America’s harshest critic of Barrett Ruud is no doubt former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles, co-host of The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Numerous times on the air Beckles has gone wild on Ruud and challenged readers to sit down with him and watch film of Ruud and prove that he’s a good linebacker. In short, Beckles thinks Ruud is softer than a black banana.

Beckles isn’t shy, so it’s no surprise he confronted Raheem Morris about Ruud’s play during an interview today. The head coach was ready — with a backhanded compliment of Ruud.

“I know you’re one of Barrett Ruud’s biggest critics, but he just brings so much more to the table than the lack of physicality,” Raheem said, not challenging Beckles’ claims that Ruud is too soft.

Raheem explained that Ruud is so valuable in coverage and in leadership, among other areas.

And Raheem gave yet another indicator that the Bucs place a high value on Ruud. Raheem told Beckles that the Bucs might need to lean on Ruud and other free agents if the lockout drags on. 

Shortented time to prepare rookies and young players “increases the importance of free agents, your guy [Ruud] so to speak,” Raheem said.

Joe will have more from Raheem’s interview later.

Ruud holds a place in Raheem's heart

If Joe’s favorite Vegas sportsbook took odds on free agent signings, the line on the Bucs re-signing Barrett Ruud would have gone down yesterday.

Raheem Morris all but told J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010 to read between the lines when it comes to the head coach’s desire to bring back his leading tackler and most notable free agent on defense.

Raheem Morris: Those guys you just mentioned, Davin Joseph, Barrett Ruud, Quincy Black all the guys potentially free agents, all the guys that may be free agents, or whatever the case may be. The only thing you can say about those guys is they’ve got a lot of money in my emotional bank account. Those guys have made plays for us. Those guys have gone out every day and sweat. They’ve gone out every day and led. They’ve done it the right way, and hopefully things will work out for Tampa, and we don’t lose good players. And we get a chance to re-sign our guys like we always talked about. You know, everybody’s always talking about free agency in Tampa, but we want to go out and draft guys, bring them here, let them play well and then re-sign them. And that’s how our free agency kind of goes because we want to keep the guys on our team that we feel like can help us win championships.

Joe doesn’t doubt the Bucs’ interest in Ruud. The real question is what the Bucs think he’s worth — and what Ruud thinks he’s worth. Hopefully, the damn lockout is kicked to the curb this week and Bucs fans can get a quick answer.

Raheem Morris was on fire talking about his team and some of his new young men yesterday. The head coach brought his A-game energy to an interview with J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010 and said he has big plans for fifth-round pick Ahmad Black.

Raheem likened the former Gators safety/cornerback to Cody Grimm and Tanard Jackson (pre-drugs) and said only Black’s pre-draft measurables are what draft him into the fifth round. But the Bucs, Raheem says, don’t care much about those numbers.

Raheem on Ahmad Black: We’re in the room and Ahmad Black’s on the board, and we’re in the fifth round. And I looked right at Mark Dominik and he looked at me, and we looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, if we didn’t have a combine the week before, we would have took Ahmad Black in the second [round].’ Throw all that stuff out the window. He’s a football player. He reminds me of a guy like Cody Grimm that’s going to come in here and shock some people and potentially get on the field. Or another guy that came in here and did really well for us as a rookie, Tanard Jackson going out there being a shocker in the fourth round and transitioning from a corner. Man, this guy Ahmad Black, man, when he gets on the football field, he’s got ball skills, he’s got awareness, he knows what to do when he gets the ball in his hands, and he absolutely loves the game. And that’s the kind of guys we want to have.

Joe finds it interesting and important that Raheem said “potentially get on the field.”

Frankly, Joe’s not sure many Bucs fans are tuned into the reality of the 2011 Bucs. This is not a team where rookies are necessarily going to get playing time. And they’ll have to fight a lot harder than last year to make the roster.

