The sweet, early smells of the NFL Draft are in the air, and that means it’s Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski’s time of year.

Have you lost track of the The Commish, Joe’s go-to local draft guru? Well, as of Monday, he’s been getting after all things Bucs and NFL and more from 9 a.m. to noon on 98.7 FM, flanked by Tampa Bay Times columnist Gary Shelton.

Yesterday, The Commish interviewed former Bucs secondary coach Ron Cooper, something Joe will bring you a take from later. You can click the link above to listen to The Commish live.

The 2012 NFL season wrapped up just a couple of days ago, so of course it is time to look ahead to 2013, something Joe has been doing for a few weeks now.

Sure, San Francisco is a favorite to contend for the Super Bowl they nearly won Sunday. But when Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com decided to put fingers to keyboard, he thought of other teams fans should watch outside of the Niners, the Dixie Chicks and a few other obvious teams.

Schrager believes the Bucs are a top sleeper fans will overlook for 2013.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Baby Bucs showed real signs in 2012 and should be better in 2013. Quarterback Josh Freeman is entering his crucial fifth year and he has real weapons in Doug Martin, Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. The defense is rich with young talent and should improve next year. The NFC South is loaded with good teams, but the Bucs could shake things up.

Yes, the defense should improve. The Bucs, barring an unforeseen injury, should be healthy up front for the first time in years. It is the secondary that needs a major upgrade and there is nothing to suggest Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will not address that.

In Joe’s eyes, the Bucs’ playoff chances come down to two areas: Josh Freeman’s consistency and significant improvement in the secondary.

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Joe’s among the legions of Bucs fans on edge hoping Ronde Barber will return for the 2013 season. But Joe was a bit surprised recently to hear Barber say he’s unsure whether he’s in the Bucs’ plans.

One would think the New Schiano Order already would have expressed to Barber a desire for his return, even if they were waiting a while to get into details.

Barber opened up during an interview on WFAN-AM before the Super Bowl.

“I don’t know how many I could play. I honestly don’t know how many I will play,” Barber said. “I’ve been in a very fortunate situation here in Tampa that I have a GM now, and really a coach going all the way back to Raheem and now with Greg, that’s I think going to let me make the decision. You know, we’ll sit down here in another month or so after they decide what they want to do and we’ll have a pretty frank discussion about my future, and whether or not I fit in. And if I do, if I’m willing to continue to go. And it’s been that way for three years so I imagine it will be the same when we sit down and try to hammer out my future with the team.”

Joe hopes it’s a smooth situation that leads to Barber’s return at the end of the month, per Barber’s stated timeline.

Forgetting about everything the Bucs icon represents, Barber’s still a good, durable football player who’s important in the locker room.

You can listen to the entire interview below.

In the eyes of some Bucs fans, the second coming of Dick “Night Train” Lane, helmet-wielding, cabbie-punching, Adderall-popping cornerback Aqib Talib, is still a sore spot.

They mock Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for only getting a fourth round pick in a swap with Bill Belicheat. Joe, meanwhile, considers that a borderline robbery of Belicheat as the Bucs were going to wash their hands of Talib anyway. So why not get a good draft pick for him?

(Remember how Dominik wheeled and dealed last spring using lesser draft picks to trade up for the likes of Doug Martin and Lavonte David?)

Well, it seems word is coming out of New England (or is it a negotiating plant by Belicheat?) says the Patriots don’t trust Talib to sign him to a long-term deal and may let him walk?

That’s what Comcast New England reported.

A source with knowledge of the situation told Comcast SportsNet’s Mike Giardi that, while Aqib Talib displayed no behavioral problems during his time with the Patriots, the team has enough concerns over his work ethic to be somewhat reluctant to offer the star cornerback a multiyear contract.

According to the source, Talib passed on the chance to do extra work at times this year and there are questions as to how he’d handle a long-term deal. The Pats, said the source, would prefer to sign Talib to a one-year, make-good contract.

Why, Joe cannot imagine how any team could not trust this modern day Mel Blount? Just like with the Bucs, Talib was not available when the Patriots needed him most.

It is also very odd to Joe to hear that Talib was such a treasure — by listening to some Bucs fans —  even though the Bucs had a winning record without his services the past three years. How could that be?

No, this move to let Talib go for a middle-round pick was a very wise move by Dominik.

