Here’s the audio of Joe’s popular Wednesday hour with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM 620.

Despite what some Bucs fans will have you believe, the draft is the foundation of a team. If you stink at drafting, then you will almost always be watching other teams play football in January. If a team is draft savvy, it will deliver lasting success.

Jason Licht, come on down.

Today the NFL Combine begins in not too chilly Indianapolis (February in the Midwest can be so much worse that the 50s) and this will basically be Licht’s first day on the job in a matter of speaking. [read more]

How much will size matter for the nation’s top defensive end? The Bucs called attention to him this week.

When you’re coming off a 13-sack senior season and your dad had 100+ NFL sacks and is a professional defensive line coach, lots of NFL Draft analysts are going to pay attention.

But despite the awareness of defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat out of the University of Texas, there’s no consensus on where he’ll land in the draft. [read more]

Joe needed a mop to soak up all the irony on this one: the Bucs have signed former Rutgers linebacker Damaso Munoz out of the Canadian Football League. [read more]

Could Michigan OT Taylor Lewan freefall to the second round because of disturbing off-the-field nonsense?

Joe doesn’t understand why some Bucs fans are abhorrent to drafting a tackle. The Bucs’ offensive line last year wasn’t anything close to the Oakland Raiders’ of the 1970s.

That why Joe is OK with drafting a tackle. Yeah, Joe agrees drafting a guard at No. 7 is a big-time reach.

No, Joe is not jumping on the Donald Penn-is-all-that-is-wrong-with-the-world bandwagon. He played OK last year. Could he play better? Sure. Penn was hardly the problem with the Bucs offensive line. There may not be a better dude on the Bucs than Demar Dotson. He’s one of Joe’s favorites, but he’s a marginal player. Too often he gets bull-rushed like a blocking sled. [read more]

A fresh example emerges

Fans and media have heard of the immense respect players across the NFL have for Lovie Smith.

Now there’s fresh evidence from a guy Lovie benched and shunned a second time. [read more]

Joe has read many, many, many mock drafts by learned NFL analysts suggesting the Bucs draft an outside linebacker, specifically Khalil Mack of Buffalo.

Joe simply did not understand this. First, there is simply, no way the Bucs are looking to replace Lavonte David. Mack is not a middle linebacker. And on the other side, Dekoda Watson and Johnathan Casillas only manned the position for roughly 40 percent of the defensive snaps. [read more]

Lovie has experience in Canton and may be a driving force

The buzz on the street says the Buccaneers are a prime candidate to open the NFL preseason schedule in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, on Sunday night, Aug. 3.

It’s a game familiar to Lovie Smith, and one the Bucs very well may be lobbying to play. [read more]

One of Jeff Tedford’s ex-players says his guru ways should not be underestimated

Earlier today, Joe referenced Jeff Garcia confidently stating that Jeff Tedford’s system is significantly better than anything Mike Glennon experienced under the New Schiano Order. 

That raised an eyebrow for Joe because the Bucs’ offensive coordinator’s NFL offense is a complete mystery, and he was a coach who often adapted in college. [read more]

Now the Bucs’ old helmet?

Bucs Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp has been dropping hints that there is big Bucs news coming this week. The news has arrived: the Bucs are getting a new helmet with a new twist to their logo.

It’s all spelled out at Buccaneers.com. But you’ll have to watch NFL Network on Thursday at 8 p.m. for the unveiling.

Gerald McCoy will join Sapp for the big moment.

[read more]

A former Bucs QB is confident

Supposedly, Mike Glennon was a tailor-made fit for Mike Sullivan’s offense, the same offense that was ranked ninth in the NFL in 2012 with Josh Freeman in charge. Greg Schiano thought Glennon was the right man, but Glennon captained the NFL’s worst offense last season.

Don’t worry, says former Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia. [read more]

Now roughly three weeks from the NFL free agent dinner bell ringing on March 11 at 4 p.m., no one short of Houston is certain who they will draft in the first round.

There are seven positions that Joe could see the Bucs drafting with the seventh overall pick (or before). That’s not to say Joe believes the Bucs should go all those routes, but Joe wouldn’t fall over backwards on the night of the first round if Joe heard NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell go one of those directions. [read more]

Canton-bound Bucs?

You know what the worst part of the NFL is? Preseason games. Joe can totally understand how paying customers throughout the continental United States feel like they got mugged on 42nd Street in midtown Manhattan when buying tickets to these games.

[read more]

Could Will Gholston be a starting DE for the Bucs?

Last year when (now former) Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik drafted defensive lineman Will Gholston on the third day of the draft, Joe thought the Bucs may have got a bargain. The guy had the physical tools. The issue was, could he be coached up?

He was.

Gholston told Joe he learned plenty from former front-7 coach Bryan Cox. Initially, it seemed Gholston may have been a September casualty of the final cuts. [read more]

Warren Sapp was his usual opinionated self during Super Bowl festivities. Joe got a chance to sit down with Sapp in frozen Newark to talk about a variety of topics. Joe’s already shared Sapp’s Hall of Fame takes, changed Xs-and-Os view of defense, and Sapp’s thumbs-down on Mike Glennon.

Today, Joe is sharing a Sapp take on the Buccaneers’ pass rush. [read more]

Joe can’t wait for all the afternoon fun Monday, Presidents’ Day, at Derby Lane. Live action greyhound racing, poker and free cash. Now that’s a great day! Click above or below to learn more.

Today marks the start of franchise-tag season, as well as the season for other tags related to NFL rules on retaining players and paying them big cash.

The Bucs, however, don’t have those concerns now. in part because leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman was benched and never became a guy the Bucs wanted to retain. [read more]

Could the Bucs use a WR like LSU’s Jarvis Landry?

Yes, the NFL Scouting Combine begins later this week. While Joe puts little value in the combine from a football talent perspective — it’s a glorified indoor track meet — it is excellent for evaluating prospects medically and interviewing potential players. 

Joe also loves the nonstop assembly line of NFL coaches and front office people, not to mention hundreds of top college players, available to be interviewed by the fourth estate. (Yes, Joe will be in Indianapolis gathering intelligence.)

Former NFL scout and current NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah is working overtime. He just published his top three draft needs for each NFL team. Below are his Bucs’ needs.

[read more]