So what do the Bucs have in Mike Glennon? Is it enough to not draft Johnny Manziel a quarterback in the first round of the 2014 draft?

Outside of the future of the New Schiano Order, that’s the biggest question that will be answered before the end of 2013.

Glennon has exceeded expectations as a third-round pick dropped into a mess of a situation as a starter. Glennon still has much to prove, but he keeps impressing respected analysts. Speaking on Fan Interference on WHFS-FM 98.7 this week, NFL Films senior producer/noted guru Greg Cosell compared Glennon to one of the game’s best quarterbacks.

“I think he has similar attributes to Matt Ryan,” Cosell said. “Whether they fully develop within the context of a team, don’t forget someone like Matt Ryan for the first four years of his career played in an offense that was run based, that ran very, very effectively. People lose sight of why players are effective. And I like Matt Ryan a lot, but he was in an offense in the first four years of his career that was a run-first offense.

“So you have to see what else [the Bucs] will bring to the table offensively. If [Glennon] is in a situation where in order to score points he’s going to have to throw it 40 times a game, you’re going to put him under duress that he probably can’t handle at this point in his career.”

Glennon’s got seven games to prove himself. If he can’t win a chunk of games, his coach will be fired and Glennon will become a backup. That’s very clear to Joe.

However, the bigger question is what happens if Glennon and Schiano survive in 2014. Would the Bucs draft a quarterback anyway, if the right one was in their lap?

Get to know Bucs running back Bobby Rainey as Olivia Stacey of “Trib TV” chats with him in this TBO.com video.

Could the reason why Adrian Clayborn and the Bucs haven’t terrorized quarterbacks be because the Bucs place too much emphasis on rush defense?

Aside from the race for the first pick in next spring’s draft, the biggest item that has Bucs fans rolling around in bed at night, unable to sleep, is the simple lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Joe has thought long about this subject as well, and Joe thinks he is on to something. Since the day Bucs commander Greg Schiano was first hired, he pledged to stop the run. That’s virtually all he talked about when breaking down defenses: Stop the run first.

This mentality — Joe is not being dismissive here — has permeated Schiano’s players, which often happens no matter who the coach is. As the Bucs ready for their 10th game of the season, here are a couple of quotes from Bucs players:

“I think it’s very important for us to [stop the run],” Bucs defensive end Adrian Clayborn said. “First of all, stop the run, because that was the thing the last two weeks, was keep running the ball and pounding the ball and we kept them to zero yards on first and second down, so that was very good for us and it allowed us to pass rush and put pressure on the quarterback.”

“That’s big for us, that’s one of our goals – stopping the run, of course, and no explosive plays,” Bucs safety Dashon Goldson said. “We did both of those; they [had] two yards rushing and no [passes] over 25 yards. That’s big, especially against a good football team. Whenever you do stuff like that, the sky’s the limit and your chances of winning are very high.”

Now this really isn’t a novel concept, but could it be that maybe, perhaps Schiano’s strong over-the-top emphasis on stopping the run, and using all of these silly stunts, which may help on the run but implode rushing the quarterback may be what ills the pass rush?

Yes, it is important to stop the run. Joe doesn’t think anyone who isn’t on a bender would argue. But in this goal to shut down the run, maybe Schiano and his staff are subconsciously neglecting the pass rush?

The Falcons have the lowest ranked running game in the NFL. They even had a rare padded practice Wednesday devoted to running the football, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Add to that mess injuries to Roddy White, now No. 2 receiver Harry Douglas, and Tony Gonzalez, who missed the last two practices with a toe injury suffered Sunday. Douglas as a bad knee and missed practice yesterday.

Atlanta is winless on the road. They’ve been blown out in their last three games. They have an awful run defense. Matt Ryan has thrown seven interceptions in his last three games.

So how can the Bucs lose this game?

Sadly, Bucs fans know there’s a lot of ways the Bucs can lose. But Joe sees this game coming down to Ryan’s play.

If he can play the role of elite franchise quarterback, like he did against the Bucs four weeks ago, completing 77 percent of his passes and three touchdowns, then the Bucs will be in a world of trouble. The Bucs’ true superstars on defense really need to make plays like they all did Monday night.

