You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe also wants you to get to know THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the team goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

WANTED: 30,000 bandwagon fans needed to fill seats at Raymond James Stadium on Sundays. Must be willing to wear current Buccaneers garb and put a few stickers on your cars when the team is 6-3.

No joke, that is exactly what we need Bucs fans. Of course, I’m talking to the real Bucs fans out there, the ones who cheer on the Bucs even when they are 3-13 — even if you haven’t heard of too many of our players, yet. 

No one knew who Derrick Brooks, John Lynch or Ronde Barber was in 1997, they called our defense the no-name defense in that year’s Detroit playoff game, because they were no name at the time.

Well, Raymond James Stadium, much like its predecessor Tampa Stadium (I refuse to ever call it Houlihans) is suffering from a case of the empties. Yes, the economy has something to do with it, and so does the fact this team is starting over and coming off a bad losing season.

But we have seen this before in Tampa, and there is a reason why; we don’t have 12 million fans to pull from, we have a small percentage of that, so it’s reasonably safe to assume there are only about 30,000 die hard Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans who are willing to go to every game out there. There always has been, and probably always will be.

Go back to the late 1980s and early 1990’s during the last recession; NFL teams were having trouble with attendance then, too. But while some cities like Baltimore (1983), Houston, and St. Louis (Cardinals) were putting sometimes less than 10,000 in the stands, our Bucs were always showing an attendance of about 30k.

Why? Well, because that is how many Bucs fans there are in this area that will go to the games each week. So what do we need?

Bandwagon Fans!

Bring ‘em on! I don’t hate ‘em anymore! Put your brand new pewter decals on your car (Right over the faded marks of where you took them off back in 2003). Won’t bother me a bit.  Talk about the big name Bucs players from the old days that got away, like Thomas Jones. I’ll know you mean Steve Young.

It’s all good, because I will at least be able to watch my four Bucs games on my HD TV without having to resort to a 420×280 pixel screen on my computer in BS definition (Below Standard) to enjoy my beloved team that I have rooted for on Sundays for 31 seasons now!

I just don’t like to go to every single game, just like the 40,000 people who were represented by empty seats in the final preseason game against Jacksonville. I don’t want to pay to watch Josh Johnson and Rudy Carpenter.

I also don’t want to pay for my sunburn during early and mid-September games, when I can lay out in my yard and scorch for free! SPF15 should be a running play, not an item that should legally be required to be handed out to fans to prevent cancer!

No, Im not bitter, I’m over that. I don’t care if you’ve been rooting for the Bucs since the old days of Chris Simms while I’ve been cheering the Bucs on since they lost a chance at a perfect 6-0 record by losing to his father’s first start. Doesn’t bother me a bit. Just fill that stadium up please; as long as they are wearing pewter, red, or even orange, I won’t care anymore.

Offer valid while supplies of losses last.

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

Spin the Bucs waiving Clifton Smith however you want. But the Bucs just cut a great returner they can’t replace.

Nice move by the personel czar. Way to improve the team. That’s going to sell a pile of tickets.

Smith was successful in 2008, and successful in 2009. Micheal Spurlock is a nice story and a great talent, but the same special teams coach, Rich Bisaccia, let the guy go after being the Bucs kick returner for half a season in 2007 — and nobody picked him up.

THE PESSIMIST just has to put it out there that this 27-year-old Spurlock guy is not Smith. Not even in the same league.

Spurlock the receiver has no career catches, so please don’t start telling me the Bucs need this guy in their receiving corps. If they do, then just shoot THE PESSIMIST now.

It was a crappy move.

It wasn’t a real surprise that Clifton “Peanut” Smith was cut loose by the Bucs today when the pewter pirates signed a couple of unheralded players off the waiver wire, one being a running back.

Smith, though a former Pro Bowl returner, was on thin ice due to his illness and his habit of putting the ball on the ground.

Courageously, Smith galloped with gout this preseason, but it was his past that caught up with him (fumbles).

With the return of (run) Michael (run) Spurlock, the return ability of Sammie Stroughter and the emergence of Preston Parker, Smith was expendable.

Had Smith been able to take care of the ball better, he may have had a lot more touches as a running back, and thus secured a job. That didn’t happen and now Smith is looking for work.