First ballot Hall of Famer Warren Sapp was humble during many interviews immediately after earning the necessary votes for the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class on Saturday. But it seems that Sapp is now back to his true, trash-talking self.

This morning on WDAE-AM 620, Sapp responded to a question about whether it was ever a doubt he would be a first-ballot selection.

Sapp answered, “Absolutely.” But he went on to explain that it was never a question between him and another first-time finalist, Giants DE Michael Strahan, who didn’t get elected.

“Say if I rewind this to Saturday at 12 o’clock me and you are sitting and I say, ‘It breaks down whatever and whatever and then you have Michael Strahan and me. C’mon, the menace and the media darling,'” Sapp said. “C’mon. Madness, or Good Morning America? I mean, c’mon.”

Joe really enjoyed Sapp beating out Strahan. Stories out of New York leading up to Saturday’s vote were calling Strahan a “shoo-in.” Not quite.

Sapp also went on to say Simeon Rice deserves to be enshrined in Canton, and Sapp got choked up sharing the irony of his “momma’s house” in Florida being 999 miles from George Halas Drive in Canton.

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One of the biggest movers and shakers in the NFL media business, Vic Carucci, gave Joe a few moments at Media Day lasts week to talk Bucs. You know Carucci from his days as the senior editor and columnist at NFL.com and his weekend (and sometimes weeknights) shows on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Currently, Carucci is senior editor for ClevelandBrowns.com, writing columns, features and hosting a daily podcast/webcast show during the season from the site.

JoeBucsFan: Your impressions of Greg Schiano’s first year with the Bucs?

Vic Carucci: I think he had, really, an impressive first year for a guy coming from the collegiate ranks where, you know, in regard to the transition to the NFL it is really more of a challenge because you are operating – and even though he had some previous NFL exposure – you operate at a whole different level for dealing with players and the day to day challenges an NFL coach faces. I think after than initial sense of, “OK, what is this college guy going to do?” he found his comfort level, and once the players got to know him better, and he got to know them, I think the whole thing turned into a positive direction. He looks like after one year, you have that sense he can build upon that.

Joe: You think Mark Dominik was a trendsetter in a sense? It seems now, the floodgates to hiring college coaches is wide open.

Carucci: That was interesting, wasn’t it? Mark is such a bright and brilliant general manager and I think he has always seen the big picture pretty well in the league. Yeah, there might be a bit of a sense that he is ahead of the curve. But I think you are judging — there is no magic in saying, “former college coach is going to be a great NFL coach.” What it is, is identifying the right man for the job, the qualities and I think that is what Mark focused on. What was Greg made of as a person and as a leader, as a guy who commands respect? What is his vision for the football team, understanding the things he is bringing to the table applies to the talent he has or to what they need to build going forward?

Joe: Tim Brown came out with some very provocative statements about how Bill Callahan sabotaged the Super Bowl 10 years ago to help out his friend Jon Gruden. Are you surprised that given it (was) Sup9er Bowl week, with the time off just after the championship games, that the image-conscious NFL didn’t stomp this out and come out with a statement saying it was BS? If Brown is accurate – which sure appears to be preposterous from all angles – this is a terrible scandal.

Carucci: First off, I truly have no sense of [Brown’s statements’] merits. I don’t put anything into it. These guys are competitors and you lose a game, sometimes it can linger a long time. As another NFL player told me in regards to Brown’s comments, he said, that is what happens. Guys get very bitter about these losses and carry it with them in their gut for a long time. I don’t presume to know what prompted [Brown] to make those comments and accusations. I don’t put any credence it in and as far as the timing, I have no idea.

Joe: The craziest thing about the statements is that Brown got a lot of play with them over a year after Al Davis passes. As hands on as Davis was, changing a gameplan two days before the Super Bowl would have to pass his desk first.

Carucci: Yeah, that just doesn’t wash.

It was interesting that just hours after the 2012 season ended, Bucs coach Greg Schiano made such a fuss about competition, that every Bucs position must have some competition.

On face value, who can argue? Often, to get the best out of someone, said worker has to be pushed a little or have the fear of God put in them a lot.

With the hiring of Dave Wannstedt as special teams coach, Joe wonders if this same philosophy of competition extends to Schiano’s coaching staff?