Joe’s weekly segment on the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620 bounced between all the Bucs topics of the day, Greg Schiano, deep balls, the running game, Falcons issues & more.

Drafted in the second round by the Rams to take a load off/complement Steven Jackson, Bucs running back Brian Leonard has built a career as a backup.

He got some starts in that 2007 rookie season with Jackson hurt, and Leonard had a 100-yard game (18 carries for 102 yards), but there haven’t been many big opportunities since. Leonard spent each of the past four seasons as a third-down back playing behind a 1,000-yard rusher in Cincinnati.

Then he joined old friend Greg Schiano this year as a backup to Doug Martin, and recently as a complement to surprising rookie Mike James.

Now, with those two injured, Leonard will get a clear shot to carry the load. Leonard’s 20 carries against the Dolphins were a career high, and the 57-yard total wasn’t as bad as it seems. Leonard’s final two carries for -4 yards were simply to run out the clock.

Bucs newcomer RB Bobby Rainey grabbed headlines Monday night with his breakaway run and game-winning touchdown, but Joe has not doubt it will be Leonard that will get as much work as he can handle Sunday. Schiano believes Leonard’s “a winner,” and Joe is sure Schiano want the ball in the hands of a guy he trusts, considering his head coaching job is on the line.

Leonard’s a guy that has made big plays on special teams this season, and he’s done will with his opportunities in the backfield. (You can also see here Leonard making what probably was a touchdown-saving, win-saving tackle on the return of Mike Glennon’s interception Monday.)

Joe’s pulling for Leonard, a real team-first guy in the Bucs locker room.

Joe talked to Leonard this week about how fired up he must be to get another shot to be a No. 1 back. It took Leonard a good while to stop giving the team-first, I-know-my-role answers and admit he’s relishing this opportunity.

Prickly Pete Prisco and Pat Kirwan, the former Bucs scout, Jets defensive coach and Jets personnel man, gang up on Greg Schiano in this Bucs-Falcons preview for CBSSports.com.

Prisco says the Bucs don’t have momentum because they don’t like their head coach. Kirwan offered what he considers evidence.

“Let me back up Pete on the concept of [players] not liking Schiano,” Kirwan added. “They won their first game the other night and he didn’t get a Gatorade bath. That told me all I needed to know. When players don’t pour that Gatorade over the coach on a first win, pretty much you know how they feel about him.”

Kirwan goes on to break down the game and insists the Falcons will throw, throw, throw their way to victory again.

Joe gets the whole Gatorade theory, but Joe can’t put a lot of stock in that. Do players have to like their head coach? If the Bucs crank out a lousy effort that evokes the “Q” word, then Joe will know Bucs players are burying Schiano. Enjoy the video below.

Like any good Bucs fan, Joe despises trash-talking, perennial-Bucs-spanking Roddy White. The great Falcons wide receiver didn’t play against Tampa Bay in the Falcons’ 31-23 win four weeks ago, but he’s back on the field now.

In this AJC.com locker room video, White is asked about Darrelle Revis and why he’s better than a certain Seahawks cornerback. White had no problem explaining what sets Revis apart. White almost seemed humbled by Revis. “He’s got a whole different deal.”

As Bucs fans know, the New Schiano Order loves to stunt as much as Joe loves a Sunday of endless pizza, beer and football.

Buccaneers defensive linemen dance around like no other unit around. If Warren Sapp got that kind of experience, he might have actually won Dancing With the Stars back in 2008.

But Bucs D-linemen don’t like those stunts. They want to put the 1-on-1 pass rush skills they work on constantly in practice to use in games. They got that chance to close out — and win! — the Dolphins game Monday night. The results brought two sacks and a pressure that led to a Darrelle Revis interceptions.

Those kinds of results can’t been sustained, of course, and it’s likely the Bucs coaches call stunts so much because they don’t believe in their edge rushers. Regardless, things are expected to change Sunday, so says Gerald McCoy.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network on Wednesday evening, on WDAE-AM 620, McCoy said Greg Schiano and/or Bill Sheridan have seen been enlightened.

