As Joe engages in intense internal debate about whether to guzzle drafts or bottles tonight, Joe is listening to a recent interview of defensive end Michael Bennett on WhatTheBuc.net.

He of the explosive get-off, Bennett shared a few nuggets Joe found intriguing.

First, Bennett flashed a down-to-earth perspective on the D-line. Asked what he was working on to improve this offseason, Bennett said he’s focused on all phases of his game because he needs work on everything and his teammates should be doing the same.

“Obviously, the stats that we had last year shows that none of us really did anything good,” Bennett said.

Bennett went on to say he looked forward to “when Coach Millard comes in and shows us and gives us a chance to harness our talents.” Joe looks forward to Millard working his magic, too. And, lest he not be forgotten, the other new D-line coach Grady Stretz will be in the mix.

Bennett also said he’s down to 265 pounds. Why? To be ready for “a more a fast paced, fast type of defense like the old Tampa front, so it’s not going to be big and heavy and holding up like we did last year.”

On Brian Price, Bennett was upbeat, saying he talked to Price and felt good about seeing him on the field.

Asked to name standout leaders at the Bucs minicamp in Bradenton, the man who replaced Stylez White late last season singled out E.J. Biggers and Aqib Talib.

Joe’s been a big fan of Bennett, and Tim Crowder, too. Just a couple young guys with a pile of intangibles and potential.

Got 10 minutes? Go back and read former Bucs DE Steve White’s take on Bennett. Joe guarantees it’ll fire you up.

Regular readers of Joe know he pretty much ignores covering anything related to the lockout, other than acknowledging its asinine existence and the hatchetman comissioner that presides over the whole mess.

However, that doesn’t mean Joe isn’t up on what’s happening. So Joe knows very well that signs from all kinds of NFL sources now point to an end to the lockout in a matter of hours. And Joe suspects from the massive traffic numbers on this site yesterday loads of Bucs fans are feeling the excitement and ready to immerse themselves into one of the most interesting Bucs seasons in years.

Joe certainly is.

A quick look at Joe’s calendar shows Bucs training camp was (is?) scheduled to kick off in exactly two weeks, with the first preseason game just four weeks from last night in Kansas City. (Holy crap. That’s a Bucs football game.)

Joe’s not having a pool party, as Raheem Morris enjoys, just yet. But Joe’s going to stock up on beer today to get ready.

Bucs beat writer Jenna Laine, of NFL.com, sits down with Joe to share insight into Adrian Clayborn and more. Joe found Laine’s information on Clayborn’s draft stock and physical limitations fascinating. Makes you realize how much Clayborn has overcome.

It’s been a while since Joe checked in on one of the most notorious Bucs players in recent history, Sabby the Goat.

The mere mention of his name makes many Bucs fans break out into a cold sweat or want to chug a bottle of whiskey.

The reason Joe brings up Sabby the Goat on this fine, steamy Friday afternoon was that for the first time, Joe found an article worth a hill of beans from the over-hyped site, Grantland. Most of the, um, stuff written on that site is for New Yorker types only with sports themes, sans some screed the other day about the relevance of Jennifer Aniston upon society who, aside from being amazingly hot beyond her years, really is irrelevant in the grand scheme of life.

Look, would anyone go into a dark, deep depression if she suddenly decided to retire from Hollywood? Would anyone really notice?

Shoot, Sarah Tyson has more interesting articles on her site than the perceived best young sportswriters of our era have on Grantland. The site’s a bore!

Anyway, finally, an interesting article on Grantland appeared earlier this week, detailing the 25 least valuable NFL players currently tagged as present day players and Sabby the Goat, largely for his ineptitude with the Bucs, was chosen as No. 2 behind only Jake Delhomme.

After a dismal 2009, Piscitelli responded to losing his job in camp by all-but-invoking “Operation Shutdown”; he got back into the lineup after rookie Cody Grimm broke his ankle, promptly gave up a touchdown after biting on a run fake, and got cut anyway. His unique mix of blown tackles, dreadful instincts, and inflated ego really make him the worst player to see regular time in the NFL over the past several years.

And to think that Sabby the Goat, with his wretched play, stained the very soil that Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch shed blood upon. Wow.