As Joe pointed out yesterday, surely Schiano didn’t hire Wannstedt to just be a special teams coach; Schiano will lean at least a little bit on all the experience Wannstedt has at coaching defense.

Now Joe knows that some fans were — and are — outraged at defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan for the sieve that was the Bucs secondary. Yes, while Sheridan is responsible for the defense, one cannot nor should not overlook at how solid the rush defense was under Sheridan, as well.

If Sheridan is to be dinged for the bad, then he should also be patted on the back and lauded for the good in the spirit of fairness, and that rush defense was damned good. So Joe was not among the loud voices screaming for Sheridan’s demise.

Let’s say, heaven forbid, the Bucs secondary, even with an upgrade in talent sure to come this offseason, is still at the very bottom of the NFL in passing yards allowed, then would Schiano decide to plug in his old mentor Wannstedt at defensive coordinator and let Sheridan walk away?

It is just interesting that Schiano is all about competition at every level and he just hired a coach with decades of experience on the defensive side of the ball to be a lowly special teams coach.

If competition is good for players, is it also good for assistant coaches?

It seems former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland is troubled by a Bucs starting quarterback posing as former pop icon Michael Jackson.

The photo was leaked by — who else? — the four-letter. Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman posed for a photo portraying a former pop star of both questionable character and a background of fighting legal charges of disturbing personal behavior.

Throw in the fact that posing for this photo took place during Freeman’s four-game freefall when the Bucs went from playoff contenders to watching the postseason from the couch, Joe’s not surprised the four-letter leaking the photo got Bucs fans talking.

Among them is McFarland.

A two-time Super Bowl winner, McFarland briefly touched upon this subject during his daily “Five at Five” segment heard locally on the show he co-hosts, “Booger and Rich,” on WHFS-FM 98.7.

“Well, I happen to look and I saw Josh Freeman. At first, I thought it was Michael Jackson. Freeman is posing for ESPN the Magazine in their throwback edition soon to be on newsstands; he is posing as Michael Jackson. And I got to say, at first glance, he sort of looks like a young Michael Jackson. Seems to me Josh Freeman has a lot of time on his hands when you can pose as Michael Jackson on the heels of what Joe Flacco just did. I think everybody today is wondering — think in the back of your mind, come on, work with me — tell me you are not thinking in the back of your mind, ‘Joe Flacco did it. How come Josh Freeman can’t? Why can’t he go from suspect to MVP and champion?’ Mmm… maybe Michael Jackson knows?”

First off, let Joe be clear: Freeman posed for this photo during his four-game December freefall, not in the past few days.

Joe blames this more on BSPN than anyone else. Why the hell were the slick suits trying to get any athlete to pose as this weirdo? What, no one wanted to pose as Roman Polanski?

Yes, Josh is allowed to do whatever he wants on his own free time. But when you are a starting NFL quarterback, there are consequences for your choices that normal Americans do not have, good bad or indifferent.

This sort of reminds Joe of when Tony Romo and his then girlfriend (now wife) Candice Crawford jetted off for a weekend of thrashing between the sheets and sun and fun in Mexico while he and the Cowboys were struggling.

The city of Dallas nearly had an ice storm! And Romo didn’t even pose as an (alleged) pedophile.

Shame on BSPN for trying to set up any athlete like this!

Joe knows every Buccaneer has a right to personal time, especially on his day off, but what Josh Freeman did on Tuesday, Dec. 4, doesn’t smell good to Joe.

As part of a new BSPN The Magazine feature on athletes playing runway models and re-creating classic album covers, Josh Freeman, in the midst of his 2012 freefall, posed for the photo below on that day, per BSPN.

Joe gets that this was done in the name of art and publicity, but do Bucs fans and the New Schiano Order really want the face of the franchise out there honoring controversial Michael Jackson like this during a playoff chase?

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Joe has no doubt Greg Schiano wanted Dave Wannstedt in town to not just coach special teams but to be another defensive voice in game planning.

Wannstedt has yet to talk to Tampa Bay media about his somewhat bizarre — for him — new role in Tampa. But before scoring the Bucs job, Wannstedt spoke to “Miller and Moulton” on 770 AM in Fort Myers and dove deep into interesting Xs and Os relating to his defensive philosophies on rushing the passer and cornerback play, two things the Bucs need desperately.

What made Joe cringe in the audio (hear below) is Wannstedt embracing the three-man rush, which doomed the Bucs against the Saints this season in Tampa, and at other times.

