JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

Veteran scribes eye-RAH! Kaufman and Roy Cummings turn serious in this Bucs Beat Video Blog on TBO.com.

No, these two men are not debating the cup size of their favorite Bucs cheerleaders, they’re talking wide receiver depth charts.

Joe’s not going to spill the beans on the video, but both see the blocking icon as quite a longshot to make the roster.

And eye-RAH! seems a bit wowed by the sheer numbers of receivers on the Bucs right now.

Check it out.

"Why did they draft a hard-hitting safety when they have me?"

One young Buccaneer seems to be front and center on the mind of Bucs personnel czar Mark Dominik.

That would be rookie Cody Grimm, the seventh round pick who was a linebacker/special teams ace in college and is projected as a strong safety and special teams stud with the Bucs.

Dominik, speaking Saturday night to good guy and fantasy football guru Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620, dodged a question about the battle between Sean Jones and Sabby The Goat by talking about Grimm.

Asked about Sabby The Goat and Jones, Dominik volunteered, “I’ve been very happy with the progress of Cody Grimm. … [Fans] are going to see this missile coming down the field. …Like Ronde Barber, he’s very astute.”

Joe’s looking forward to watching Grimm debut on Saturday in Miami.

The way Bucs coaches are talking, Joe wonders whether Jeremy Zuttah even has a fair shot at earning another season as Tampa Bay’s starting left guard.

Raheem The Dream and Greg Olson singled out Keydrick Vincent while talking to the MSM recently, making Zuttah seem like merely a versatile backup.

First up are Olson’s comments to Woody Cummings, of The Tampa Tribune. Cummings penned an interesting feature about Olson blending elements of Chucky, Mike Martz and Steve Mariucci into his new offense.

Until they’ve grown up offensively, though, the Bucs will look to run the ball first and throw mostly short passes second. The reason, Olson said, is simple: That’s where their strength lies.

“With the personnel we have now I think we have to run to set up the pass,” Olson said. “The O-line, especially with (guard) Keydrick Vincent there, is really a strength of ours now, because he helps us with our depth.

“And if we can run the ball, then we can set up the pass better. I learned that while I was in St. Louis. One of the reasons we were able to go deep and throw the way we did was because people had to respect our run game.”

Hmm, Olson says Vincent helps with depth, but to the best of Joe’s knowledge he only plays one position. (Also, Joe hopes Olson realizes Steven Jackson isn’t in the Bucs’ backfield).

So does Olson mean Vincent will start freeing up Zuttah to be the super reserve because of his knowledge at every position? Or is Olson saying Vincent can back up Zuttah and free up Zuttah to move if there’s an injury? Joe suspects Olson is referring to Vincent starting.

Tom Balog, beat writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, flat out calls Vincent the starter in a long feature about him today.

So the only competition is between Vincent and the time it takes him to learn the Buccaneers’ offensive system.

“He brings a certain intensity to us — the ‘Carolina demeanor,’ (which is), ‘We’re going to run the ball and you’re not going to stop us,'” said Morris, who last year held up the Panthers as the team the Buccaneers want to emulate.

“He has to fit into our system, he has to learn our system, his calls, everything he has to do,” [offensive line coach Pete] Mangurian said. “Whenever you come into a new place, you have to learn a new system. It’s like learning a new language, until you’re fluent in it. That takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Joe suggests you read Balog’s entire feature. He goes on to quote Raheem The Dream talking about Zuttah’s versatility at all positions.

Joe hopes the 32-year-old Vincent is an absolute manbeast destined for the Pro Bowl, but that’s highly unlikely. If the Bucs’ plan is to develop youth, then there’s no reason not to suck it up and roll with Zuttah, who should be improved in his third year.

As last night’s football carnival/practice kicked off, Mark Dominik was fielding fastball questions from Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620, which had a live show airing from the event.

Joe will bring you various nuggets from Dominik over the next 36 hours. Some of them you do not want to miss.

Joe’s been a little down on the coming Bucs season because the team will be relying on so many rookies to perform. While it will be exciting to see what they can deliver, it doesn’t bode well for the W column.

Dominik ratcheted up the pressure when he told Pawlowski that Brian Price and Gerald McCoy must have success this year.

“They do have to play well,” Dominik said. “In his first practice, Price did wreak havoc. …And McCoy [in his first practice] in a [live drill] played with all three units,  McCoy went out and just dominated … and impressed the veterans.”

Joe can’t wait to see what these guys do when it counts.

It’s a disturbing reality, though, to hear the GM say two rookies (not one or the other) must to have strong seasons for the team to succeed.