But as much as Joe has a perverted sense of humor over Sabby’s horrid play, one of the most touching moments Joe saw from a professional athlete came from Sabby. After the Steelers lit up the Bucs this year when rookie Cody Grimm, who turned out to be a damned good safety, was torched as a form of NFL baptism in his first start, Sabby put his arm around Grimm after the game and spoke softly to him for roughly 10 minutes while patting him on the back, encouraging the youngster that he will learn from this, as he showed later he did.

So maybe Sabby could become a strong counselor or perhaps maybe even a coach. Maybe that’s Sabby’s calling?

It sure as hell isn’t playing safety in the NFL.

And to think Chucky flushed a second round pick for Sabby?

Now it’s time for Joe to swill a few pints on this blazing hot Friday, hopefully the final Friday of this asinine lockout.

Count Joe among those that would love to see the Bucs add another weapon or two for Josh Freeman.

Joe still has concerns about Arrelious Benn’s health and Joe wouldn’t mind seeing a real lightning-quick dude in the backfield.

However, Joe’s not for welcoming an ancient head case type ala Randy Moss or Terrell Owens — even if he can still play and sell tickets. During an interview on PrimeTime on WHBO-AM 1040 yesterday, Davin Joseph answered a Randy Moss hypothetical from host Tom Krasniqi. It was a great illustration of how confident the Bucs are in each other.

“That’s a tough one. The thing about it is, when [Moss]comes in he wants to be a No. 1 guy. Right? We have a hell of a No. 1. The we have a hell of a No. 2. And we have a couple of No. 3s that I can think about. So where he does fit in is with depth and experience,” Joseph said. “He wouldn’t be given anything if he comes there. So I don’t know if this is exactly what he’s looking for because he’s not going to get a lot of balls thrown to him. He’s not going to be our first option or second option. Then we have Kellen Winslow also, who’s going to get his touches. We can use him experience and depthwise, but I’m not sure we could use him in the fashion he would want to be used, featured.

“… You see guys busting their ass on tape all the time. That’s where the confidence comes from. …The effort, the attitude, the speed, all of that’s within our play. We’re just waiting for the opportunities to fall before us and we’re going to take them next time.”

The across-the-board confidence from Buccaneers astounding — a real testament to Raheem Morris. It further reinforces Joe’s belief that the Bucs won’t make any cannonball dive into free agency via Nnamdi Asomugha or anyone else, unless they’re forced to if their homegrown, big-money free agents leave town and they must stretch to reach a new salary floor.

The post-Haynesworth plan is firmly in place. It works. And the Bucs won’t mess with it.

For the past eight seasons, WFLA Channel 8 has been the flagship of Bucs preseason television broadcasts.

That will change this summer, provided there is a preseason.

Joe has learned through three independent Tampa Bay television industry sources that the Bucs and WTSP Channel 10 have reached an agreement whereby the Gannett-owned TV station will broadcast non-network Bucs preseason games for the next two seasons.

The contract awaits approval from the NFL to be finalized. The delay, per Joe’s sources, stems from the asinine lockout, not from any indecision by the Bucs or Gannett.

One element of the deal will be very good for Bucs fans despite initial pitfalls.

If a Bucs home preseason game is blacked out, WTSP will broadcast the blacked out Bucs game on a tape delayed basis three times. In the past with WFLA, blacked out games were broadcast twice, once shortly after the game ended and a second time the following day.

Combined with the NFL Network typically broadcasting each Bucs preseason game on a tape delayed basis, this will allow Bucs fans four opportunities to watch a blacked out preseason game.

This season, if the Bucs cannot sell out their home preseason games, WTSP will only broadcast one Bucs preseason game live, that being the Bucs road game at Washington Sept. 1 to end the preseason. The Bucs first preseason game Aug. 12 at Kansas City will be nationally broadcast by FOX.

The Bucs preseason broadcast duo of Chris Myers and John Lynch is employed by the Bucs, not the team’s broadcast partner. Joe could not confirm whether the two will return this summer but Joe did confirm no WTSP staffer will serve as a play-by-play man or game analyst.

Can Tanard Jackson sit out a year and come back to the Bucs ready to play in September?

Absolutely says Earnest Graham, so he told J.P. Peterson on 1010 AM yesterday. Graham was nonchalant about Jackson potentially having adjustment problems to returning to the Bucs. And Graham talked like he expects it to happen.

“He’ll be fine,” Graham said. Tanard’s an “instinctive football player.”