“You cover the great ones and you rush the ones that aren’t as experienced or aren’t as good,” Wannstedt said, referring to his philosophy on stopping quarterbacks.

Wannstedt went to explain how his Bills defense stifled Tom Brady that way but still lost.

However, even Schiano admitted the Bucs underestimated Drew Brees’ ability to be patient against a three-man rush. And frankly, the Bucs in recent years have not had any success with that worthless three-man rush.

Joe’s just no fan of Wannstedt’s defensive brain joining the Bucs.

You can hear the audio below. It’s very interesting stuff, especially for those who crave Xs and Os. Wannstedt delves into how teams will stop the read-option next season, and how he’s got a home base in Naples (likely part of the reason he came to Tampa.)

“Don’t worry, Cam. Mike Shula will fix it. “

Joe must confess. Joe remains in a state of stunned disbelief that Mike Shula, a man who tortured Bucs fans alongside Shula cheerleader Tony Dungy for four seasons, again has an offensive coordinator job in the NFL. Joe can’t believe Carolina tagged stale Shula as the guy to take Cam Newton to a new level.

For those who claim the NFL is not doing enough to interview and consider minority coaches for coordinator jobs, Shula being named OC in Carolina should be exhibit A in their case.

So it was with that fascination/disbelief surrounding the Shula hire — and Joe’s interest in all things NFC South — that Joe chose to listen to Newton’s interview on WFAN-AM out of New York with host Mike Francesa last week.

Newton didn’t mention Shula once (interesting), but he did question the Panthers effort, which really caught Joe’s ear.

“Consistency is the word that I feel like I could have been a little bit better at. And maybe I’m critiquing myself to perfection, but that’s what you have to do when you’re trying to be great,” Newton said. “So, you know, as I’m going back and watching the film of different things and different games, and I just feel as if, you know, if the whole team had the aspect or the mental thought of, ‘Just a little bit more,’ we would have won a couple of more games.”

So Newton reviewed the season and figured out the entire Panthers team didn’t give all they had. This left Joe encouraged by the state of the Bucs versus the state of the biggest division rival.

Don’t blame Joe for this. The esteemed Dallas Morning News has been pushing Cowboys fans to reveal how they feel about Tony Romo versus other quarterbacks around the NFL. Sunday was Josh Freeman’s turn, and the results wouldn’t surprise former Cowboys architect Gil Brandt, who’s no fan of Freeman.

The question posed to Cowboys fans was, “Would you rather have Tony Romo or Josh Freeman as your team’s QB? Of the 13 QBs head-to-head against Romo in this survey, Freeman had 10 other QBs land more votes.

Freeman got 26.36 percent of the vote as of this morning, a tiny bit better than Matt Schaub and Jay Cutler fared.

Of course, this doesn’t mean squat. But perception of Freeman across the NFL does factor into his value when/if the Bucs decide to re-sign him.

Who would Joe choose if he needed a QB for, say, only one game? Romo’s career record, 55-38, makes that an easy answer.

Joe’s previously speculated that the Bucs might target multiple second-tier, starter-caliber cornerbacks when the free agency dinner bell rings in March, rather than go after a big fish, such as Brent Grimes.

Watching the Super Bowl yesterday, Joe wondered whether Ravens starting cornerback Cary Williams might be one of those guys.

Williams, 28, has been a two-year starter in Baltimore, working his way up the ranks after getting drafted in the seventh round by the Titans in 2008.

He’ll be an unrestricted free agent, and clearly the guy can play. And, to use the overused expression, “he knows what it looks like” when it comes to winning, physical football and high standards.

The Baltimore Sun has written a lot about how the Ravens are in salary cap hell, worsened yesterday by Joe Flacco’s performance. Baltimore likely will have to use the “exclusive” franchise tag to get Flacco back for 2013, a move that would cost them more than $20 million, so reported ProFootballTalk.com last week.

Williams was suspended for two games in 2010 for a secretive family matter when he was with the Titans, and the football world saw his fighting temper against the Niners yesterday. But Joe wouldn’t mind seeing the Bucs have a little more edge to them, assuming Bucs’ research on Williams doesn’t reveal a bad guy.

Regardless, Joe’s confident Eric Wright will be cut soon and the Bucs will be shopping for proven upgrades. Williams, a Florida native, definitely is a name to watch.