In 2010, the Bucs needed unprecedented numbers of rookies to come in and not just play, but play extremely well.  This season, especially considering Mark Dominik’s reputation, late-round picks might be on other teams before opening day.

There are players on the Bucs roster that if the recent draft didn’t raise their antennae, then they are in for a rude awakening whenever training camps begins this summer (fall?).

Good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times yesterday afternoon listed several (one of which is Kyle Moore, who Joe wrote about as well). Holder writes about Bucs players as winners and losers in the draft and atop the list he has for Bucs losers is middle linebacker Barrett Ruud.

Barrett Ruud: The Bucs plan to have third-round pick Mason Foster begin his career at middle linebacker, which is of great significance to Ruud. The four-year starter at middle linebacker is a free agent and is looking for a long-awaited payday after having his free agency postponed last year because of the uncapped season.

There have been some ill feelings on Ruud’s part because he wasn’t offered a contract extension as Donald Penn — also a restricted free agent at the time — was.

The addition of Foster doesn’t automatically mean the Bucs are moving on. But it does mean Tampa Bay, at a minimum, has a Plan B in place and will certainly use that to their advantage in contract negotiations.

Joe will have more about Ruud and Raheem Morris later today that Bucs fans will want to read. But Joe’s not ready to pack the U-Haul for Ruud quite yet. Many Bucs fans simply cannot grasp the concept that in Raheem Morris’ defense, Ruud is not required or asked to be a prototypical linebacker that every football fan has a popular image of. In layman’s terms, Ruud is a glorified safety; not a linebacker.

Putting a Ray Lewis or Jack Lambert-type middle linebacker in Morris’ defense would be a horrible fit, like having a wishbone quarterback play instead of Josh Freeman. To have such a linebacker would mean Morris would have to completely rebuild and retool the defense.

In other words, it would be a return to the heinous Jim Bates Experiment.

More than a few Bucs fans have to hit a bottle of Mylanta daily — along with other types of bottles — nauseated over the fact the Bucs will once again play a home game in London.

Bucs fans have tried to come up with various scapegoats for the decision, the most (un)popular of which is that damned English kickball team that Team Glazer owns. That property is a veritable pinata for Bucs fans who blame the team for just about everything from beer prices at The CITS to the high pollen count from oak trees.

But Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune states the Bucs playing another home game in London was more a favor Team Glazer did for NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell in his time of need.

Oh, and there is a silver lining for Bucs fans in the Bears game being moved to London, so Cummings details in a TBO Bucs Q & A article.

Q: Does anyone know why the Bucs are going back to London for the second time in three years? With only five games played in London, the Bucs are the only team going twice — and most have not played there. Worse, the Bucs are giving up two home games to play there. Is this because they cannot sell out at home? Or is it because the Glazers own Manchester United? Considering the NFL originally planned for all the teams to go there (in a cycle), it seems a little early to break that policy. I think there is a story behind this.

Sam Shukovsky, Wilton, CT

A: First off, the Bucs are going to London again because the league asked if they wanted to and the team said yes. Why they were asked to go for a second time when others haven’t gone once is uncertain, but it no doubt has something to do with the uncertainty regarding the CBA and the start of the season. The league needed to set this game and probably took the first teams to agree to go. Second, the Bucs see it as an opportunity to market their team, even to the fans back home. There is a fear on their part of the game not selling out at home and it not being shown locally. They’ve agreed to reimburse the season-ticket holders for their loss. The good news is that this “home” game will be seen locally on TV. Had it not sold out, it would not have been. The only people losing out in that case are the season ticket holders, and they’re being reimbursed.

— Woody Cummings

True, the game played in London ensures that Bucs fans will get to watch the game on TV in the Tampa Bay market, Joe gets that. But with a game in October, Bears fans, fresh off an appearance in the NFC Championship game, would have flocked to the Tampa Bay area all but locking up a sellout.

In October, the weather has already turned miserable and lousy in Chicago, which it is for nine months of the year.