Graham went on to say Jackson’s in top shape and has always been impressive with his instincts and by playing far bigger than his size.

During the extensive interivew, Graham said he expects the Bucs to take a don’t-mess-with-success approach in free agency, especially when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. Graham seemed confident the Bucs would want to keep the offensive line in tact and Cadillac Williams.

However, in the next breath, Graham said he looked for the Bucs to make a few key acquisitions in free agency to improve the team and the locker room. He cited Sean Jones as a great pickup last year.

Graham went on to praise Mark Dominik and staff for the quality of men their administration has drafted. He said Adrian impressed him in Bradenton as a “humble kid” with “an NFL body.”

Joe was pleased to hear Graham, like Joe, is rather disinterested in lockout talk. Graham said he’s simply training hard and enjoying his family and, outside of the occasional lockout update from Maurice Stovall, is just waiting to enter his ninth training camp.

We can only hope.

"Step aside, little man."

You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe brings you THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the team goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

Every time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have tasted success after prolonged agony, the next season turns out to be a major disappointment.

The start of it goes back to 1980, when the Bucs sold out almost every home game following one of the greatest sports seasons in Tampa Bay history. It was the year after 1979, when the Bucs shocked the world and won 10 games when only 16 games before that the Bucs had won their first two games EVER — to the tune of a 2-26 lifetime record.

Ending up 10 points short of the Super Bowl, everyone expected the Bucs to make a serious run for the Big Game in ’80. Instead, Bucs fans got a team that surprised no one, and felt the move from an easy schedule to a much tougher one.

The ’80 Bucs defense was passed on repeatedly and its linebackers were exposed for being poor at covering receivers and speedy runners out of the backfield. Add to the mix rumors of drug use, and 10-6 turned into a 5-10-1 disappointment. The Bucs bounced back to make the playoffs the next two years.

Fast forward to 1998. The second year of Pewter Power had the Bucs expecting a playoff push to the Super Bowl following the breakthrough playoff season in ’97 with new uniforms and a new day in Tampa Bay. Instead, an inconsistent Tony Dungy team made more mental mistakes than ever, and it wasn’t until proper focus in 1999 and beyond were the Bucs perennially playoff bound.

I could go on and on … the Super Bowl victory was followed up with a 7-9 season. Take away a blocked extra point vs Carolina and that ridiculous LEAPING game with Colts on MNF (and the 21 straight points Indy Scored) and the Bucs start out 2003 with a 5-0 record. Instead they were 3-2 and the wheels were ready to fall off. After two losing seasons, Jon Gruden put together a solid defense and durable running attack in 2005. The next year, the QB’s spleen and the rest of the 2006 season were outta here.

This time it’s different; so don’t expect the 2011 Bucs to have a down year before resurfacing in 2012. There are just too many reasons why it won’t happen, and we’ll all be happy campers, lining up overnight for playoff tickets this coming January.

1) Nothing was really won in 2010: All the other examples show the Bucs winning something tangible, and when you win something, sometimes your fight goes away for a bit until it comes back. The Bucs won nothing; no division title, no playoff position, they simply had a winning record. If anything, that should make the team even hungrier, because they were ‘robbed’ of something.

2)The schedule does not get tougher: Granted we don’t play the NFC West this year, instead we get the NFC North, which does have two tough teams but two easier ones as well. Even the AFC division we play, the South, has Titans, Jaguars and Texans teams with weaknesses. The Colts are no longer the powerhouses they once were. The Bucs are going from the easiest schedule to the 15th-easiest, right in the middle, so there should be no complaining. There are only TWO GAMES each year that match your position in the division standings anyway. And this year it’s third place.

3) The Bucs have potentially nine games against teams with new coaching staffs and/or rookie QBs. That alone is an advantage in any normal season, but coupled with the lockout, a team like the Bucs returning its core group of players and coaching staff with the same offense is going to have a major advantage over teams whose players will be learning terminology only a few weeks before the start of camp. 

So I’m pretty sure the outcome is going to be something special in 2011 and beyond, a result you don’t have to be a real optimist to see.

The agony of the Bucs ending up on the wrong end when the Lions broke their 26-game road losing streak in December still keeps Joe up at night.

The stain of that game is lingering far longer than skid mark that was the Jim Bates experiment. 

NFL history literally would have changed if the Bucs beat Drew Stanton and the road-awful Lions at the C.I.T.S. Green Bay would have missed the playoffs and the Bucs would have been in.

