Never short of an opinion, popcorn shoveling, oatmeal guzzling Peter King of Sports Illustrated is spouting off opinions about the Bucs again.

No, he hasn’t picked them to win two games like he did last year. Now he’s talking about the Bucs possibly snatching running back Mark Ingram in the first round of the draft, if he’s available. Good guy Scott Smith, video maven for the Buccaneers organization, caught up with King at the NFL Scouting combine.

King’s point was that the Bucs might be looking at an insurance policy at running back with an eye toward the future and Ingram would be great “value” for the Bucs at No. 20 in the first round.

Joe’s initial reaction was Greg Olson hardly needs more reasons not to give LeGarrette Blount the rock. He didn’t get it nearly enough for Joe’s taste last year. Plus, the Bucs should be able to find capable complement to Blount in later rounds, if they have the desire.

Joe’s final reaction was that King should stick to doom and gloom takes on the NFL labor situation and stop playing Bucs GM.

It’s a gorgeous day for car shopping. So head to Brandon Auto Mall by Ed Morse or shop online. Stop putting it off!

Ahh, the professional draft spin and posturing are in full swing. Joe loves all the gamesmanship.

Speaking before a gaggle of reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine the other day (shown on Buccaneers.com), Mark Dominik said many have wrongly “pigeonholed” the Bucs regarding their focus is entering the 2011 draft.

“I don’t think a lot of people thought we’d take two defensive tackles back to back. We’re going to use the draft and stay true to our board and make sure we can take the best player who can help us. And it may not be the position that everbody thinks we’re supposed to take first, but it’s going to be the best one that we think’s going to help our football team, not only in 2011 but going forward.”

So outside of quarterback and defensive tackle, Dominik would have Bucs fans believe he’ll take the best player available when the bell rings for Tampa Bay in the first round.

Maybe that’s true?

If oatmeal expert Peter King was the voice of doom and gloom about the 2011 season, suggesting it would only be 13 games yesterday, then John Clayton, of BSPN, has to be the voice of optimism.

Speaking on ESPN Radio tonight from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Clayton was asked to give the odds of a lockout on March 4, when the current labor agreement expires.

Clayton replied he believed there was a “60 percent chance of no lockout” next week. He said his take on what he’s been following is that the owners and players will agree to continue the current labor agreement two more weeks in order to keep negotatiating with urgency during that time.

Clayton didn’t offer an opinion on whether that meant free agency would kick off as scheduled after the 4th.

Rock star Bucs general manager Mark Dominik continues to imply that free agency is a destructive path based on his recent comments in Indianapolis, (Joe will have more on that Sunday), but if Clayton is right than the Barrett Ruud question could have a quick answer.

Frankly, Joe wouldn’t be stunned by this development. Joe has to think that the owners would prefer to have a free agency period before the draft, especially given the massive free agent crop and the fact that some teams don’t believe free agency is part of the axis of evil — warm beer and ugly cheerleaders completing the trifecta.

How tall is Ahmad Black? The wrong answer could put him in a freefall.

Who needs the beach when you can watch football? Well, it’s not quite football, but it’s the NFL Scouting Combine on NFL Network. The drills kicked off today with offensive linemen.

Joe loves watching all the manbeasts do all kinds of things they’ll never have to do on the field.

Just arriving at the combine today are safeties and cornerbacks.

Do the Bucs need a safety? Might they grab a “luxury pick” at cornerback if the right guy is available?

NFL Draft guru Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620, shares some secondary names to watch combine in this podcast exclusively for JoeBucsFan.com.

Who says there’s no football this time of year!

Just click the arrow below or click here to download.

[audio: 226draftbuzzcbs.mp3]

Some of the dark forecasters dealing with the looming NFL lockout dare to suggest there may not be a 2011 season.

Peter King believes there will be a season, albeit a shortened season.