“What coach seen when he just let us go, give us an opportunity to finish a game, I think he seen it was, you know, successful. And I think we’ll get a lot more than that because he’s seen that it works. So far our gameplan this week is looking like that, so we’ll see,” McCoy said.  

This should be fun to watch.

Joe’s got a few words of advice for the D-line: Get after it. The only way they’ll be granted the opportunity to rush the passer in a straight line — regularly — is to prove they can do it.

One reason why Mike James, a third-day draft pick, developed into a productive runner is the coaching of running backs coach Earnest Byner, said Bucs OG David Joseph.

A lot has been made of the renewed rushing attack the past couple of weeks, with a third-day draft pick and a guy pulled off the street in Mike James and Bobby Rainey.

Much of the credit has been bestowed upon the offensive line, which for the first time all year has been blasting open holes. Some have suggested that inserting Jamon Meredith into the starting left guard slot is why the running came has come alive.

Bucs offensive right guard Davin Joseph said there is another name that is being left out in the discussion, a name that’s been a key cog in the running game rising from the dead like Lazarus. That would be running backs coach Earnest Byner.

“I can’t even take credit on [backup running backs ready to play]; they have a great coach in that room,” Joseph said. “Coach [running backs coach Earnest] Byner, he’s awesome. You really see how he prepares those guys and gets them ready for the game and really how he’s committed to them and their success. You plug guys in and they just take off, that’s just really a reflection on how good of a coach he really is. It’s good to have a guy like that on your staff.”

Unlike some coaches who are always trying fancy, cute things that rarely work (and when they go back to simple football, the results are stunning, ahem), Byner apparently doesn’t believe in cute. These running backs have been grinding out yards the old smashmouth football way.

This season, there is no question that Byner has earned every penny of his salary.

Bucs fans are used to seeing Lavonte David play great, game after game after game. And aside from a terribly public gaffe in Week 1 of the NFL season, David has demonstrated nothing but being one of the game’s best linebackers.

Case in point is a category called “run stuff,” which is stopping a ballcarrier at the line of scrimmage. In this stat, David has few if any peers, so notes the Buccaneers.

Since his first game with the team, Bucs LB Lavonte David has shown his run-stopping abilities. David has 9.0 run stuffs this season, the second-most in the NFL and most by a linebacker. Over the past two seasons, his 23.5 run stuffs trail only Houston DE J.J. Watt (30).

David is simply a ballhawk, there really is no other way to describe it. He is a tackling machine. Joe will have something later today on David when he spoke with him earlier in the week.

A sneak peek: David is as humble and modest of an NFL player as you will find. He’s friends with Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner, of Carolina and Seattle, respectively, two guys who David came into the league with last year and guys who are gaining a lot of notoriety for their stellar play. Well, David had something to say about those who suggest he is playing in their shadows.

Prior to the choking loss to the Seahawks, where the Bucs watched a three-touchdown lead vanish, easily the most disappointing unit throughout the Bucs season was the offensive line.

Thought to be a strength, the offensive line was getting worked over by many opponents, and Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin struggled to find creases to run through, and struggled mightily as a result.

But beginning with the Seattle game two weeks ago, the offensive line has been reborn. With Jamon Meredith inserted as the starting left guard, the Bucs have been pounding opponents, blowing open wide holes for running backs.

The Bucs look like a different team.

It would be easy to point to the move of Meredith into the starting lineup as the catalyst for the success of the line, but that may be a little too simple, suggested Demar Dotson. The Bucs’ starting right tackle believes a Come-to-Jesus meeting, where right guard and former Pro Bowler Davin Joseph demanded better play, kick-started the Bucs to block better prior to the Seattle game.

“Davin called a meeting and said enough is enough,” Dotson said. “We have to run the football and that’s what’s going to get this team going, and we took pride in it and put it on our shoulders and that’s what we’re taking pride in right now.”

Joseph is one of the coolest guys in the locker room. The term “even-keeled” personifies Joseph. So for him to take charge like that is a bit surprising but Dotson claims Joseph can and does behind the scenes.