Weeks ago, Joe brought you a take from Adam Hayward that stunned Joe. Hayward said the Bucs looked past the Lions.

“We weren’t playing like ourselves. We went in there kind a flat. We were thinking, ‘Oh this is Detroit,”” Hayward said on Tampa Bay Sports Central. “That’s how you get your butt wupped.”

Joe almost chalked that comment up to Hayward being too hard on the team, rather than the young Bucs actually taking a critical December game lightly. But now it’s official in Joe’s mind that the Bucs dropped the ball when they should have been focused like never before.

Speaking on the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday, Davin Joseph shared a take on the Detroit game similar to Hayward’s after being asked directly about the game.

“We feel like we took it for granted,” Joseph said, lamenting the Bucs’ effort against the Lions.

Joe is shaken to his core again and wants to punch the nearest wall. How could that happen? How? How? Yeah, Joe gets that stuff happens to teams in all sports at every level, but that game? In December? For the Coach of the Year?

Interesting that the Bucs responded to the Lions loss by punching the Seahawks in the mouth and taking out the Saints in New Orleans.

Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs learned their lesson.

The Barrett Ruud saga will not die.

Loved by nearly all NFLers both old and new but loathed by fans and someone with a powerful bullhorn, Ruud has become without question a lightning rod that stirs emotions — anger and praise — from the masses.

No one since Chucky, and perhaps no one since Father Dungy, has so divided the Bucs’ fan base, and emotionally so.

The rancor has become so pervasive, Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times believes Ruud is simply worn out from the vitriol and just wants to start anew and escape the haters.

That leads Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com to begin nosing around for Ruud’s replacement. He correctly suggests that having a rookie linebacker play out of position to replace Ruud and to call defenses and stunts is “dangerous.”

Joe would go a step further and call it “reckless.” And Joe doesn’t believe Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is a reckless man; far from it.

So Yasinskas did some snooping and learned that the Packers may be shopping linebacker Nick Barnett. As a result, Yasinskas believes it’s not wholly impossible to see Barnett wearing pewter and red.

He’s currently property of the Packers, but there’s league-wide speculation that Barnett could be released or traded as soon as the lockout ends. He’s coming off a season in which he suffered a wrist injury and played in only four games. He’s expendable in Green Bay, but he could be valuable in Tampa Bay.

Barnett is 30, which falls somewhere between old and young. The Bucs are in a youth movement and throwing Foster into the mix wouldn’t be totally out of character. But making a third-round pick the quarterback of your defense without an offseason to prepare could be a little dangerous. The Bucs are very young on the defensive line and could have some other changes at linebacker.

That’s why it could make some sense to bring in Barnett or a guy like him. Barnett was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2007 and had some very good seasons with the Packers. He could provide some instant stability and leadership for a Tampa Bay defense that’s still looking to catch up to its offense.

Well, Joe’s reaction to this is, if you are going to land Barnett, what’s to stop Dominik from grabbing Paul Posluszny should The Poz bolt Buffalo? He’s younger than Barnett, though Barnett does have experience in a 43 defense prior to the past two seasons. The Poz hasn’t played in a 43 defense since his junior season at Penn State when he won the Chuck Bednarik Award for being the college football defensive player of the year.

The longer this asinine lockout stretches, the more imperative it is for Dominik to re-sign Ruud.

If Foster, a man with a lot of upside that has yet to play one snap of NFL football — look, Joe has absolutely nothing at all against Foster — is going to replace Ruud with virtually no offseason, no OTAs, no rookie minicamp and jump right in once a shortened (?) training camp gets underway, people will be pining for Ruud’s alleged ability to only tackle seven yards downfield.

Davin Joseph has lobbied publicly for his good pal Jeremy Trueblood to return to the Bucs.

So has Jeff Faine.

Speaking to 1010 AM personality JP Peterson, as archived on TampaBaySportsCentral.com, Faine explained that Trueblood is not only a strong veteran but a new approach with Bucs new offensive line coach Pat Morris will do Trueblood a world of good. Faine made it clear things weren’t rosy for Trueblood in the past.

“With a fresh new outlook with the new offensive line coach, I think that he too will definitely improve under this new system. It’s just one of those things I think, you know, in the NFL sometimes the situation needs to right for you to really excel. And I think that is probably similar to this case with Jeremy Trueblood.”