Speaking before a thirsty throng in a downtown Indianapolis watering hole Friday night at one of King’s wildly popular Tweetups, the SI.com columnist has determined how many games will be played this season, per Izzy Gould of AL.com.

Along with some other NFL experts in a back room of Scottie’s Brewhouse, who writes for Sports Illustrated, also forecast a lockout next season.

That seem to upset most of the standing-room-only crowd. So did his prediction of a 13-game season in 2011.

King’s Tweetup was basically a group of NFL fans stuffed in a room firing questions at King & Co., everything from if King has done a keg stand (he has not) to his thoughts on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.

Well, Joe guesses 13 NFL games are better than none.

Now Joe is going to veer off into chatter about football, technology, social media, journalism and the 21st century.

Gould is a former colleague of Joe’s and until roughly a year ago covered high school sports in Pasco County for the St. Petersburg Times. Joe always got along with Gould, thinks the word of him and marveled as his tireless work ethic. Trust Joe, when you do something you love, it’s not work, it’s a passion, just like this blog is for Joe.

Gould now covers the Crimson Tide for AL.com and for anyone who considers himself a football fan and craves any and all football information, Gould is a must-follow on Twitter. His handle is @IzzyGould so follow him.

Now last night Gould may have broken new ground on sports coverage, at least in Joe’s eyes. We all know what a live blog is — something that was foreign to all just a decade ago. Now, it’s a credible source to gain information from people.

Well, Gould took that concept last night and pulled off a first, at least for Joe: Gould did a live Tweetup on Twitter.

For those unaware, a Tweetup (God, Joe loathes that word “Tweet”) is a gathering of people who are a family or group of sorts on Twitter. King has hundreds of thousands of followers and periodically he will host a Tweetup at a pub along with fellow NFL scribes where fans can gather, swill ale, and pepper King and his associates with all manner of questions.

Nothing is off limits.

Last night on his Twitter feed, Gould gave live updates of the questions and answers King fielded, sort of what Joe is calling a “live Tweetup.” Per Joe, ever the media and technology geek, it was fascinating and Joe gives mad props to Gould for coming up with the concept.

Joe remembers the late, great GOB, Chris Thomas, mock those who watched too much football in his eyes. If Joe recalls correctly, Thomas said often if one watches more than 12 hours of football in a week, that person needs professional counseling.

Well, if GOB’s premise was correct, Joe needs to be institutionalized.

Joe sat down once and figured it out: Between Thursday night football, high school football Friday nights, the smorgasbord of noon-to-midnight college football on Saturday, NFL Sundays and Monday night football, it’s not unreasonable at all for Joe to absorb 24 hours of football in a week without trying.

In short, if you are an Alabama fan, an SEC fan. a college football fan or simply just a red-blooded American male like Joe who hungers for football information, Gould is a must-follow on Twitter. He’s good; he’s solid; he’s cutting edge.

And technology and information in the 21st century seems to break new ground virtually each week.

As Joe learned long ago, one can keep up and embrace technology, or fight it and get buried.

Can the Bucs count on Arrelious Benn for the 2011 season? No.

Might Benn be ready? Sure, but it’s hardly certain after tearing his ACL in December.

Esteemed NFL writer eye-RAH Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune thinks the Bucs might be interested in a Grade A insurance policy for Benn — fist-flailing, potential Hall of Fame receiver Steve Smith of the Panthers, so Kaufman wrote on TBO.com.

If the Bucs can pry Smith loose for a third-round draft choice, Dominik and head coach Raheem Morris will have to consider their options. Arrelious Benn is coming off a torn ACL and the Bucs lack proven wide receivers beyond Williams.

Smith is under contract with the Panthers, and he didn’t have much of a season last year. But with Jimmy Clausen and Matt Moore throwing him the ball, he sure wasn’t working with much.

Smith having a solid season in Tampa could be enough to push the Bucs into the playoffs. For that reason alone he might be worth the gamble. But with Smith’s history of attacking teammates, Joe’s not sure he’d be the best fit with Aqib Talib covering him in practice.

