted a corner in the first round. Jenkins, to be polite, is a terrible tackler. Though the infamous video has been scrubbed from YouTube, it was a play in a close game when Jenkins pulled up rather than attempt a tackle short of the goal line. As one can imagine, Cowboys fans erupted in outrage.

There are other soft-tackling attempts Jenkins has been guilty of that can be found on YouTube, including an excellent anti-Jenkins rant from a Cowboys fan, replete with Jenkins routinely getting toasted with evidence from said Cowboys fan.

No, there’s a reason Jenkins is still looking for work. And Bucs coach Greg Schiano’s cardinal sin is not tackling.

Unless Schiano suddenly doesn’t care about tackling, or is beyond desperate for a corner, don’t expect Jenkins to be missing tackles on the field of the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

“Keep calm.”

Bucs icon Derrick Brooks is perhaps the only guy who should/could say Lavonte David is a more impressive young weakside linebacker than he was.

And that’s exactly what Brooks said late last week on WDAE-AM 620.

“I’m very surprised that he stepped up as early as he did,” Brooks said of David. “And I shared with him in numerous conversations last season about how far ahead at this point in his career that he is than where I was. He was calling signals. He didn’t come off the field. My rookie year I didn’t call the signals. I didn’t say anything, and I didn’t play on third down as much. But he played every snap of defense and that was a lot put on him.”

Brooks went on to say he expects David to continue as the Bucs’ premier playmaker on the Bucs’ front seven.

The Bucs hit a triple in the draft last year, with David, Mark Barron and Doug Martin. Joe would settle for a double this year. A new pair of hardcore rookie talents on the Bucs would make them downright scary.