Faine didn’t specify whether Trueblood was having an off-field conflict with former O-line coach Pete Mangurian or simply was not a fit for the zone blocking scheme the Bucs ran often in 2009 and less so in 2010. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Faine said free agents Trueblood and Joseph should stay together along with the rest of the tight-knit line that can communicate on the field without speaking. Around the locker room, Faine said, Trueblood and Joseph are known as “brothers from a different mother.”

Faine’s take from the Bucs’ minicamp in late June? He said he enjoyed the cameraderie and was “most impressed with condition level … especially the younger guys…impressed and satisfied with the condition level and the way guys have worked this offseason by themselves and not needing a program.”

Joe’s glad the captain found it valuable to work out with his teammates.

Could Jason Snelling help the Bucs with running back depth?

While NFL fans are gritting their teeth that this asinine lockout was even started much less that it continues to drag on worse than an in-grown toenail, fans are in no short supply of opinions on what the Bucs should do.

Just throw the name “Barrett Ruud” or “Aqib Talib” out there and it’s like an internet version of Shark Week.

Not to be outdone, NFL analyst Pat Kirwan has a few ideas what the Bucs should do. Naturally, he invokes the expected names: Davin Joseph, Quincy Black, Ruud, Talib and Cadillac Williams.

Oh, and a new name Joe hasn’t heard prior to yesterday: Jason Snelling.

Kirwan is of the mind the Bucs need yet another third down back and he believes Snelling may fit the Bucs needs.

Sign another running back: The Buccaneers hit it big when they signed running back LeGarrette Blount last year. He is a young, inexpensive player who should be a 1,000-yard runner for the foreseeable future. Still, a solid third-down back — especially if Cadillac Williams isn’t coming back — would be a priority. The Buccaneers have said they are not interested in Tiki Barber, but I wonder if they would like to add Jason Snelling or even Reggie Bush, if the Saints can’t redo his deal.

Now unless the Bucs got Bush on a rock-bottom discount deal, Joe would be stunned if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik would sign him. First, he’s oft-injured. Though supremely talented, Joe’s just as good of a running back if Bush is standing on the sidelines in street clothes pining for a Kardashian.

In today’s press conference introducing former Bucs tight end Jimmie Giles as the honoree in this year’s Ring of Honor ceremony, the Bucs announced that the Dec. 4 game against Carolina will be the annual throwback game.

At halftime of that contest, Giles will be inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor.

So there you go Bucs fans. You have nearly five months to go buy your throwback creamsicle gear to honor Giles and the old school Bucs.

So far the Bucs have played nail-biters in both throwback games: a win over the Packers and a stomach-turning collapse against the Dixie Chicks last season.

Joe hopes this year’s throwback game will be over by the time Giles sees his number unveiled at The CITS.

Davin Joseph says the absence of team responsibilities has let him focus more on personal, physical improvement.

Joe’s intrigued to learn how the Bucs and the rest of the NFL might learn from the physical successes and failures that emerge after the lockout. Joe touched on this Monday.

No doubt some guys will be in better shape because they didn’t spend time with OTAs and the organization in the offseason and used the time more hyperfocused on improving their own bodies and weaknesses.

Count Davin Joseph in the group of guys who has used the lockout to his advantage, so he explained on WDAE-AM 620 today during the Ron and Ian Show. Joseph went so far as to call the lockout “a blessing.” 

“It’s common along a lot of the guys in the league is feeling like they really have time to recover and they’ve taken this time to improve themselves in areas that they know they need improvement. You know, it’s hard during OTA’s and things of that sort to go to a team workout, where it’s just a general workout, and then having the energy to go and do something else to improve yourself,” Joseph said.

“So just having your own control of the offseason has helped a lot of guys. It’s going to hurt some guys. But I think a majority of the guys are really taking the time to improve themselves.

“[The lockout] definitely was a blessing. I’m not going to go around that and say I miss OTAs. I miss the locker room more than anything. That’s one thing I do miss. But just having the time to work on the small things, the lockout’s been a blessing.”

As Joe wrote earlier, Joseph said he’s religiously training with Jeremy Trueblood and they’ve incorporated yoga into their routines.

Joe wonders whether it’s primarily true veterans like Joseph — of the which the Bucs don’t have many — that have the maturity and savvy to maximize the lockout time to their physical advantage.