Joe’s been making important technical changes around here that will be finished late tonight. Yeah! There might be a brief outage in the wee hours, but Joe is not planning on it.

Just a heads up. Joe doesn’t want anyone to think he finally hooked up with Rachel Watson and left town in ecstasy.

Much like Super Bowl champion Ray Rice, Doug Martin proved last season that he’s a true bell cow running back. And Martin doesn’t cough up the ball like Rice.

Beastly Bucs guard Davin Joseph saw Martin do it all from the sidelines, but Joseph wants two backs to carry the load, so he told Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620 last week.

“When he’s such a gamechanger like that, you just got to get the ball in his hands,” Joseph said of Martin. “In my opinion, I think we really need a complement back, but he’s a guy that he don’t have to really run the ball as much. He can also catch the ball out of the backfield, run the screen game really good. And he can just be an all-purpose kind of back that can really change the game for us. “

This was very interesting to Joe because last summer Joseph said LeGarrette Blount was his favorite running back. Perhaps Joseph wants to see more of Blount? Or perhaps Joseph is envisioning a new running back in the mix? That was unclear.

With Rice in his prime, the Ravens went out and invested a third-round pick in RB Bernard Pierce last season and gave him 108 carries during the 2012 regular season, plus a big load in the playoffs. Might the Bucs follow the same model, given their apparent lack of confidence in Michael Smith and Blount?

Joe can’t argue with Joseph’s take. Martin can’t be pounded forever, and a complementary back, if successful, will present additional problems for a defense.

Joe thinks Blount could be that guy. But if the Bucs opt for a different backup in 2013, they’re still going to have to give the guy carries to make it work.

It seems even before free agency starts and the combine hits, Bucs rock general manager Mark Dominik has been busy. If the way one former Bucs player who wears Super Bowl bling is seeing Dominik work, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman should be very concerned.

Yes, we all know Bucs coach Greg Schiano said Freeman, who battles with inconsistency, needs competition. Whether that means a potential starting quarterback will be brought in to push Freeman or that’s an upgrade as a backup quarterback, that remains to be seen.

But it’s the unspoken about is what has former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland raising an eyebrow. Just recently, Vincent Jackson had his contract reworked, largely to free up some spending cash. Now, fellow receiver Mike Williams looks like he will have his contract reworked.

These moves, McFarland said on the show he co-hosts with Rich Herrera on WHFS-FM 98.7, are strongly coded messages that it is time for Freeman to fish or cut bait, so he said in his daily “Five at Five” segment.

“Well, Mike Williams, is up for a contract, so say the Buccaneers, they will give Mike Williams a new contract. Won’t be what Vincent Jackson has, maybe half that. If you are Josh Freeman siting across the locker room, there is a receiver – two receivers – who depend on you to get them the ball and they are both getting new deals. Not sure how you feel Josh Freeman but I know how I feel. I tell you what, I feel that you better play better or that feeling you feel now, you will feel that somewhere else.”

At least on face value, this sort of makes sense. Normally the Bucs were talking about how they had to have cash stowed away under the salary cap to make room for Josh Freeman’s contract, which will be/would be hefty.

Joe doesn’t hear that much talk about Freeman contract of late. Just guessing and this is nothing more than a hunch, but this coming season not only will answer where Freeman will be living in the near future, but also just how rich of a young man Freeman will become.

Bucs Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin was trying to relax amid the chaos of Super Bowl week in New Orleans, but the NFL and others were putting Martin to work on radio row where Martin dropped Friday by to talk to Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620.

Duemig asked Martin how he was able to manage going through the dreaded rookie wall last year and Martin, as he said several times during the season, he had yet to hit that wall. But he also told Duemig not to dismiss the wall. Whiile he wasn’t affected, it does exist and can flatten other rookies.

“It is such a long season for rookies,” Martin said. “You have to train for the Senior Bowl and then the combine and after that pro days and then fly all around for the [private] visits [and workouts with individual NFL teams] and it is stressful on your body.

“And then you have to play a whole season of NFL football.”

When the Bucs hired Greg Schiano as head coach and subsequently drafted Martin, the Boise State product said he started doing research on how Schiano uses running backs and found he likes to have one guy carry the water.