Since Team Glazer did a favor for Goodell, perhaps Goodell can do a favor for Bucs fans, you know, like getting a damned CBA locked up sooner than freaking later.

Or at least give the Tampa Bay area another Super Bowl.

In his trial in New York in an attempt to skate on pot charges, former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms threw his friends under the bus claiming they were the ones smoking left-handed cigarettes.

New York cops had a different story, per Scott Shifrel of the New York Daily News.

Chris Simms was so stoned that the Tennessee Titans quarterback was “like a zombie,” the cop who arrested him at a traffic stop told jurors on Monday.

Simms, 30, son of former Giants quarterback Phil Simms, reeked of marijuana and refused to take a blood test after the July 1 stop, Police Officer Francisco Acosta said.

“He was out of it, like a zombie,” Acosta told jurors. “He was very, very unsteady on his feet.”

The thing is, if Simms would have just sucked it up he would have had a wrist-slap by New York authorities. Instead, Simms, per Shifrel, is looking at a year in a cage if convicted.

How dare popcorn-shoveling NFL scribe Peter King, of Sports Illustrated, write that Team Glazer has a limit on what it would pay a player even if said player is a superstar.

Didn’t King read Joel Glazer’s famous quote,”Money will never be an issue when building this team?” How dare King all but say he thinks Glazer’s comments are hogwash. Why would King attack the credibility of Team Glazer?

King shared his toughts in his recent mailbag at SI.com.  

"That's nice, Drew. But we're going to bury you this year."

Of course, Joe hates the Saints and can’t wait for Adrian Clayborn to shatter Drew Brees’ face mask.

But Joe keeps track of all things Bucs-related, and in the world of lockout journalism, Saints players launching organized workouts in a big way is Bucs news. NFL.com reported a majority of Saints are attending the camp at Tulane University and caught Brees talking big.

“We have everything here we would have at our training facility. Guys were here in bigger numbers than even I expected,” Brees said.

He added: “The more organized you can be as a team, the more you can communicate during May, June, July, the better. None of us know how long (the lockout) is going to go on. This gives us the best position to be successful once the season does start.

“It helps when you have veteran guys like (safety Darren) Sharper, (linebacker Jonathan) Vilma, Stinchcomb showing up.”

Now Joe knows Josh Freeman worked out at USF recently with what Tampa Tribune beat writer Anwar Richardson reported were skill position players.

But this Saints stuff with 37 guys showing up and private trainers, and covered by NFL.com, is enough to start Joe wondering when Freeman will round up the rest of the team and do something similar.  

Get’em out there Josh.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Prospects falling down in the draft are nothing new for the NFL. 

Warren Sapp fell significantly for rumored drug use. Aaron Rogers fell for no good reason. And now that Alex Smith is basically a bust for San Francisco and Rogers is hugging the Lombardi Trophy, we all know it was for no good reason. 

There are plenty of those stories over the years, but maybe no other matches the fall of Da’Quan Bowers. Bowers was the early favorite at the top of most draft boards after Andrew Luck decided to stay in school. The question about the ACC Defensive Player of the Year falling from the top of the board to the middle of the second round, not because of drug use, which never became an issue for future Hall-of-Famer Sapp, is his physical health.

The most prominent or maybe the only issue is a surgically repaired knee that his college coach said didn’t respond as well as they had hoped to some kind of surgery.

The word on the street is that he has a degenerative arthritic knee and is “bone on bone.” If this turns out to be a single issue, I believe he will be able to overcome it through medical technology.

There are a number of products that “create” cartilage to give the knee back the cushiony space needed to have the joint move smoothly without the bone rubbing and wearing out on both the top and bottom of the knee. I actually work for the company (sanofi-aventis) that just bought the company (Genzyme) that is the leader in this kind of surgery called “Carticel.” I don’t know for sure if this is what he already had done, but it sounds like it may have been.