Joe would be satisfied if McCoy or Price looks like a budding star this season.

St. Pete Times columnist Gary Shelton likens training camp performance to meaningless jumping jacks

Uber columnist Gary Shelton, of the St. Pete Times, shared some training camp observations during an interview with the good folks at BucStop.com. Shelton seems eager, like Joe is, to see these young Bucs play some real football.

Thankfully, that will happen in Miami in just six days.

Here’s an excerpt from Shelton’s comments:

Gary, I don’t get to see Camp the same way  you do. Which Bucs player is surprising you in camp so far, either in a negative or positive way?

Gary Shelton: You know, every time I look up, I see Preston Parker making a catch. I don’t see how he has a chance to make this team with so many other young receivers, but he’s been pretty good. Myron Lewis seems to react fairly well in drills. Quincy Black has a lot of people talking.
Right now, though, we’re grading side-straddle hops. It’s all stretching and sweating. Once the preseason games start, there will be a guy or two who will make a run at the roster. That’s when the KareemHuggins.com and CodyGrimm.org websites will spring to life.
And let’s face it: The Bucs could use someone — a running back, maybe — to wow them.

Of course, as Shelton says, real evaluation comes against preseason opponents, but it’s still interesting to hear different takes from astute observers.

If you don’t know it already, BucStop.com is run by THE OPTIMIST, Nick Houllis, who provides a public service there for Bucs fans via his extensive video collection.

Check it out. There’s really nothing like it. Often on the weekends, Houllis opens up the famed “video vault.” If you’re absolutely craving real game action, the vault is a great tonic.

With the final (for now) open Bucs practice in the rear view mirror, Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net breaks down the evening’s events.

It wasn’t really a fanfest because there was no meet-and-greet of any Bucs players, coaches or staffers.

It really wasn’t practice because half the time there was no practice.

No, the exhibition the Bucs had for their final (unless otherwise announced) open practice of 2010 training camp at the CITS Saturday night had more the feel of a carnival. A football carnival.

There was Mean Gene Deckerhoff on the jumbotron talking about how he has barked “touchdown Tampa Bay!” into the radio microphone 641 times over 21 years as a Bucs play-by-play announcer.

There was Connor Barth kicking field goals from the sidelines in a game of “BUC,” a place kicking version of the basketball challenge “HORSE.”

There was Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson throwing at moving golf carts with monster targets placed upon them in a quarterback skills competition, which Johnson won in “overtime,” to the protest of Raheem the Dream, who was calling the play-by-play of the event.

In all, it was a great time and Joe raises his glass to compliment Team Glazer, Mark Dominik and whoever thought this up.

The players seemed to have fun. Raheem the Dream seemed to have fun. The fans had a blast.

Nice touch by Dominik to acknowledge Iraqi war veterans who are still recovering from injuries sustained in battle who were VIPs at the practice. Dominik got the crowd to rise as one with a standing-O for the vets. Even a World War II former POW was in attendance Dominik said.

When the Bucs did practice, position coaches spoke on the jumbotron explaining the drills and what they hoped to accomplish with them, sort of a tutorial for fans.

The fireworks after the practice was a nice touch to a very comfortable evening which started just an hour before the festivities began with a nasty downpour.

Though the Bucs had a night practice at the CITS last year, this was much more fun for all involved.

Joe hopes it’s a start of a tradition.

Undrafted rookie Brandon Gilbeaux (left), out of the University of Delaware, has drawn hefty praise from Raheem The Dream. JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett.

After Stylez White, the Bucs have a pile of young defensive ends.

If you’re trying to break into the league at DE, Tampa Bay is a good team to be in camp with right now.

In his post-practice morning news conference today, Raheem The Dream perked up when asked to talk about the training camp performance of his rookie class as a whole.

Raheem The Dream, with a very serious look on his face, was quick to name undrafted rookie Brandon Gilbeaux as a standout. Gilbeaux went to Syracuse, transferred to Delaware after two seasons and was signed after the Bucs rookie camp in the Spring. 

“You really do have to say the rookie class. There’ve been some standout kids we didn’t even draft. This Gilbeaux kid, he’s shown up every day,” Raheem The Dream said.

Joe also has heard good things around training camp about defensive end James Ruffin, another undrafted player the Bucs signed quickly in April. Joe talked to Ruffin back in April.

For those who love the end-of-the-roster/future-practice-squad battles, these are a couple of good guys to keep an eye on tonight and in the second half of next week’s preseason opener.