Having an advance understanding of what to expect helped him psychologically get ready for the NFL season, Martin said. “I kind of expected it. I was ready for it mentally.”

To hear the entire interview, click on the little button below.

Earlier this year when the Bucs honored the lone Super Bowl-winning team, Joe had a chance to talk to safety Dwight Smith, who very easily could have been Super Bowl MVP when he had two pick sixes, a 44-yard and a 50-yard interception return. Joe decided to hold the interview until today, Super Bowl Sunday, as well back as the greatest Bucs team of all time, 10 years removed. Though his NFL career is over, Smith still lives in the Tampa Bay area.

Dwight Smith: It’s been good. The coolest thing about it is getting to see guys who you haven’t seen in a long time. That is the coolest part.

JoeBucsFan: If the NFL wasn’t in such a hurry to crown an MVP, not to take away from [the good] Dexter Jackson, but you could have gotten some hardware. Two pick-sixes? That’s hard to overlook.

Smith: Well, the last interception came so late, I always tell people if my second interception came when Derrick’s came, well you know, who knows who would have held that trophy? But I was happy for Dexter all the same.

Joe: Earlier, Monte Kiffin had said that in the NFC Championship against the Eagles, when Ronde Barber had his pick-six to seal the game, his biggest problem was getting the defense calmed down to get back on the field because the Bucs had to kick off right away. What was that feeling like for you when Barber crossed the goal line and ended the game, sending you to the Super Bowl?

Smith: It is always tough when you score a defensive touchdown to get back in transition to play defense again. But when you had veteran leadership like we had, they made us snap back into focus. It was good.

Joe: Looking back, how special was that defense?

Smith: NFL Network has us ranked No. 8. So when you think of all the defenses that played in this league forever, and they have us ranked No. 8? I will take that.

Joe: The way your defense played in that Super Bowl, it was like a snowball rolling down the hill. When you look back on it, was the play in that defense in that game, against that offense the Raiders had something really special?

Smith: The thing was, we had a few dips. New Orleans beat us twice that year. But the veteran leadership kept us focused, we were steady as a rock and we came up with the phrase, “Pound the Rock.” And we pounded that rock.

Last night, Hall of Fame elected Warren Sapp appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio to discuss his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame just minutes earlier.

Sapp, as one can imagine, was giddy, boasting how his daughter Mercedes would be his presenter in Canton this ,summer.

But then, Sapp grew reflective if not wistful. He admitted to co-hosts Howard Balzer (a voting member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) and Gil Brandt, that he doubted whether he was going to be elected yesterday because of his often rude, hostile attitude towards reporters, and he wondered if his act would, in turn, bite him.

In sort of a regretful tone, Sapp explained his often incorrigible ways with many reporters.

“In 13 years in the locker room I never once shook a reporter’s hand,” Sapp said. “I figured you were going to get your information either way so I didn’t have to be your friend.

“Oh, I was ornery, no doubt about it.”

Also last night, Jamie Dukes of the NFL Network lashed out at Pro Football Hall of Fame voters claiming there was a grudge between Charles Haley and former NFL beat writers. In many respects Hailey was the precursor to Sapp where media relations were concerned, in some cases worse.

Joe has only one question for Dukes: If reporters truly hold a grudge, how did Sapp get in on his first trip to the plate?

Lavonte David had the second-most solo tackles in the NFL last season, and the most by a rookie. Plus, he made his team’s defensive calls from Day 1, and he was among the best in the NFL at tackles for a loss while being a force on the league’s No. 1 run defense.

David also managed a couple of sacks and a pick and played on all three downs.

So Joe was stunned to see David squeak into fifth place in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting unveiled last night. Deserving Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly won the award. However, David finished behind Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, Packers cornerback Casey Hayward and Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins, respectively.

For Joe, it was a travesty that the Associated Press team of writer voters gave Wagner 11 votes to David’s two.

Unlike David, Wagner did not make his team’s defensive calls all season, and he was off the field in passing situations for a chunk of the year. And Wagner didn’t have David’s solo tackle numbers. Wagner was a stud rookie, but it’s nothing more than ignorance that would have led a writer to vote for Wagner over David.

Joe suspects the horrendous Bucs’ pass defense numbers, combined with Seattle being a winning team, led to David losing the perception game among national writers who hardly studying rookies intricately. Regardless, that doesn’t take away from David getting disrespected.