Joe hopes Peanut finds a new job. He’s a good guy and a talented guy. He just needs to find a way, some way, to hold onto the ball.

The Tampa Tribune’s version of James Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander, Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings, discuss how Earnest Graham will do this season in the latest TBO Bucs vlog.

But that’s not all. The duo also discuss the joys of board games including Candyland, Monopoly and Life.

Joe’s going to go out on a sturdy, low-hanging limb and suggest with the exception of Kareem Huggins, the running back position will be the weakest unit on the Bucs this season.

St. Petersburg Times beat writer Rick Stroud took a break from deleting Tweets breaking new ground on Twitter to touch base with now former Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton last night.

In short, Clayton seemed in good spirits, though not happy. Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, per the quotes cobbled together from Stroud, seemed more meloncholy than Clayton.

Tampa Bay ended the relationship with its enigmatic receiver by releasing Clayton, whom they will pay not to play this season.

It was the closest thing to an admission by general manager Mark Dominik that the organization made a mistake last year in signing Clayton to a five-year, $26 million extension with $10 million guaranteed, including $3 million for 2010.

“I hate to characterize a person as a mistake,” Dominik said. “I will say this: Some of the people I have the most respect for in the National Football League are the people that make the decisions for the right reasons for their organization. I’ve always kind of followed that mind-set… “

Stroud went on to point out that Clayton had fallen so out of favor with the Bucs, that in theory he would have been the No. 8 receiver since the Bucs kept seven after the final roster cut.

Dominik noted Clayton took the news well. Of course he would. It’s not like he’s not going to get a salary this year. Joe’s not suggesting Clayton is happy but if the guy has cash coming in whether he plays or not, that will temper the emotions of losing a gig.

With seven wide receivers now on the Bucs, Saturday’s question of the day for Mark Dominik was, how many of these guys might actually make the 45-man, gameday roster?

Dominik, per his news conference video on Buccaneers.com, glowed about the great special teams value of rookie Preston Parker and then was hit with a question about veteran newcomer Reggie Brown’s chances of making an impact.

Dominik hardly was fired up about the guy he traded for this spring.

Reporter question: Reggie Brown doesn’t play a lot of special teams, if any. …What role would have on gameday?

Mark Dominik: Reggie’s going to have to have a good week of practice to get a hat on. Because I do believe, and I think Coach Morris has the same philosophy, Coach Olson buys into it with Coach Bisaccia, that you’ve got to play special teams to play. Or you’ve got to be, you know, one of the three receivers that are going to go out there every down. So that’s where Reggie’s really got to come on, and see if he can get a hat on every week. That’s going to be up to him every week to see if he can.

Joe doesn’t expect to see much of Brown. Ultimately, the Bucs have to have Arrelious Benn playing football. The guy’s the No. 39 overall pick in the deepest draft of the century. And surely they will want him ready after Thursday’s breakout preseason game.

Brown is definitely the odd man out on opening day, assuming Maurice Stovall is healthy.

Basketball player turned offensive tackle Demar Dotson, a potential Hall of Famer per Jeff Faine, is sadly done for the 2010 season.

He had filled in a bit at tight end last year and was emerging as a blocking icon and Donald Penn’s backup.

Mark Dominik spoke to the media late Saturday and broke the news of Dotson landing on injured reserve. It seems Dotson hurt his knee, but Dominik was unclear about the injury.

“Thankfully for Demar, it’s not an ACL. It’s nothing that’s going to sit there and take eight to 10 months to rehab,” Dominik said. “It’s really more of a three-to-four month type of injury. He had to have a little surgery.”

Welcome to your 2010 Buccaneers.

The Bucs have made their final cuts, and here’s who got the ax, per TBO.com. 

*  CB Brandon Anderson
* S Vince Anderson
* RB Carlos Brown
* WR Michael Clayton
* C Jonathan Compas (waived/injured)
* G Marc Dile
* T Xavier Fulton
* DE George Johnson
* TE Jeron Mastrud
* LB Rico McCoy
* DT Dre Moore
* DT Carlton Powell
* TE Ryan Purvis
* C Donovan Raiola
* CB Derrick Roberson
* LB Lee Robinson
* DE James Ruffin
* QB Jevan Snead
* FB Rendrick Taylor
* CB Trae Williams

Joe’s really excited for Micheal Spurlock, who really earned his spot, although there might not be much work for him.