The Bucs need to do what they can to make sure Talib isn’t tempted to swing his helmet in practice again.  

Pay attention, Bucs fans, reporting to the NFL Scouting Combine today are linebackers and defensive linemen.

Boy, the Bucs could use a couple of blue chip studs from this crop.

NFL Draft guru Justin Pawlowksi, of WDAE-AM 620, shares insight on a lot of these guys, including a chat he had with Dave Wannstadt about University of Pittsburgh end Greg Romeus. Pawlowski is a radio analyst for USF Football games and typically has incredible insight into Big East players long before anyone else.

About this time last year, Pawlowski was banging the drum on these here pages for Mike Williams.

Click the arrow below to enjoy, or click here to download. A must listen.

And remember, Joe brings the Bucs/draft coverage every day. Keep coming back all weekend long.

On rare occasion Joe strays from Bucs-related stuff to get something off his chest.

While Joe secretly prays for a lockout to never happen, Joe wonders at the same time who’s going to make money from the lockout. And Joe confesses to thinking about how he could cash in – if a lockout really arrives.

Perhaps a “Lockout Tour” from Paradise Worldwide Transportation? Joe’s kidding about the Lockout Tour, of course, but Joe has some great ideas.  

One entity that surely has a plan in place is BSPN. And Joe wants to be the first on record saying a Jon Gruden Lockout Camp has to be in their plans.

Camera-loving Chucky has got to be salivating over a shot to mingle with all those hundreds of NFL players he proclaims to love so much and always wanted to coach. A lockout would free them up because they’d be disconnected from their teams.

“Jimminy Fuc*ing Christmas. You mean I can get on a field with Bruce Gradkowski again? Sh*t, I’d give Mike Vick my dog to coach him up for an afternoon.”

Joe can see Chucky inviting all kinds of quarterbacks for a two-day camp in his hometown Tampa with the BSPN cameras rolling. Maybe separate camps for each offensive position.

Chucky is too much of a football junkie to pass on the opportunity to mingle with players, and he’s enough of a media whore to let BSPN in on the party.

“Look, Mr. Executive Producer, you want to see fuc*n ratings? You get a shot of me praying with Tim Tebow before practice or teaching Peyton Hillis how to protect the football and promo that sh*t all week. I’ll guarantee bigger numbers than a perfect game on Sunday Night Baseball.”

Plus Chucky gets to give a backhanded audition for his next coaching job. It’s just too easy, especially with a players association surely eager to cooperate.

Plaxico Burress is even set to get out of jail in June, a perfect co-star for Chucky’s summer spectacle.

“Look, Plax. I don’t care what the hell kind of routes you ran in the prison yard, but I just called a D-bag, X-box, I-Pad, G-Spot, F-bomb Go. And you didn’t know what the fu*k you were doing. You keep making me look bad and you’ll wish you got shot in the leg again.”

Let’s hope there’s no lockout.

Despite the recent number of sessions between representatives of the NFL owners and the NFLPA the past week, a labor stoppage of some sort is almost a sure thing to happen.

There has been much made in some circles that the Bucs would be hurt terribly by a lockout because of all the young players the Bucs have. But cool cat Maoist Michael Silver scoffs at the notion.

Writing for Yahoo! Sports, Silver breaks down how a potential labor lockout would hurt each team. Of the nine teams he has in a group “Sitting Pretty” are the Bucs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: One of 2010’s pleasant surprises, the Bucs are poised for a playoff run in 2011. Third-year coach Raheem Morris has his young team playing hard and buying into his leadership style, and Tampa Bay smartly re-signed its longest-tenured veteran, cornerback Ronde Barber. Most important, third-year quarterback Josh Freeman is a budding star who has a great grasp of the team’s offense and is unquestionably The Man in the locker room.