Just by reading the comments on this very site, Joe knows who fans believe are the surprises in training camp and who may be the disappointments.

But let’s hear and see the perspective of a couple of guys who are paid to be there and give inside knowledge. They would be Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, who spell it out in the latest TBO Bucs vlog.

In this agreeable and entertaining video, the Tribune duo isn’t exactly agreeing on who has surprised and who has disappointed.

Bucs fans won’t be disappointed in the content of the vlog.

Joe stumbled upon some refreshing radio while stuck at work Friday morning: it was the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, Mike Florio, hosting the Dull Patrick Show.

Magically, thanks to Florio, what is usually three hours of boring, vapid, slurping radio (especially when it comes to the non-basketball association) became gripping, compelling, thought-provoking radio with a tremendous amount of insight.

Florio is no stranger to radio. He pretty much does a six-hour radio show a day given all his radio commitments around the country, including his spots with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, heard locally each Monday at 5 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620.

Florio has pinch hit for Dull Patrick before, and Florio seemed off his game, distracted. Maybe because he tried to work in basketball and baseball talk which is not normally in Florio’s wheelhouse.

Friday, Florio was very much on his game. It helped that the show was wall-to-wall football talk, including some college football. This was music to Joe’s ears.

A good chunk of the conversation was the Hall of Fame, who shouldn’t be in and who should be in and maybe who might squeak in someday. Florio invoked former Bucs running back Warrick Dunn.

Florio noted that Dunn’s numbers are similar to O.J. Simpson’s, and they are. Simpson has roughly 1,000 more yards playing one less season and his yards per carry average was not quite a yard more than Dunn. However, Dunn had double the receiving yards Simpson racked up.

“Perhaps when voters see all the good things that Dunn does in the community” that Pro Football Hall of Fame voters may be swayed by actions off the field years from now, Florio thought.

This is an interesting thought. Now Joe knows voters are only supposed to judge a player for his actions on the field, but voters are human too. There’s an NFL Network piece about the top 10 players never to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame and one of the most respected and influential writers in the nation, Sports Illustrated’s Paul Zimmerman (since rendered unable to work due to a series of strokes) boldly pronounced in the NFL Network piece that he would never vote for Ken Stabler as long as he lived, largely due to the way Stabler treated Zimmerman.

What exactly does that have to do with playing the game of football?

Voters are human. And as Barry Bonds has found in baseball, you treat people like dirt so often and for so long, that may come back to bite you in the ass. Joe himself has no use for a very famous local baseball player who is very popular with the fans because said player over the years consistently treated Joe — and others — like a piece of crap and was nothing less than a total and complete a-hole to Joe and may very well be the most miserable athlete Joe has ever had to deal with, certainly in Joe’s bottom three.

This player is to Joe is what Stabler is to Zimmerman. Joe doesn’t have any vote for any Hall of Fame but to suggest off the field issues don’t influence voters is a crock.

The opposite may help Dunn, one of the classiest men who ever snapped on a chin strap.

Florio also mocked the induction of Joe Namath and Joe will say this: as a kid, Joe was outraged that Namath got in before Fran Tarkenton. Compare both players’ stats and they are light years apart. Namath won a Super Bowl (even then, he didn’t play that well) and Tarkenton didn’t. As Florio noted, winning a Super Bowl holds a lot of weight as to if a player gets in the Hall of Fame, maybe too much weight.

After listening to Florio’s spot subbing for Dull Patrick, Joe cannot imagine why Florio doesn’t have a job himself on a radio show fulltime. He’s smart, articulate, does his homework. Dull Patrick offers nothing different than the tripe you hear on BSPN. The baby lullaby music and the ever-so-side splitting “Hi Dan, 6-4, 215… ding … ” the appeal of this show is totally and completely lost on Joe.

If you are not going to be entertaining at least be informative. Dull Patrick, for Joe, is neither.

How cool would it be to hear Florio be a regular co-host with Bob Papa on “The Opening Drive” on Sirius NFL Radio?

Justin Pawlowski, “The Commish,” returns to the airwaves tonight with a special Bucs-heavy show live from Buccaneers practice at the C.I.T.S (also known in some circles as Raymond James Stadium).  

If you can’t actually attend the Bucs open practice at the stadium, this show will be the next best thing. The fun runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m, and Pawlowski surely will have on a great guest or two, possibly even Joe himself.

Fans stuck behind a computer, can listen via the station’s live audio stream on WDAE’s website.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

No matter when history looks back on the Buccaneers, surely Cadillac Williams will go down as one of the toughest most determined players in franchise history, maybe even NFL history.