Joe is stunned the Bucs are going to carry seven wide receivers, including rookies Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams and Preston Parker, plus Reggie Brown, Maurice Stovall and Sammie Stroughter.

Goodness, there’s only one football!

Corey Lynch also was rewarded, and the Bucs are hanging on to five safeties, including Sabby Piscitelli, Tanard Jackson, Cody Grimm and Sean Jones.

Offensive tackle Xavier Fulton, the Bucs’ fifth round pick in 2009, who looked bad last preseason and was sidelined last year because of injury, is no longer a Buccaneer.

He was rather invisible this summer and is now the first stain on Mark Dominik’s apparently strong draft record. Sort of a step toward evening the stains on the general manager’s free agent ledger.

Joe wishes Fulton well.

The buzz over at TBO.com is that strong safety Sabby Piscitelli will not be angling for a new job.

It seems he survived taking shots at his head coach.

Woody Cummings reports that The Tampa Tribune beat team is hearing Piscitelli has made the cut. Of course, Joe will update you here when there’s official word.

This is bad news for bubble guys like Preston Parker and Corey Lynch.

Whenever a bubble veteran dodges the bullet, that bullet generally finds a target of a young bubble player or a rookie free agent. Hence, why Joe fears Lynch and Parker may be looking for work in the next few hours.

Per NFL.com, the Bucs are required to trim the roster to 53 players (plus suspended Talib) as of 6 p.m.

Perhaps this is a function of Rudy Carpenter being a favorite of the head coach, as well as playing well against Houston on Thursday. Or maybe Josh Freeman is a more a question mark than thought.

Regardless, Carpenter is on the final 53-man roster, so reports Woody Cummings, of The Tampa Tribune.

Joe likes Carpenter. Good, eager kid.

Joe had a nice chat with him last year after he made the Bucs roster when Byron Leftwich came down with a phantom elbow injury that no MSM member ever asked him about.

As we wait to learn of the other victims, as the Bucs trim their roster to the mandated 53 by 6 p.m. tonight, Derek “Old School” Fournier, of WhatTheBuc.net, critiques the Bucs’ final preseason game against the Texans. 

It’s not a real shock that the Bucs cut Michael Clayton this afternoon, though it did surprise Joe.

Given the fact Bucs general manager Mark Dominik dished out a bunch of cash for Clayton last year, Joe was convinced the Bucs would hang on to the target of so much hatred from Bucs fans.

But after Dominik handed Kardashian-chasing running back Derrick Ward his walking papers, a player who also benefited from Dominik’s lavish spending last year, Joe saw the handwriting on the wall for Clayton.

Woody Cummings, of the Tampa Tribune, made the news official a few moments ago.

The former Tampa Bay first-round draft pick of the team was released Saturday as the Bucs trimmed their roster to the league-mandated 53-player limit.

“I’m no longer a Buc,’’ Clayton said in a text message to the Tribune.

Though Clayton expressed confidence he would remain with the team through the finl cutdown, the move came as little surprise. Clayton was coming off his worst season in the NFL and saw little or no playing time in the Bucs last two preseason games.

Joe is a bit sad to see Clayton go mainly because he’s a stand-up guy. The NFL is too littered with scumbags. Clayton is not among them.

Simply put, it comes down to what you do on the field. Clayton, after his stellar rookie season, didn’t do much. Receivers are paid to, you know, catch the ball. Clayton couldn’t. As Joe has written before, it doesn’t matter if a team has Anthony Munoz at wide receiver, a receiver is paid to catch first, block second. If you can’t do the first, it really shouldn’t matter how well a player can pull off the second.

In a way, it’s refreshing that Dominik is looking at results, not salaries, as to a player’s worth. With the exit of Clayton, there is no question who now is under the fans’ microscope as the most loathed player on the Bucs roster.

That would be one strong safety Sabby.

Time to step up, Sabby. Words right now are pretty pointless and empty. Blaming your coach for being set up won’t fly either.

Many Bucs fans mark Bucs-Panthers games this season as victories for the good guys.