To be honest, Joe doesn’t know whether a lockout will help or hurt the Bucs. In many ways, a lockout cannot help — how could it? — but perhaps given the youth of the team and that the Bucs clearly follow the lead of workaholic Josh Freeman, maybe it’s good many of the Bucs are still young, not yet jaded, and willing to do what it takes to get ready while many other teams will have players scatter across the nation waiting for football to resume.

There are certain daily rituals Joe has:

* Slug down mass quantities of coffee and Diet Mountain Dew each morning to jolt himself awake (often it takes roughly 40 ounces of a combination of the two).

* Listen to Sirius NFL Radio by day.

* Watch the channel all real men with a pair have wired in their living rooms, the NFL Network, by night.

(Joe heard from a loyal reader Thursday that said reader doesn’t have the NFL Network because his HOA fees pay for the satanic Out House Networks. No excuse! Joe’s HOA does the same but that does not deter Joe from having DirecTV, armed with the power of the federal government to do so. If using the premise that one cannot have the NFL Network because of HOA fees, well, by that logic since Joe pays HOA fees, that would also mean Joe would have to start using feminine products. Just because your HOA has a corrupt and illegal under-the-table deal with Out House Networks does not mean one has to capitulate and wear skirts and blouses and watch Lifetime. Man up!)

Like Tuesday when Joe caught Ronde Barber on Sirius NFL Radio and transcribed the interview for his readers to digest, Joe did the same Thursday when he heard Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik appear live from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis for a sit down on “The Blitz, co-hosted by Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, naturally heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio.

Some interesting nuggets Joe learned were Dominik enters the combine with a clean slate, and evaluates all players with equal detail no matter who he has on the roster, including quarterback prospect Cam Newton. Dominik also believes Josh Freeman’s first two seasons mirror Aaron Rodgers’ numbers.

Adam Schein: Is LeGarrette Blount the main man at running back for the present and future for the Buccaneers?

Mark Dominik: He showed he can carry the load for us. He got over 1,000 yards. He did a good job for us. Certainly he can still grow in what he can do for us in the passing game as well. He was kind of limited there. He only had a couple of catches. So you can certainly grow there and he certainly filled an important void on a football team when you have a young quarterback to have a back to hand the ball off to to take a little bit of pressure off of him as well.

Rich Gannon: Mark, you go back and look at tape from last year, guys you drafted high, Gerald McCoy and Brian Price and Mike Williams, tell us how you think they did their rookie seasons.

Dominik: Well Gerald was really coming on when he got injured about three-quarters of the way through the season. He was just coming off his best games. He had multiple back-to-back sack games so he was really coming into his own. I think that was as much a disappointment for him as it was for all of us to watch the light finally come on and to figure out what these big ole’ offensive linemen do in the National Football League, and hard it was to play so his play was very encouraging. Brian Price unfortunately had some hip injuries and we had to put him on the IR early so we only got a glimpse of what he can be. But we are looking forward to him coming back. Of course Mike Williams came in and from Day 1 of camp, it was obvious this is a guy who was committed to being a great pro. He worked at it every day. You would have loved him playing for you because the guy practiced every day when he had a chance. It was really important to him. There was a day he could have sat out with a foot injury that he had to deal with, he wouldn’t miss practice. Arrelious Benn really came on until he had an unfortunate injury at the end of the season, but he really stepped it up at the end to score some touchdowns for us at the end of the season too.

Schein: Mark, what kind of feeling is that as a general manager when you have all of these prospects, you obviously put in all the time in the offseason last year you are here at the combine you are at the draft you have guys — myself included — “Hey, how come these guys aren’t active in free agency? How come they are not making trades?” Then you slam it out of the park like that with that draft class with that rookie class when you add in Blount and Larsen. What kind of feeling is that as a general manager?

Dominik: Well, I think it’s exciting for us in Tampa and for our fans that we are building something that we think will last for a long time. I think that is the most important thing. We have our quarterback now and once you have that in place you have a chance to win every year. We have that in place and that is the most important element. Then again, last year we took advantage of that draft class. We had 25 guys from that draft class on this football team that contributed for us and helped us win 10 games. And our players really bought into the system. Coach Olson, they turned to him on the offensive side and coach Morris as you well know is the type of guy you can follow and that was a big help in the development of this team.