“He has that type of personality,” Dotson said. “He’s just more quiet and laid back with it. He’s not a rah-rah in your-race with it, wanting all the attention. But he’s definitely the leader of this football team and of this offensive line, and he brought us all together and said we have to run this football for the football team to win games.

“He’s not just a guy who leads by his words. He leads by his actions. And he goes out every day and works hard. So when that guy, who’s been in Pro Bowl, is out there giving it everything he’s got, you can’t help but follow his lead.”

Joseph confirmed that he had enough of subpar blocking by both himself and his offensive linemates.

“Oh, when it comes to football I am very aggressive and assertive and all that good stuff,” Joseph said. “In life, I like to enjoy it so I smile and I enjoy certain things just like everybody else. When it comes to football, this is what we do to feed our families and earn our living. Definitely a certain amount of respect and time and everything you have to put into the game to expect the kind of results that you want.”

It’s Joe’s weekly podcast with radio veteran Ronnie Lane of WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network. Enjoy!

Prior to the season, Bucs coaches all but gave Dekoda Watson the starting gig at strongside linebacker when Quincy Black retired (?) due to nerve damage in his neck. It was time for Watson to sink or swim on his own, so the Bucs coaches thought.

Almost as an afterthought, the Bucs signed free agent Jonathan Casillas from New Orleans, considered to add depth or maybe push Watson.

Push, Casillas did indeed. So much so that Casillas has quietly supplanted Watson as the starting strongside linebacker, Bucs commander Greg Schiano all but confirmed today at his daily presser from One Buc Palace.

“I think a lot of it was the opportunity that Casillas got when Watson wasn’t 100 percent,” Schiano said. “He got the opportunity and took advantage of it. That is competitive sport. He did a good job when he got the chance so he got more (playing time). We talk all the time, you earn your piece of the pie around here. He deserved more.

“We are looking at ways we can use Dekoda as well. I mean, we are trying to use our best athletic guys in different ways so whether it is at linebacker or special teams where we are trying to get as much out of him as we can.

“I think Jonathan played well Monday night. Out in Seattle he played well. Very physical player, Jonathan.”

Here’s the interesting thing about Casillas and Watson: Both are unrestricted free agents after the season. The way Casillas has played, he’s going to hit a nice little Lotto ticket from some team next spring or summer. Watson very well may want to try his luck with another team. Now in his fourth-year in the NFL, all with the Bucs, Watson, aside from this season, has been nothing but a special teams kind of a guy and may want to see if he is a better fit elsewhere.

More suited as a pass rusher, Watson could want to explore playing as a defensive end/linebacker in a 34 defense.

So unless Team Glazer decides to pull out the checkbook (again), it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Bucs could be looking for another starting strongside linebacker for 2014.

Glennon’s deep-ball questions marks will be answered soon

Can Mike Glennon throw the deep ball effectively and consistently?

Nobody knows that for sure yet, but the leader of the New Schiano Order said today that fans are likely to find out soon. How about that!

“I think we’re going to see him do it in games,” Greg Schiano said. “I mean he does it out there [in practice] all the time. I think we’re going to see it in games. He’s very accurate, good touch, understands placement. And that’s why we keep trying to do it.

“Now we’ve got three [defensive pass interference calls] in the past two weeks. So, you know, we’ll take that. Hopefully, some of them start to land and they’re not DPIs. And then we can do some things. You know, it doesn’t only have to be deep and outside. We can do deep all over the field, as well. So we’ll continue to take shots. I think those deep outside comebacks that he’s hit Ti [Underwood] on, he can rip those. Some of those throws are really good rips. That is maybe eight feet high. We’ll keep doing that.”

Underwood has shown he can get open and make plays, now he just has to catch the ball more consistently. It’s a damn shame Glennon doesn’t have Mike Williams around, but that’s the NFL.

Glennon’s ability to connect deep, and execute the difficult decision-making it takes to be a good deep-ball QB, will go a long way toward determining his future as a starter.

As Joe’s written previously, the Bucs don’t just need a QB, they need a quarterback who’s not the worst starter in the division. Teams don’t win Super Bowls with the fourth-best guy.

Yes, concussions are brain injuries. Look it up.