Joe’s never really understood that. The Panthers won four out of their last five in 2009. Their defense allowed 13.8 points a game over the final half of the season. And Matt Moore is a guy on the rise with a savage running game in place.

Surely, the Bucs aren’t better than Carolina on paper.

Unpredictable NFC South scribe Pat Yasinskas, of BSPN.com, agrees. And he’s got Chucky backing him up, per the former head coach’s comments in a Monday Night Football conference call with the media.

“A sleeper team I like is the Carolina Panthers,’’ Gruden said. “I realize they’ve lost some good players, but they still have the best 1-2 running combination in football in (Jonathan) Stewart and (DeAngelo) Williams. I don’t ever see anybody score on these guys … They play hard, they play sound, they’re going to surprise some people.”

The NFC South is a very strong division, if the Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach gets the most out of his limited talent and youth-laden roster.

Leave it to former Bucs defensive end Steve White to make a bold yet reasoned prediction about the final Bucs roster, which will be named today.

White puts his manhood on the table and says Sabby Piscitelli will be looking for work tonight.

Before sitting down to write this up I kind of assumed Sabby Piscitelli was safe.  But then when I went back through the games last year for most of the year we only carried 3 safeties on the active roster.  I list Cody Grimm as making the roster because he is the primary backup to Tanard Jackson and has played well in the preseason.  And even with Grimm it was a toss up between he and Corey Lynch because of what Lynch brings on special teams and because he also played well this preseason.  Taking it all in I felt like the Bucs will probably carry both and just keep one less cornerback.  So even with them keeping one more safety than last year I still have Sabby being the odd man out. 

Now it may not play out that way but I thought long and hard about this and I have a hard time seeing it going another way.  I can’t see us carrying 5 safeties especially with Aqib Talib being suspended the first game.

Check out White’s blog for his complete call on the roster.

Factor in White’s sound logic above, and how the Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach glowed intensely about Corey Lynch during his Friday news conference, and Joe’s on board with White’s call.

Plus, throw in Sabby lashing out against his head coach after being demoted last week, and Mark Dominik proudly reminding Bucs fans during the Texans-Bucs preseason game broadcast that he plucked Corey Lynch from the Bengals’ practice squad last year, and today surely could spell the end for Sabby.

Joe can only hope the Browns pick up Sabby and put him in the starting lineup.

It looks like Kardashian-chasing Derrick Ward has landed guaranteed money and a golden opportunity with the playoff-contending Houston Texans.

That didn’t take long.

And Joe’s not surprised,  Ward looked like a real NFL running back against the Jacksonville Jaguars before the Bucs cut him shortly after for reasons unclear.

Various outlets are reporting Ward signed with the Texans yesterday.

Now in a contract year after becoming a new free agent, Joe would hardly blink if Ward put up strong numbers this season.

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Buccaneers defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a devoted student of the game. He’s even authored a coaching guide and coached defensive linemen at the University of South Florida. And his blog is fun stuff. After all those years breaking down film with former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and the other architects and legends of the Bucs’ defense, White shares his knowledge with JoeBucsFan.com readers in his must-read Bull Rush column. 

Today, White goes deep into analyzing all things defensive line out of last night’s preseason finale in Houston. Joe advises you to grab a cold beverage, tell the old lady or the boss to leave you alone, and enjoy. This is great stuff, as usual.

Since the Texans-Bucs game largely was a matchup of backups versus backups, I’ll give a quick recap but not the full write-up you’re used to.

The defensive line played ok as a unit last night. We only came home with one sack but several guys pass rushed well. And, of course, we won the game so that’s always a plus. But I don’t think anyone would call this a dominant performance up front by any means.

A few negatives: We still aren’t looping around for containment when we run our line stunts. Sooner or later that will come back to bite us.

The Texans also ran a lot of bootlegs, and they fooled us on all but one play. The general rule of thumb I have on bootlegs is when you see buttholes and elbows its a boot. When it’s a running play, the offensive linemen try to stay square and get up the field to make their blocks. Because they can’t be downfield on passing plays, they turn and run toward the sideline on bootlegs. At the very least, a defensive end should slow down and check the quarterback once he sees a blocker’s backside.

I can almost guarantee you that after watching this film the Browns are going to run several bootlegs just to see if we have solved that problem.