Joe will have much more through the day on Davin Joseph’s exclusive interview with the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620, (it’s still in progress) but some exciting news has emerged.

Joseph says the birdie chirping in his ear has good news.

“From everything I’ve been hearing, most likely I’ll be back in Tampa,” Joseph said today.

Of course, Joseph tempered that with all the it’s-a-business cliches. But it was pretty obvious his agent is giving him good signs.

The lockout doesn’t mean teams can’t talk to agents, as Mark Dominik did preparing for the draft, though Joe has no handbook of lockout rules and regulations.

Every Bucs fan should want Joseph back. No, the Bucs wouldn’t collapse without him, but quality depth on the O-line is critical.

So how’s Joseph feeling? He explained that his new yoga regimen has led to a thorough recovery of his broken foot as well as more strength in the knee he had arthroscopic surgery on last year. Joseph described rigorous workouts he’s been engaged in regularly since February with Jeremy Trueblood.

"In Free We Trust"

Drinking a cold beer and watching the Man Channel, when its not reporting on the asinine lockout, is one of the few things that soothes Joe these days.

Thank you, Verizon, DirecTV, Knology and other patriotic companies that refuse to deny customers America’s game on NFL Network.

Last night Warren Sapp aroused Bucs fans when he sparred with Total Access pal Jamie Dukes about the greatness of Josh Freeman. Check out the video here. Sapp declared Freeman will emerge from the 2011 season as an MVP candidate.

Appalled that Dukes would question him, Sapp explained Freeman’s greatness and scoffed at the notion that Freeman was possibly a one-year wonder. “He got a full grasp on the both the handlebars,” Sapp said.

This was enough to get Joe fired up for flimsy chance that training camp could start in two weeks.

Think you’re burned out by the endless legal and labor chatter surrounding the asinine lockout?

Well, Barrett Ruud is getting worn out, too, so says Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times. But Ruud’s fatigue is over the love-him-or-hang-him attitude buzzing everywhere about his play, Stroud said today.

“I think he’s tired of the debate. … He wants to be wanted,” Stroud said about Ruud during an interview on the Fabulous Sports Babe Show on 1040AM.

Stroud went on to call Ruud underrated and said Ruud is a goner from the Bucs “if he gets $1 more or the same” offer from another team.

If one were to have just heard Stroud’s interview and didn’t know much about Ruud, one might think Ruud was disgruntled, whiney and ready to cry at a moment’s notice, like an unstable 20-year-old hottie getting kicked off a reality show.

While Ruud staged a minicamp holdout a couple of years ago and made it clear he wanted a new contract, Joe doesn’t see Ruud as a guy holding a grudge or wanting to jump ship for an extra cup of coffee. Ruud obviously has the respect of his teammates and coaches, and Joe knows Ruud’s smart enough to realize the peripheral pressure from fans and media would be at least as tough if he went to the Giants, who some speculate are interested in his services.

Most intriguing to Joe was Stroud claiming “Raheem doesn’t want to play without him.”

Will the Coach of the Year get his way?

Well, Joe had a whole post scheduled to appear here now handicapping the odds of the 2011 Ring of Honor enshrinee by the Bucs. The team will make the announcement tomorrow.

But now the cat’s out of the bag. Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times is reporting confirmation from Doug Williams that Jimmie Giles has gotten the nod.

At least Joe was on the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 early this morning and named Giles as his No. 2 most likely selection. Joe thought Ricky Bell was the lead candidate to get the nod this year, as he’s a worthy choice and was one of four Bucs already honored by the team in the old Krewe of Honor at The Big Sombrero, along with Lee Roy Selmon, John McKay and Doug Williams.

Williams will get in one day, but Joe never thought Williams would get in this year simply because how could Team Glazer gamble that, if selected, the seemingly still bitter Williams would show up for the honor? Williams went public with his disgust about the team parting ways with him before this season.

Giles was good for four Pro Bowls in his creamsicle uniform (1978-1986). Surely deserving.

Joe’s got to hand it to Team Glazer for staying old school and not going for the money grab — as in ticket sales. Enshrining a modern era guy like Warren Sapp, Tony Dungy or Derrick Brooks likely would have meant huge cash and hype for a 2011 game. Sorry, but Giles won’t mean more than a teeny blip at the box office and little to the media.