Half-sack-man Da’Quan Bowers missed practice again today as a result of concussion-like symptoms. Bowers reported his problems to the team following the Monday night’s comeback win against the Dolphins.

Will Bowers play Sunday? That’s unknown. Would it matter? That’s unknown, too.

Bucs defensive ends are struggling mightily this season to get to the quarterback, but the Bucs still have a stout run defense, ranked fifth in the NFL on the heels of being the NFL’s best last season. Bowers doesn’t play much against the run.

Joe hopes for Bowers’ speedy return. It would be nice if the Bucs would just let him play a lot in the final seven meaningless games. It would be great to evaluate Bowers. We’ve already seen what Daniel Te’-O Nesheim has to offer — seven tackles and one sack in 10 games this season.

“I saw a guy [in Gerald McCoy] that was mature, ready to take the next step, very into it in the meetings, very intelligent. And so you’d just like to think and hope that this year he can build and bring some guys with him. Because true great players bring, you know, other players’ level of play to a different level. That’s what we’d like to expect from him this season.” — Former All-Pro and current Bucs pass rush coach Bryan Cox, June 2013.

Is Gerald McCoy raising the play of those around him? Joe’s not sure. The play of every returning Bucs defensive end has regressed.

After getting the above quote from Bryan Cox, Joe’s been keeping a close eye on McCoy’s leadership skills. So McCoy’s words last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network, via WDAE-AM 620, really got Joe’s attention.

Bucs fans have already heard about how Lavonte David stepped forward at the two-minute warning Monday night and demanded the Bucs defense make plays and refuse to lose — now! The influence of David’s speech was referenced by Greg Schiano and Darrelle Revis, among many others. It was, perhaps, a defining moment in David’s career.

But McCoy said the impactful influence of David continued after the Bucs’ sack (Daquan Bowers/William Gholston) on first down, just before McCoy’s sack on second down.

“Lavonte David came to me before that play, and he grabbed me. Because we had got the sack before on a blitz and he grabbed me and said, ‘now it’s your turn.’ He said, ‘You go get this one.’ Most people don’t know that. But he grabbed me and said, ‘You go get this one.’ I’m like, ‘OK. Alright. I’ll go get it.”

Joe wants to know why McCoy, a team captain, isn’t the guy grabbing teammates and leading. This is no knock on McCoy, but the Bucs are desperate for that kind of on-field leadership, which doesn’t seem to be McCoy’s style. That’s probably why Cox was challenging McCoy in that area. Joe heard stories last week of Warren Sapp, when Sapp would watch JumboTron replays on the field so he could call out teammates that missed their assignments.

The other 2013 defensive captain, Dashon Goldson? He seems to lead on the field, unfortunately, by bad example.

Joe’s got a hunch David and Darrelle Revis will be voted Bucs defensive captains next year, if McCoy can’t “bring some guys with him.”

Darrelle Revis isn’t completely back to his Revis Island self yet, but he’s having a strong season and is sure to return to Hawaii in February.

But Revis doesn’t just impress opponents. Veterans in the Bucs locker room steadily are learning more about what it means to be one of the all-time greats. Bucs backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky, a nine-year veteran of four teams, is a true student of the game and is a guy some consider future coaching material.

Orlovsky said yesterday he’s never seen any player’s professionalism top that of Revis.

“I go against him on the scout team and our receivers will come back [to the huddle] and be like, ‘he knows our route.’ You know, and that’s on a Wednesday, it’s impressive, because that means on Monday and Tuesday he’s really taking his job seriously,” Orlovsky said. “I’m telling you; it’s impressive. It’s as impressive as any player I’ve been around as far as doing their job.”

(To translate a bit, scout team players come out on Wednesday and run plays that week’s opposition are likely to run in order to prepare the first-team defense. Revis knowing routes means he’s put in the advance homework to school himself.)

Joe’s waiting to see when Revis will fully assert himself as a leader on the Bucs defense. Joe suspects Revis has been giving more attention to perfecting his knee and adjusting to his new team. He was a leader with the Jets, and look for Revis to grab more of that role here, especially when he can participate completely in the Bucs’ offseason training.