It is obvious that every team in the league saw more of an issue with his knee or other problems that made them pass on his outrageous potential, but the Buccaneers will not get any blame for giving this talented player a chance, even if he never becomes a significant contributor.

However, they will be given major credit if he turns out to be the player that was talented enough to be on top of draft boards, even if it was for only a short time and even if his career is shorter than it should be.

His highlights are more impressive than any other defensive lineman that went before him. 

Every team in the league has missed on first-round picks and subsequent picks. Da’Quan Bowers’ role model was fellow Clemson DE Gaines Adams, a miss by the Buccaneers at No. 4 overall pick in 2007 and traded by 2009. Another recent miss was wide receiver Dexter Jackson, a second round pick in 2008 gone the next year. Even with those misses, the Buccaneers are poised to be one of the better teams in the league next year and into the future, so taking Bowers at No. 51 was certainly worth the risk, because the reward could be off the charts.

On another note, the draft isn’t quite as exciting when your team doesn’t have a need at quarterback, but how comforting to know the Bucs have no need at QB. I don’t think I would trade Josh Freeman for any other quarterback in the league right now!

Joe loves to be associated with champions, and in the world of auto dealerships that champion is Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa. Their customer service and great deals are second to none, in addition to their fabulous charitable work in the Tampa Bay community.

In fact, Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa recently was honored by Cadillac with its prestigious Dealer of the Year award.

So check out their new and pre-owned inventory online now, or just head to their beautiful showroom at 101 E. Fletcher Ave. in Tampa.

If the drafting of Adrian Clayborn didn’t get the attention of Bucs soon-to-be third year defensive end Kyle Moore, then the selection of Da’Quan Bowers must have.

Moore, who Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik had high hopes for when he spent a fourth round pick for in 2009, has had pretty much zero impact with the Bucs defense.

To be fair, Moore, who has yet to record an NFL sack and has a grand total of 28 tackles, was hurt his rookie year and never did get on the right track. There really was no excuse for last year when he was all but invisible. Joe knows though his sources that the Bucs hierarchy has been disappointed in his lack of progress.

This may have been one of the reasons why Todd Wash was waved goodbye after last season. The younger players on the line such as Roy Miller and Gerald McCoy, along with Moore, either regressed or never progressed.

Now enter two stud defensive ends.

The knee jerk reaction would be that Stylez White is on his way out. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune told Tom Krasniqi of WHBO-AM 1040 yesterday that it seems to be a mere formality that White, a free agent, is gone.

Joe isn’t quite ready to buy that, though Cummings makes a compelling case that the Bucs covet others on the defensive line such as Alex Magee more than White. Even though White had just a meager 4.5 sacks through 16 games, he still led the Bucs in sacks. No one knows with any certainty if Clayborn or Bowers will do much next year so why not keep Stylez as a safety net? Mark Dominik even put a restricted free agent tender on him already.

It’s possible that Clayborn will get a starting nod off the bat since he is both a first round pick and will play right defensive end, which is where White played.

If Bowers is healthy, he would play on the left side, which is Moore’s side.

Joe’s going to guess that Moore gets one more year, one more chance with the new defensive line coaches to prove himself. If, with the new coaches and plenty of talent surrounding him, Moore still can’t take advantage and is still as invisible as he was the past two seasons, Joe’s confident Moore will not be in a Bucs uniform come 2012.

Joe enjoyed a chat today with Bucs seventh-round pick Anthony Gaitor, who graduated from Florida International University this afternoon. Joe could sense Gaitor is a Raheem Morris kind of guy — real high-energy and positive. Gaitor, who played multiple positions in the secondary and returned kicks and punts at FIU, said he’s been a Bucs fan for years and talked about his experience at One Buc Place and more.

JoeBucsFan.com: So you grew up in Miami, are you a Dolphins fan?