To battle back after two horrendous knee injuries and churn out 823 yards on the ground last year, plus 28 catches and seven touchdowns, was extraordinary.

Now Cadillac expects a lot more.

While Joe and many Bucs fans are stressed out wondering when his knee will blow out for the third time, Cadillac is fearless. Speaking on The Ron and Ian Show, on WDAE-AM 620 this week, Cadillac said his knees are “like new — lovely. This is my sixth training camp. I think this is the best I ever felt.”

Cadillac explained that his injuries are an afterthought and he has Pro Bowl goals.

“I definitely want to rush well over 1,200 [yards], 1,400 yards anywhere around there. In this sixth year, I’ve put the injury and everything behind me. I’m done with that,” Cadillac said.

While Joe doubts Cadillac has that kind of season in him, right now Joe’s just going to stand up and applaud.

Kick some ass, Caddy.

"Joe, I have a present for you."

It all started with a laptop and a dream.

JoeBucsFan.com was unveiled two years ago today.

Feeling compelled to work tirelessly on behalf of his fellow Bucs fans, Joe set out to inform and entertain hardcore Bucs fans like nobody had ever done in the history of the free world.

Thankfully, Bucs fans slowly began to flock here and proceeded to blast Joe for his strong opinions and call Joe a jerkoff and a loser hiding behind a cartoon. But they kept coming. They told friends.

Some of Joe’s media pals helped spread the word, and soon Joe knew that JoeBucsFan.com was a place some fans wanted to go every day — whether they liked it or not.

Joe finally knew his humble website had arrived when traffic here exploded on the night Jon Gruden was fired.

More than 5,000 Bucs posts later, today Joe is proud and grateful to report that 2010 has already brought 1 million actual visits to JoeBucsFan.com.

From the bottom of Joe’s beer-soaked heart, Joe thanks all of you.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

It’s no surprise that Raheem The Dream has second-year, hasn’t-done-squat-yet defensive end Kyle Moore in a starting spot on the left side.

This comes despite Moore literally being a snoozer last season, plus coaches have talked about his inconsistency in training camp.

Moore admitted he’s the guy to Tom Balog, beat writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, who penned an interesting feature about Moore and his role.

Moore should have all the incentive he needs — the urgency to keep his starting job.

“I want to keep showing them I have that ‘fire’ in me,” Moore said. “Now that they put me in that position, I’m trying to keep it. I don’t want to give it up.”

Moore is replacing Jimmy Wilkerson, last year’s starter at left end who signed with the New Orleans Saints.

What troubles Joe is that Raheem The Dream is the same head coach who last year, and at times this year, was so in love with competition at every position. Yet he seems to be writing off Tim Crowder or anyone else possibly challenging Moore (asked about D-linemen during his Friday news conference, Raheem The Dream again failed to mention Crowder).

Other than being a mid fourth-round pick in 2009, what exactly has Moore done other than get fat last year, get hurt, fall asleep in meetings, then lose weight, and be labeled by his coaches as a guy who doesn’t practice consistently well?

At least young Crowder led Bucs defensive linemen in solo tackles last year and had 3 1/2 sacks.

On one hand Raheem The Dream is all fired up about having “men” like Brian Price and Roy Miller slugging it out for playing time at nosetackle. And he’s all pumped to have Sean Jones and Sabby The Goat, and Keydrick Vincent and Jeremy Zuttah, sharing No. 1 reps at their positions and battling for jobs.

But not Moore. He’s the anointed one at left defensive end. And for some reason that’s supposed to make sense.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

It seems unthinkable that the 3-13 Bucs could cast aside a Pro Bowler like Clifton Smith.

However, with Micheal Spurlock, Sammie Stroughter and Smith on the roster, the Bucs are loaded when it comes to punt and kick returners.

Smith is the 2008 Pro Bowler with the most experience, but he also has concussion issues and little value outside of his returner role.

Spurlock, in his wide receiver role, was singled out yesterday by Raheem The Dream during his afternoon news conference as being one of a small handful of camp standouts. And surely Raheem The Dream remembers Spurlock’s punt return for a touchdown leading to the Bucs’ win in New Orleans last year, a victory that might have saved the head coach’s job.

Maybe Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik like the option of trading Smith and having Spurlock as the No. 1 returner/No. 6 wide receiver, which would open up a roster spot for Kareem Huggins to be the No. 3 running back and active every week.

It’s Joe’s understanding that Spurlock has been around too long to go to the practice squad, which means if he’s cut he might not be waiting around for the Bucs again if Smith takes another shot to the head.