Nice to see Team Glazer honoring men (perhaps forgotten by some) from a team it didn’t own. The owners seem commited to building a
meaningful Ring of Honor. They didn’t take the easy way out.

The Bucs have rolled out another phase of their excellent Xs and Os series on the team website. This time it’s secondary coach Jimmy Lake showcasing Cody Grimm’s sure tackling and instinctive play, and Lake breaks down every phase of Grimm’s interception against the Bengals.

The way Lake raves about Grimm — “Cody’s a tough hombre,” among other superlatives — one might think the 2010 seventh round pick is a new cornerstone of the Bucs defense.

Joe hopes so. This kid almost single-handedly brought the Bucs run defense from putrid to almost average for a stretch of the season before he broke his leg.

One has to wonder whether Grimm’s small frame can handle his level of violence long term. Joe has a good feeling.

The Bucs came “this close” to the playoffs last season, losing in a playoff tiebreaker to the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers, a fact not lost on Josh Freeman.

Some pundits believe the Bucs have a shot not to just make the playoffs, but to make a run in the playoffs if only the defense can improve. eye-RAH! Kaufman isn’t convinced that improvement will happen overnight.

The longtime NFL columnist for the Tampa Tribune spoke on WHBO-AM 1040 Monday afternoon with “Prime Time’ co-hosts Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi, explaining the many areas on the Bucs defense that he finds lacking.

“When was the last time we had more confidence in the Bucs offense than the defense?” Kaufman asked. “There are a lot of questions on this defense. They can’t stop the run. There’s no pass rush. Now you are asking two rookies with health issues to make an impact? That’s asking a lot.

“Gerald McCoy is fine. Brian Price is not looking good for this season. Roy Miller has something to prove. For every disruptive play Geno Hayes makes, he takes a bad angle. There are are real questions about this defense.

“I believe Talib will face some kind of punishment, even with his trial postponed to next year. Let’s face facts: The Bucs have not been able to stop the run with Raheem in
charge of the defense the past two years and with Barrett Ruud as the middle linebacker.

“At some point, you run out of things to say.”

All are valid points from Kaufman. But call Joe naive but he believes the defensive front will be much improved, if for no other reason they will have decent coaching with Keith Millard, something GMC and Miller haven’t had since both became Bucs. That very well could be a domino effect: Better play up front means better linebacker play, etc.

And even if Talib is suspended — clearly, not a given — Joe has considerable confidence in E.J. Biggers

Yes, the Bucs do have question marks on defense. But it’s difficult to see the defense regressing.

The Bucs coulda, shoulda been in the playoffs. It’s one of Josh Freeman’s favorite sayings.

But it is because of Freeman that the NFC South may just be the best division in the NFL. That doesn’t come from Joe, that comes from “The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN.

The longtime NFL scribe fielded questions recently and suggests if the NFC South is not the best division in the NFL, it should be shortly.

Q: In the NFC South, the Saints seemed to hit a stumbling block. With Matt Ryan guiding the Falcons to a 13-3 record and only getting better, as well as Josh Freeman being called the most promising QB since, well, Matt Ryan, the Saints aren’t the only good team in the South anymore. The Saints have Drew Brees, but no running game and an inconsistent defense. Are they legitimate this year?

Cal in Los Angeles

A: The NFC South is turning into a marathon, not a sprint. It’s becoming the best division in football because of Brees, Ryan and Freeman. It’s only going to get better once Cam Newton develops. Part of the problem for Brees and the Saints last year was that the Saints played their toughest games on the road while the Falcons’ toughest games were at home. Don’t be surprised if the Saints win the division this year, and Ryan and the Falcons get a wild card. We’ll see where the Bucs finish, but I think you’re going be seeing at least two teams make the playoffs from the NFC South.

If one is to believe the suits Clayton works for, one would be brainwashed into thinking the NFC East is the beast of the NFL. Not only is this unadulterated propaganda, it simply isn’t true. Just off the top of Joe’s head he can think of four divisions better than the NFC East, yet those teams are pounded into innocent viewers’ subconscious as the best division in football, year in and year out by the four-letter outfit.

Yeah, when Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, Buddy Ryan and Gene Stallings were coaching in the NFC East, it was a beast of a division, but not since.

Joe doesn’t think it’s outrageous at all to suggest the NFC South is the strongest division, though the NFC North is likely the best, but not by much.