Another thing I noticed is that some of our players still don’t understand how important it is for them to be in their gap on running plays. I saw several times where a guy would get cut and then the ball ran right through his gap. There were other times when guys would get cut off from their gap and instead of fighting to get back where they were supposed to be; they took the path of least resistance and guess where the ball went. Yep, you guessed it, right where they were supposed to be.

It was mostly the backups committing these infractions, but some of these guys are going to have to play for us on Sundays, so they need to get it together.

For the personal breakdowns, I’m only going to mention a handful of guys.

Michael Bennett: Bennett had another productive game with four tackles, one for a loss, and two pressures. He was the one guy who played the bootleg correctly by the way.

He continues to show good pass rush ability from both left end and inside at the tackle spots. On the negative side he didn’t set up the offensive tackle while running a TEX game. Again, for the umpteenth time, TWO STEPS UP THE FIELD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! He also needs to work on really ripping into his gap when he is running a line stunt, which will help him to escape the would be blocker and help to keep him from getting cut. The more I see of the guy, though, the more I’m convinced he is our best option right now at left end. We will see how that plays out as the season goes on.

Carlton Powell: Powell again showed the kind of effort you like to see from your young players. He also had a pretty productive night with two tackles, an assist and a knocked down pass. He looked particularly good on a couple of plays avoiding the cut block and making the play in his gap. Unfortunately, he got reached a couple of times and allowed the runner to run through his gap. I’m not sure whether Powell is talented enough to play on the NFL level, but I think if he keeps working like he has been he definitely will be in the years to come.

Dre Moore: Moore turned in his best performance of the preseason last night in my opinion. But it was also the most frustrating to watch. He had two tackles a pressure and a pass knocked down by my count. But in between the plays he made he just looked so disinterested at times.

Literally on some pass rushes it appeared that he just ran into the guy in front of him just to bide his time until the pass was thrown and he could run to the ball. I’m not saying that’s definitely what he was doing, but it was definitely what it LOOKED like he was doing. His effort has been so up and down in the preseason games that you have to wonder sometimes if it’s the same guy.

There is no question that he has a lot of talent and when he turns it on he is a very hard guy to block. But you can not play in the NFL if you are Tarzan one play and Jane the next. It just doesn’t work that way. I was really hoping for big things from Moore this preseason but I just didn’t see it. At least not on anything resembling a consistent basis.

Erik Lorig: Lorig had some decent rushes last night and that was good to see. He had a hit on the quarterback as well. But Lorig is one of the guys I was referring to about not being in his gap all the time. I can tell him that I got my spot on the active roster my rookie year from the practice squad because another guy on the active roster refused to stay in his C gap against the Lions and he ended up getting cut. That’s just how serious it is. And that’s how serious he has to take it if he wants to both make the team and make a serious contribution on Sundays.

George Johnson: Johnson had a decent night last night. He did have a penalty for roughing the passer, which we could have done without. But the very next play he made a good inside move and got himself a sack. He also had a tackle for loss and another tackle by my count. On the negative side, he has to learn that our defensive ends spill the fullback on split bellys and he also got sucked in really bad on a bootleg fake.

All in all though, he looked pretty good for a guy who we signed after camp had already started.

That’s all I have on the game last night. If you saw something I missed, post it in the comments section.

Joe loves football, obviously.

And Joe has huge appreciation and passion for many other sports, as well.

But Joe can’t ignore one of his biggest pro football pet peeves, which was front and center on TV last night when Corey Lynch twice went for the oxygen mask after his two interceptions, which went for 91- and 28-yard returns.

How the heck does a fit, 200-pound guy like Lynch need oxygen to recover from a run?

After the 91-yard pick, for good measure, Lynch vomited during his first oxygen session. The on-camera barfing turned out to just be a short break before sucking more oxygen.

After the second pick, it was right for the O mask.

Was it the altitude in Houston?

Last Joe checked, scoring from first base in baseball on, say, a double to the outfield, is a 90-yard sprint for the baserunner. Yet Joe never sees said baserunner doing anything other than laughing and high-fiving in the dugout.

There are so many sports analogies, where guys run hard and don’t need to hit the oxygen and would look ridiculous doing so.

