Top backup.

The season of rankings continues as we lumber toward the beginning of training camp. The first open practice is Aug. 1. Joe can almost smell the cheerleaders’ sweat (it’s sort of a fruity scent, if you must know). [read more]

It was hard for Bucs WR Vincent Jackson to keep a smile on his face when remembering who was throwing passes to him last year.

If watching old game tape wasn’t jarring enough to Bucs fans remembering just how truly awful was turnover-prone quarterback Josh McClown, data from the statgeeks really sobers up a person.

Yes, Vincent Jackson had a nice season, catching 70 passes and racking up 1,002 passing yards last year. Any receiver who has 1,000 yards is having a fine season. [read more]

Will the offensive line improve?

It was more frightening than Joe opening up his fridge on a hot summer afternoon and finding not an ounce of cold beer. It was the offensive line that finished the season for the Bucs with out-of-position Demar Dotson, barbecue pitmaster Logan Mankins, shotgun-snap challenged Evan (nee: Dietrich-) Smith, Oniel Cousins and Patrick Omameh. [read more]

The newest Buccaneer talks Tom Brady vs. Jameis Winston

Yes, new/old Bucs tight end Tim Wright went there on national radio, daring to compare the little he’s seen of Jameis Winston to legendary Tom Brady, his QB last season with the Belicheats. [read more]

History will view mattress-in-the-yard, blade-in-the-thigh Mike Williams in different ways.

A 2010 Buccaneers fourth-round pick, Williams was excellent in his first three seasons — 193 catches, 23 touchdowns and never missed a game. [read more]

In studying last year’s games, the Washington Post suggests the only reason the Bucs beat the Redskins was Robert Griffin III’s incompetence.

Yes, the Bucs were a nutkick of a 2-14 team last year. The only people remotely happy about that were liquor store owners — for all the Bucs fans trying to purge the season from their memory banks with mass quantities of alcohol. [read more]

Regular readers here know there’s a massive argument happening at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters regarding Lovie Smith’s job security. No need to rehash.

But now a former Buccaneer has weighed in on the debate, via a national stage. [read more]

Will Louis Murphy be able to hang on to his No. 3 WR position?

The lack of depth on this Bucs squad is a significant reason Tampa Bay won the Chase for Jameis last year.

Joe many times has pointed out that Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson very well could be the best one-two punch of wide receivers in the NFL. If that duo is not, then the list ahead of them is damn short. [read more]

Just because Bucs co-chairman Ed Glazer bought this pad roughly 100 miles north of Los Angeles doesn’t mean the Bucs are moving to California. At all.

Joe has seen the reaction, though minimal, on Twitter and in the comments on this here corner of the Interwebs. And since the NFL is slumbering, what the hell, Joe will throw cold water on the paranoid conspiracy theorists. [read more]

Drew Brees has simply torched the Bucs like no other quarterback.

To be the best you have to beat the best. Those are the immortal words of Ric Flair. They also ring true in the NFL. [read more]

When the Bucs canceled their final June minicamp practice at the last minute in favor of a team bowling outing, astute FOX Sports NFL writer Alex Marvez was at One Buc Palace and spent extensive time with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. [read more]

Dick LeBeau flummoxed Andrew Luck last year, Luck’s first look at LeBeau’s defense.

Joe is wildly intrigued by the Buccaneers’ opening day matchup. Forget Marcus Mariota and the Titans facing Tampa Bay, it’s America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, squaring off against legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. [read more]

Are the Bucs better off (yet) than they were under former commander Greg Schiano?

Joe used to be in newspapers. Got out of it because, well, there is zero job security unless you are willing to pack up and move to places you have no desire to live. [read more]

Best known by Bucs fans for being a virgin center, understandably ill-suited to start a game, Garrett Gilkey is known nationally for another reason. [read more]

A popular local sports radio host seems to have found a new high-profile Bucs player to gripe about.

In the mind of former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, apparently NFL players should be tied up in straight jackets, muzzled and locked in cages during their whole career, and the only time they should be seen is on Sunday afternoons — and they are not allowed to talk at all unless they get a radio gig after their careers.

Beckles has long had a thorn in his side because Bucs stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has a personality and enjoys answering questions. Now, Beckles is turning his ire about players having the nerve to talk and the gall of having a personality to “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston. [read more]

Joe sure thinks there’s a lot of overselling when it comes to new Bucs defensive tackle Henry Melton. [read more]

Influential.

Rare is it for a rookie quarterback to be thought of as one of the 100 most influential people in the NFL.

Then again, if a nobody like Rachel Nichols is in the same list, then Joe guesses a rookie quarterback very well should be. [read more]