Gannon: Mark, you look around at your division and you talk about quarterbacks. Certainly you have Drew Brees is an outstanding one. Matt Ryan is a really good player. Carolina has their issues but the development and the emergence last year of Josh Freeman, just your thoughts of what he was able to accomplish in Year Two.

Dominik: Well, I thought me made tremendous strides in every aspect of the game. No. 1, I think he improved his accuracy over 55 percent which is tremendous to improve to over 60 percent and that’s what you want him to do and…

Gannon: It took me a career to do that!

Dominik: I don’t remember that but I do remember when you worked out in Kansas City and Mark Hatley worked you out. I remember that being a great day. I would say with Josh the touchdown-to-interception ratio was phenomenal. What he posted was the ninth-best in NFL history. To go from 10 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and turn that around and to 25 touchdowns and six interceptions is really incredible. For a 22-year old to do that in the National Football League at the level he played… that’s what we are all talking about, the decision-making he made. It’s an important element.

Schein: Mark I am not saying this because you are sitting here. I think Josh’s upside — and people forget how young he is — he can be a league MVP. He can lead you guys to a championship. What do you see when you see the upside of Josh?

Dominik: Well, I see the same thing. You know what, I have gone back and looked at Aaron Rodgers over the past couple of years. That’s kind of how I saw Josh develop…

Gannon: Yeah, yeah…

Dominik: You see how Aaron is able to use his feet and obviously he is a phenomenal passer. The thing about Aaron is when he got his first shot his touchdown-to-interception ratio and how that has progressed and how he has been consistent with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But what you see with Aaron Rodgers is that his accuracy began to improve every year. I think if Josh is able to do that with more experience and we can continue to get weapons around him that can help him I think it will be exciting. That’s why I think this draft and coming here this week and starting to see some of these receivers and some of these tight ends and some of these running backs, all of these weapons that we want to let Josh to play with, it gets us fired up too because we know we can help him be a better player as much as he already works hard at it.

Gannon: Mark if you go back and look at all the film and all the cut ups as you get ready to prepare for the combine, specifically looking at your football team what are some areas where you need to continue to add in terms of getting over the hump and winning a division and going deep into the playoffs?

Dominik: There are a couple of different areas. I’m a big believer in protecting and attacking the quarterback. I just think that’s where a lot of it starts. I think we can do better at both. I think that is an area that we can look into. I still think we can look into an area where we can get some more playmakers for Josh Freeman. We have a lot of guys that are expected to become restricted free agents at the linebacker position. Four out of six guys are without a contract or coming out of a contract. So that is certainly a position that if we don’t do something in free agency or we don’t do something with our guys it’s certainly going to be a spot that we will have to look at in this draft for long term thinking.

Schein: I’m curious as to what you saw when you looked at your defense? I said this to your coach down the stretch, I said, “Look, Raheem, I hope you don’t take offense to this but I see an opportunistic defense that you made plays when they mattered the most. I wouldn’t have called your defense a great defense necessarily last year.” What did you see when you looked at the Tampa defense?

Dominik: I think we agree with exactly with what you are saying. We don’t feel like we are a finished product by any means on either side of the ball but specifically on the defensive side of the ball. When we go the opportunity back in 2009 we did gut the team very hard. And so to get guys back in place and get the team that you want back in there is going to take a little bit of time. The best thing about what is going on in Tampa is everyone has bought into what we are doing and how we do it. Coach Morris has now developed what we call a Tampa-2.1, where we changed it up a little bit where we do a little bit more man coverage and more three-man rushes.

Schein: I like that. Tampa-2.1. That’s good!