It would be one thing if it was Roy Miller running back a long interception, but a 25-year-old safety should be able to take that in stride without the aid of enhanced air.

What does Lynch do after covering kicks?

Joe knows it’s possible that Lynch might have been playing sick last night. Or maybe he was just so jacked up he started hyperventilating. Actually, Joe’s just going to make himself believe that.

"Hey Mushnick, I have to play nice so I can con people into getting a job next year. After January, I can't sponge off the Glazers. Jiminy Christmas man!"

If Joe were to list the evils of BSPN, this post would be marathon-long, worse than that ADD-addled schmuck Joe would love to punch from New England that prattles incessantly about the hideous non-basketball association and the Red Sux with inane, forced pop culture references.

It’s a network that assualts the senses and insults the intelligence of thinking, reasoned sports fans like Joe.

One of the (too numerous to list) things Joe can’t deal with on BSPN is Chucky’s saccharin-sweet ca-ca on Monday Night Football. Every friggin’ player is All-Pro. Every friggin’ coach is the next Vince Lombardi. It’s just too, too much.

Joe believes it was the third week of the season last year when Chucky called Bill Callahan the best player’s coach he ever had as an assistant.

That would be like Joe bragging about the best notch on his belt Joe ever had was the dozens of long, sweaty, passionate evenings Joe consumated with Rachel Watson. The only difference is Joe doesn’t have an audience of millions to spread such fresh, stench-filled manure.

If Joe is inclined to watch Monday Night Football — often, the matchups aren’t exactly compelling — Joe heads to his nearest watering hole and sits where he cannot hear the audio, thus escaping Chucky’s rubbish.

Joe is not alone in his feelings of Chucky as an analyst. Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM 620, is like-minded, as is the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com Mike Florio.

Add the sports voice of reason, Phil Mushnick to the list. The world-renowned New York Post columnist could no longer stand Chucky’s schtick and put fingers to keyboard to take him to task.

Step it up, Gruden!

Time for ESPN’s Jon Gruden to lose the Monday Night Football player platitudes, and start speaking a few homework-done specifics. If we didn’t know better, we would think he’s just mailing it in. Again.

To Chucky’s defense, how in the world is he supposed to do any NFL homework when he’s breaking down Tim Tebow’s spread-option attack at his bunker at the Ice Palace, all the while coaching up Class A high school offensive linemen? What, does Mushnick actually believe Chucky is supposed to earn his money with BSPN? Can you imagine!

Somewhere, Joe Morgan is snickering.

Speaking of BSPN, with tomorrow bringing the first full day of college football, Joe can now remove BSPN from his list of blocked channels for the next four months. Among Joe’s list of blocked channels are NBA-TV, Tennis Network, every shopping channel and Logo.

Pretty good performance by the former Florida State/North Alabama product Preston Parker last night.

Now he just hopes he can dodge The Turk.

Good guy Stephen Holder, of the St. Petersburg Times, documented how the next couple of days will not be comfortable for the bubbling wide receiver/returner.

“Whatever opportunity they give you, you have to take advantage of it and practice how you play,” Parker said. “I’ve played special teams all my life. So, if they tell me to get out there, I do it. I just got out there and showed them I can help the team win.”

The next couple days won’t be fun, Parker admits.

“Praying and waiting,” he said. “That’s all you can do. If you get released, you just keep pushing.”

The chances Parker has of remaining with the Bucs hinges on Michael Clayton, Joe believes. If the Bucs cut Clayton — and Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, speaking to John Lynch on the WFLA-TV broadcast last night, did not exactly give Clayton’s chances of returning a ringing endorsement — Joe’s fairly sure Parker will make the squad.

Bucs fans can pretty much lock up Clifton “Peanut” Smith for a roster spot, especially after Derrick Ward was left to fend for himself with a Kardashian, and especially after the way Smith played Thursday night.

Galloping with gout, Smith seemed fresh and 100 percent. A weapon.

More importantly, he never put the ball on the ground, which is a reason why Chucky never trusted him as a running back, and why he got few carries last year.

The Bucs are beginning to have a scary stable of return men. First, of course, is Smith. Then you have (run) Michael (run) Spurlock and Sammie Stroughter, and perhaps Preston Parker.

It’s starting to appear as if the Bucs’ strength will be its return teams.