Anthony Gaitor: Actually I’ve been a Bucs fan for a long time. Three guys from my high school, Torrie Cox, Antonio Bryant and Nate Webster, were Buccaneers and everybody knew who those guys were.

Joe: Did you ever meet them at high school?

Gaitor: I did. Antonio Bryant talked to the guys at school and gave me pointers, told me to stay focused and inspired me telling me I could be in the NFL.

Joe: I read you were 150 pounds entering college. Is that accurate? Did your size hold you back and how did you put on weight?

Gaitor: That’s right. I learned quickly how to eat the right things and hit the weight room. I learned those lessons fast. I had to. No matter what my size I was putting in the work and playing hard. I came from the bottom in a lot of ways. I had to push myself. I always had that type of energy. I’ve always demanded of myself to be better than my opponent. That’s me.

Joe: Your 40 time at your pro day dropped down to 4.45 and 4.5 after you worked with a trainer and that caught the eye of scouts. What happened there?

Gaitor: Really I just worked with trainer Cliff Marshall on proper running techniques and form for the sprint. It gives you an edge. The techniques were new to me.

Joe: So would you say you’ve always had great football speed but you just learned how to run a better 40?

Gaitor: Both, I guess. The techniques help all around.

Joe: Tell me about your visit to One Buc Place.

Gaitor: Oh man. I felt like I was home already. They showed me a lot of love. It’s a great facility. We watched film of me and film of the [Bucs] DBs and how they run their schemes. We went over some plays. …[Raheem] said, ‘When I first saw you, you jumped off film.’ He said he liked that I played hard and fast. It was first class.

Joe: So what can Bucs fans expect of your game?

Gaitor: They’re getting a playmaker. They’re getting a guy who can change the game. But they’re mostly getting a hard worker. I got a chip on my shoulder. I gotta work to be the best. Right now I’m just tyring to work to make the roster. Whatever I have to do. 

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996) was on fire this morning on the WDAE-AM 620 airwaves blasting out takes on the Bucs draft.

Beckles advised fans to not expect much from the Bucs defensive line this season and to wait for the youngsters to mature in 2012 and 2013. But he’s very upbeat on the D-line’s potential.

Beckles said Gerald McCoy following a serious injury “has got to start from scratch again,” and all we know about McCoy is that “he had three sacks and was getting better.” Beckles said McCoy was “improving from doing nothing” early in the season, so he has a lot to prove.

On Brian Price, Beckles said his injury woes are “excuses.” That may sound harsh, Beckles said, but “that’s what his coaches think … because that’s how NFL coaches are.”

Beckles likes the Adrian Clayborn pick in the first round, he says, largely because Clayborn seems to be a player stout against the run, something the Bucs desperately need.

And Beckles tossed a bucket of cold water on Da’Quan Bowers, telling fans to realize he fell from No. 1 because he has a bad knee. Beckles said Mark Dominik downplaying concerns about Bowers following the draft is simply spin. “He’s the GM. He has to say that,” Beckles said. “Bowers led the country in sacks. C’mon.”

Joe will save Beckles’ take on Barrett Ruud’s demise the Mason Foster pick for later.

The word on the street from NFL scouts is that Bucs fourth round draft pick Luke Stocker from Tennessee is a physical freak but his problem is producing each game.

This information comes from Bob Papa who co-hosted “The Opening Drive” with Ross Tucker heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio.

A Bucs fan had called the show this morning to discuss some of the Bucs’ Day 3 picks when Papa released his information on Stocker.

Bucs fan: Da’Quan Bowers is a steal no matter how long he lasts. But can you speak about the tight end and the defensive back the Bucs took Saturday. Oh, and the Bucs need to resign Barrett Ruud.

Ross Tucker: Ahmad Black was exceptional playing for the Florida Gators but he tested out horribly. His best time was 4.7 but he ran some 4.8 times. It’s amazing he is that good of a player for being that slow. He has great ball skills and he must with those times.