Dominik: Well, we changed it up and that’s what Raheem has installed and it has been effective. I think you just saw a major change last year but I know we can get a lot better like we had been when I was around in the 90s.

Gannon: Mark, how important was it to get a guy like Ronde Barber under contract? Here is a guy who is timeless. He gets better with age. Of course you see what an influence a guy like Ronde has on those young defensive players, tell us just how important it was to get Ronde locked up.

Dominik: It was really important. I met with his agent and went out and had dinner with Ronde one night. We just talked about what he really wanted to do. I told him how important he was to this football team. So it was a conversation that didn’t take a lot of work because he still had a passion to play. We understand the importance of his leadership on and off the football field and I think the thing that shows with Ronde being able to play in 183 consecutive games to beat Dick LeBeau’s all-time record for a corner shows his commitment to the game and how he keeps his body right. So many young guys can learn from that, about how to get your body right because it’s not just your mind but how you treat your body and how you treat it every day. To be able to play as long as Ronde is just as miraculous as his continued success on the football field so it was very important.

Schein: You referenced free agent linebackers. Who are the priorities for resigning with the Buccaneers?

Dominik: We have 10 or 11 guys coming out of contract. We have guys that are key contributors and guys who have stepped it up on special teams for us. Certainly a lot of people have made a lot of Barrett Ruud…

Schein: What is the latest on that situation?

Dominik: Well the good news is that actually his agent is waiting for me as soon as I am off the radio to go sit down and have a chat with him,

Schein: Oh, good!

Dominik: Yeah, just to talk to him and see what is going on. He is also Ronde’s agent so we already have had some preliminary discussions. So we will talk a little further about that. Davin Joseph is a good consistent player for us and we have Jeremy Trueblood so we have some good players and we will use this time at the combine. We meet with all of our players’ agents here even if it’s just a 10-minute chat just to give them a state of the union, how’s it going, how are they doing in Tampa, even if they are not coming out of contract. Just because I think education is a good thing,

Gannon: Mark, I am curious to get your take: You are a team that has a really good situation at the quarterback spot. Do you, will you take a good look at a guy like Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert just to go through the evaluation process even though you know you probably, well, pretty certainly won’t be taking a quarterback in the first round? Do you still go through the evaluation process even with guys like that.

Dominik: That is the best phrased way anyone has asked that here. And I say yes, we do, you have to…

Gannon: You have to! You have to do your homework, right? You don’t know what will happen down the road. At some point you may get them down the road.

Dominik: You could have an injury…

Schein: You have no idea.

Dominik: Right, you could have an injury. You just don’t know. You could have an injury. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. Certainly that hones you as an evaluator. The goal is to become the best evaluator of talent that you can as an organization. And quarterbacks are obviously one of those difficult positions to evaluate as they transition to the next level. So we will still make our evaluations of those players like a Cam Newton. Where would be we take him? How do we feel about him? And we will then regrade ourselves. We evaluate not just the guys we take but the guys we didn’t take. “Why did we take him? Why didn’t we take him?” We try to learn about the draft all the way through. How does a guy from Delaware come into the National Football League as an undersized quarterback? I’m sure there were a lot of clubs when you signed with Kansas City and went on to Oakland and had success, I’m sure there were clubs that said, “Why didn’t we sign Rich Gannon?” Well, you have to go back and look at what did you miss? We evaluate the entire draft class because I believe that is the only way you can get better.

Schein: How did Raheem Morris get better as a head coach?

Dominik: I thought from year-one to year-two, his organization was phenomenally better. I think part of that was he was thrust into it and it was all new and we were hiring new coaches and there were a lot of changes in Tampa. I think he has become a much better leader and a much better organizer in terms of practice in terms of tempo in terms of when you are with the players how you discuss things with the players and how do you relate to the players. All of those types of things he really developed and I think he really enjoyed taking over the defensive coordinator job. It really dialed him in to what he is and what he is becoming as a head coach as well. I think mainly that was the real transition. Again, he has a magnetic personality. He is not afraid to speak his mind and I think the players really respect that. They know every day where they stand with him.