Today, Joe talked to Spurlock, who said he’s been working at all three receiver positions and “hoping for good news.”

Joe not saying the Bucs would move Smith, but Joe doesn’t think it’s completely off the radar.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

Rookie Arrelious Benn was among the many Bucs receivers looking good today. Benn was on the practice field making diving catches, strong cuts and just looking like a manbeast who seems yearning to run somebody over.

Again, it’s hard for Joe to go all wild about Benn or any of the receivers catching the ball. It’s PRACTICE.

Maybe Joe’s just numb from the blocking icon looking good during every training camp  — and today — and then tanking in the regular season.

As long as a guy’s not dropping it, like tight end Ryan Purvis, or looking like he’s lost a little something, like Sammie Strougher, Joe just thinks catching the ball — in practice — is the minimum standard.

However, Joe will write more about the receiving depth chart later.

Benn also fielded punts today with Stroughter, Micheal Spurlock, and Preston Parker. Clifton Smith was out resting his tweaked hamstring.

At the close of the punt-catching drill, each player was challenged to catch punt after punt and not put down any of the balls caught. So the goal was to catch a punt, then catch the next one, then (still holding two balls) catch a third punt, and so on.

This was fun stuff, and Rich Bissaccia was enjoying the competition.

First, Parker caught four. Not bad.

Then Stroughter caught five to wow the crowd before missing on No. 6 with a couple of balls between his legs and three in his arms.  

Benn then stepped up and seemed clueless, catching just two.

Spurlock let the rookie walk away in shame and proceeded to grab six!

Nobody improved on their next try, except for Benn, who seemed to learn the ropes in a hurry. Benn also grabbed six in his final try to tie Spurlock.

Joe was impressed, as Joe has trouble holding three beers at once.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

Watching Kellen Winslow work at practice is just great stuff.

Forgetting about his performance last season, Winslow just looks the part of elite athlete with great hands. 

Today, he caught a TD in traffic and taunted the defense afterwards.

With all the talk of how having continuity at offensive coordinator and quarterback is supposed to help the Bucs this season, Joe can’t help but wonder how much more the Bucs can get out of Winslow in 2010.

Surely the Bucs don’t want to overuse Winslow in order to preserve his health for the late stages of the “lasting contender” plan. However, riding Winslow early in the season might just be the Bucs’ best option for actually winning games.

Joe says the heck with protecting Winslow. He’s already damaged goods, and there are no guarantees. Get him the football.

Fans who couldn’t make it to the final Bucs publicly open training camp practice at One Buc Palace can get filled in on the happenings from Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net.

Caution to Michael Clayton haters: brace yourself for information from Derek that will not make your day.

Joe didn’t have his usual tempo today out at Bucs training camp. Admittedly, walking around in the searing heat without cold beer is a shock to Joe’s sensitive metabolism.

Joe was getting is-it-over-yet cranky by noon.

It seems Gerald McCoy might have had the same kind of day.

With sweat pouring off his head in full pads, McCoy was signing autographs for a long line of onlookers after practice. A young boy then yelled for McCoy while sitting on his dad’s shoulders holding a football.

McCoy gestured for the young kid to cut the line and come over to him. Still on his dad’s shoulders, the kid approaches McCoy and throws the football at his face from close range. The ball caught McCoy by surprise and hit McCoy in the grill while he caught it.

But McCoy had fun with it telling the young man quickly, “We outta fire Freeman,” which drew a laugh from the crowd.

Seconds later, a 40-something dude nearby called out McCoy and asked, ‘Who’s better? You or Price?”

This drew an angry face from the No. 3 overall pick. “Does it matter?” McCoy said as he glared into the guy’s eyes. “We’re on the same team. Who asks a question like that?” McCoy said while he shook his head.

Watching that exchange, Joe got what he hopes was a glimpse of McCoy the nasty penetrating defensive tackle manbeast.

McCoy has said his warm demeanor changes quickly on the field. At that moment, it seemed like it hadn’t been turned back on yet.

Joe enjoys training camp as much as the next hardcore Bucs fans but after a while, it’s time for some friggin’ football! Let’s play some real games.

That appears to be the case for Bucs right tackle Jeremy Trueblood. At the risk of potentially getting in trouble from the head honchos at The News Center, Tampa Tribune photographer Cliff McBride caught Trueblood yawning during practice this morning.

Just a few more days folks until we get a game, albeit a preseason game. Still, a preseason game means the real football season is just around the corner.

Joe can smell it.