Bob Papa: That is crazy. That’s less than a second faster than me.

Tucker: Right, and he is smaller than you.

Papa: I spoke with some scouts at the Senior Bowl and they told me Stocker is really an intriguing guy. It’s just a consistency thing with him. He needs to make plays game in and game out. He has the physical attributes but the thing is he needs to maximaze his potential each and every play. You look at him and think, “Wow, he should come in and really help.”

To Joe, this boils down to coaching. If Stocker is coached up, he should be able to be a bit more consistent. But it’s great to hear via scouts that Stocker has the ability to shine on the next level.

Everyone can analyze the Bucs’ draft 20 different ways, but it’s very clear the Bucs made at least one bold statement: the team is happy returning its 2010 offense.

It’s interesting, considering the Bucs were 20th in the NFL last year in points scored and 19th in total yards, even with Josh Freeman have a stunning season through the air and on the ground.

The Bucs didn’t address the offense until halfway through the draft. Fourth-round pick Luke Stocker seems to be a solid player, but Kellen Winslow is still the go-to guy in the passing game, and there’s no reason to think that’s going to change. And sixth-round running back Allen Bradford has about zero chance of being a starter.

Obviously, the Bucs envision Freeman, the receivers, LeGarrette Blount and the offense improving from experience, but that’s hardly a given. 

The odds of the Bucs adding a skill position player in free agency seem about as likely has Joe dating Bucs cheerleaders, so this is it. There’s a lot riding on Freeman and Blount’s big shoulders.

Popular sports radio personality Adam Schein is driving the Bucs bandwagon through Manhattan with FoxSports.com’s Peter Schrager riding shotgun in this FoxSports.com video.

Another positive element of the Bucs drafting Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn is that, per widely excepted perception, Iowa is a well-coached team.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz comes from the Bill Belicheat family coaching tree, having coached with Belicheat when Belicheat coached the Cleveland Browns. This, per Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register, Clayborn’s coaching at Iowa helped Clayborn overcome a substandard senior season to become a first round pick.

Clayborn was the fifth first-round selection from Iowa since Ferentz became the coach in 1999, and the second in as many years. Offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga was the 23rd player selected last season, by the Green Bay Packers.

“I’ve had general managers tell me in the past that when you draft an Iowa player, it’s like getting a second-year pro,” said former Iowa player Matt Bowen, a writer for the National Football Post. “You’re getting players who have already played in pro offensive and defensive schemes when you draft Iowa guys.”

Well, certainly this is a plus for Joe. The thing that will be very interesting to Joe is how the two new defensive line coaches the Bucs hired coach up these young guys, including Gerald McCoy and Brian Price.

Joe just has a hunch that Clayborn had better coaching at Iowa than Todd Wash provided to the Bucs the past two seasons.

Reggie Eller is a Bucs fan who owns a website “Plant the Spear,” and is a hardcore Florida State fan who covers Florida State football like Joe someday wants to blanket himself around Rachel Watson. Eller was giddy the Bucs drafted Clemson defenisve end Da’Quan Bowers not just because he’s a Bucs fan, but also because Florida State won’t have to face the guy again.

Here, Eller decribes what a terror Bowers was against a pretty fair offensive line the Seminoles had. He also provided some screengrabs of Clemson against Florida State to demonstrate how often Bowers was in the Seminoles backfield.

By Reggie Eller
PlantTheSpear.com
When the Clemson Tigers came to Tallahassee on Nov. 13, I was able to see Da’Quan Bowers up close and personal and the talent he brought really jumped out at me.

The first thing I noticed with Da’Quan Bowers is his size and tremendous bulk at the defensive end position. He is a prototypical 4-3 defensive end and has always shown great instincts when playing the position — even back in high school.

When he lined up against Florida State — honestly the only times he was stopped with any consistency was when he was held. Bowers managed to push around around offensive lineman Zebrie Sanders as well as anyone else he lined up against.