Gannon: Mark I think where you really got better last season was that you made use of the offseason. Even a guy like Greg Olson who went back and cleaned up some of the offense and the things he didn’t have an opportunity to do when he took over for Jeff Jagodzinski. When you think about that time and how important it is, how concerned are you that some of that time may be jeopardized this year if you have a long lockout and you are not able to spend quality time with these players in March and in April.

Dominik: Well the positive thing going for us in Tampa is that we have consistency in both the offensive and the defensive coordinators and the system. Another thing that helped us out is, you can do all that you want on the practice field but it’s game time that makes the difference and our young players played last year. A lot of them did. A lot of them got experience on the offensive line, at receiver, at defensive back, at the d-line. We had safeties coming in in the last week of the season and take snaps for us like Larry Asante. That is the one thing I take from it is we may not have the time on the football field in terms of practice, we will see, but we got a lot of work in game tape and action.

Schein: Last year you had a great season. Any other season you would have been in the playoffs with 10 wins but you didn’t. You lost out on a tiebreaker and there are some who think to prevent that from happening the playoffs should either be expanded or adjusted. I think it was a blip as opposed to a trend. I thought the NFC West turned out to be the worst division in the history of the NFL. It was terrible that you guys didn’t get to go. But I wouldn’t change everything just on what transpired last year. What is your take? A lot of people were saying you have to get Tampa in. How does a team like Seattle get a home playoff game? If you were the league would you change anything?

Dominik: No, I really wouldn’t change much. It is just the unfortunate thing. The Giants were ahead of us in the tiebreaker and they didn’t make it in. That’s our own fault. We still could have won another game. That’s what it comes down to. You have to take care of your business and win the games that you can win so you get a chance to play in the postseason. I actually love the fact — there’s a reason why on this [NFL] emblem there are eight stars. That’s cause each division has a winner and a playoff team. You know what? If 10 wins doesn’t get you in the playoffs, then win 11.

Some of the latest buzz swirling around the annoying NFL Labor talks has the league demanding that coaches have no contact with players during a lockout, so reports ProFootballTalk.com.

Not even a beer, it seems, or the wrath of the league shall strike down upon their heads.

Today Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that coaches and executives will be reminded at today’s meeting that they’re not allowed to have any contact with players once the lockout starts. And Mortensen said coaches will be threatened with fines, forfeiture of draft picks and other discipline for breaking that strict rule.

Joe knows many head coaches won’t take this rule seriously, if there’s indeed a prolonged lockout. In the age of texting and all kinds of other communication technology, it’s nuts to think coaches won’t be looking to stay connected to maintain an edge.

Joe sees Raheem Morris as a coach whose edge is his relationship and communication with players. And Joe can’t imagine Raheem playing along and potentially having some of his critical relationships erode if there’s a prolonged lockout. Too much is on the line for the young Bucs.

Joe wonders how much creativity would be implemented around the league to make this happen.

That said, the NFL not letting coaches communicate with players just shows how much they don’t give a crap about the fans and the game. Surely, Raheem on the phone to Aqib Talib and Josh Freeman isn’t going to affect labor negotiations or how much cash these guys all make however they slice up the damn pie.

For those who don’t give a hoot about contract negotiations, this could be an annoying post about a somewhat bogus restricted free agent tender the Bucs will slap on Davin Joseph, per Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times.

In a nutshell, Joseph’s five seasons of service might not be good enough to get him to unrestricted free agency in 2011. That depends on the labor agreement the owners and players agree to in the coming weeks (months?). Four years of service was once enough to do it, but that bumped up to six temporarily last year, and there’s no telling what will happen next.

Joseph has played five seasons. And he has no contract for 2011.

Stroud claims the Bucs soon will put a one-year, restricted free agent tender on Joseph, just in case he would fall under that classification for 2011. That way they have him locked up, much like they did with Barrett Ruud last year.