Bowers always managed to get good penetration on the offense against Florida State, not only with his excellent hands, but a stellar burst off the ball (even injured), as well as good leverage at, before, and after the contact point. His bread and butter is the pass rush, but he sometimes gets overlooked for his excellent rush defense as well which he was able to show off versus Florida State.

At the time of the Florida State game this past season, Bowers’ knee already had been injured, and looking back on that assuming he can get back healthy, this pick by the Buccaneers may be the steal people are talking about years from now. I say that because Da’Quan still showed great lateral movement, good closing speed, the ability to penetrate a very good offensive line in FSU, great agility, and no problem with change of direction.

Da’Quan is a guy who anchors really well, and even going up against a solid offensive lineman, Bowers has some of the best disengaging technique I have seen in a long time from a DE.

Da’Quan finished the game versus FSU with nine tackles, six of which were solo, a sack, and an interception.

The kudos continue to pour in for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, as NFL fans largely veg on the couch today after three days of non-stop football chatter. It’s like it’s New Years Day and nursing an ugly hangover soaking up college football (only Joe is enjoying the Rays).

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com is on board with all the accolades Dominik is receiving after looking over what the Bucs did the past three days.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Best pick: Getting Da’Quan Bowers in the second round will be a huge steal if the medical holds up. I love the risk. Wow.

Questionable move: Taking Bowers. Because, then again, it could blow up in their faces.

Third-day gem: Safety Ahmad Black, the team’s fifth-round pick, is small for his position but he’s a heck of a football player. He should be able to excel on special teams as a rookie.

Analysis: For the third straight year, the Bucs hit big in the draft. General manager Mark Dominik is building something special down there. The first two picks of ends Adrian Clayborn and Bowers means Tampa Bay has used four premium picks on the line in the past two years.

Grade: A

Of course, it’s way too premature to judge if Dominik hit an 80-yard bomb this weekend or if he had a pass returned for a pick-six. The key to how huge this draft will be is Bowers.

As Pat Kirwan said yesterday on Sirius NFL Radio, if someone told you that you would only have Bowers for four years due to his gimpy knee but those four years would be lights out seasons, you couldn’t sign him quickly enough.

He sucks. He’s great. He’s an irreplaceable cog in the Bucs defense. He’s softer than natural breasts.

There are so many opinions on Barrett Ruud, easily the most polarizing figure among Bucs fans. Not since blocking icon Michael Clayton left the building has a player risen the blood pressure of so many.

St. Pete Times beat writer Stephen Holder threw more gasoline on the debate today speculating that Bucs third-round pick Mason Foster might have been drafted as Ruud’s replacement.

The selection of Washington linebacker Mason Foster in the third round was billed by the team as a choice that gives the Bucs numerous options. And this seems apparent given the fact Foster literally played all three linebacker positions for the Huskies as well as showing a great deal of edge rush ability.

But here’s a window into the Bucs’ thinking on Foster: They intend to use him as a middle linebacker. That’s the team’s intent right now, and it doesn’t bode well for Barrett Ruud. We can’t say that any decision has been made on Ruud, who will be a free agent whenever the NFL re-opens for business.

But here’s the thing: At minimum, even if the Bucs intend to re-sign Ruud, they had to protect themselves against losing him on the open market. By selecting Foster, the Bucs feel they’ve done that.

Of course, what makes Holder’s premise a bit difficult to completely accept is his beat comrade at the Times, Rick Stroud, just explained Raheem Morris “loves” Ruud. Which is it, guys? And Mark Dominik has talked over and over again how the Bucs’ core beliefs include re-signing their own free agents, and Ruud is one of those guys.

Joe likes the Foster pick, but for those who hope he’s going to walk in and be an upgrade from Ruud, that’s a tall order for a late third-round pick, or for Tyron McKenzie, the former Patriots third-rounder waiting in the wings.