In Joe’s eyes, all this means is the Bucs are serious about keeping Joseph a Buccaneer, or they know he’s darn good value for 2011 at the approximate tender cost of $3.2 million, and they don’t want to lose that option.

Can Jake Locker rise up?

Real deal draft guru Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620, gives you the lowdown on the skill position big guns as they show up in Indianapolis today to get scrutinized at the NFL Scouting combine in beautiful Indiana.

(When are they going to get that thing moved to the FruitDome?)

Pawlowski’s podcast is great stuff to get you fired up for all the combine coverage on the NFL Network.

Enjoy! Click the arrow below or click here to download.

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The wild and wacky world of Twitter offers so much real-time news and commentary (and stupidity) that one’s head could explode following along all day.

Nonetheless, Joe is in the game. You can even follow Joe on Twitter.

Today, former Bucs defensive end Steve White shot the following Twitter message to Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder, who then sent it out to his followers. It seems White has been pondering Quincy Black playing middle linebacker.

@HolderStephen one thing Ive been wondering is with Watson there now if Black may be moved to middle if Barrett leaves. Id do it.

Now don’t go mis-reading this as White calling for Barrett Ruud’s departure. White already is on record saying Ruud is a quality football player. To paraphase White’s comments during multiple radio interviews, “You don’t suck and get 100+ tackles.”

Joe, however, just doesn’t see Black as better than Ruud at middle linebacker. He doesn’t look that great in coverage, and while he’s likely more physical than Ruud — who wouldn’t be? — Joe’s not sure he’s better against the run than even Adam Hayward.

Of course, Ruud, Black and Hayward are free agents. So the Bucs have a lot of decisions to make.

From the regime that installed Jermaine Phillips to replace Derrick Brooks, anything is possible at linebacker.

Moments after FoxSports.com’s Jay Glazer Twittered the news of Ronde Barbe re-signing with the Bucs Tuesday, the senior citizen of the team appeared on “Movin’ the Chains” co-hosted by Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio.

Naturally, Joe transcribed the 15-minute interview.

In this interview, Barber explains the Bucs turned to winners largely thanks to Raheem Morris, how the Bucs have the best offense since he was drafted, the wretched mistake of the heinous Jim Bates Experience, and how he knew from the first day of OTAs last year that Mike Williams would be a stud.

(Joe noticed on Twitter Tuesday night that a Bucs beat reporter who Joe respects a great deal and likes a lot bragged he would have “extensive” quotes from Barber. You want extensive? Keep reading.)

Pat Kirwan: Did you really think — you have been around a long time; good teams, bad teams, average teams — did you really think this was a 10-win team in August?

Ronde Barber: If I did I would be lying. I knew we would be a better team. I knew we would not be a two- or a three-win team like the year before. The talent was there. It showed in the offseason. It showed in the OTAs. Raheem had a lot better grasp on what he was doing as a head coach, how he wanted to run his football team. I didn’t think it would be a 10-win season, but I am glad that it was. It showed for Raheem what he can be as a head coach and showed for us as a young football team what we can do when we played together.

Jim Miller: I might be worried if I was E.J. Biggers or Myron Lewis. You might Brett Favre them. You might out play them the way you are going Ronde.

Barber: I don’t think they want to hear that. I’m used to coming in every offseason knowing someone is trying to take my job. So, they are in line for it and they played well. They stepped up, especially E.J. when Aqib went down at the end of the year. He had to start five or six games and I don’t think if you asked anyone at the beginning of the season if he was going to be able to do that that he would, and he went in and played well. I don’t think it is a matter of me hindering them or not. I’m letting them get their opportunites. They will have to go out in the offseason and work their butts off and beat me out and if they do, maybe my role changes next year? As it stands at the end of last year, I feel good and they will learn a lot from me. Maybe me being around another year makes them better pros and better players?

Kirwan: You are so modest.

Barber: I am but that was modesty with a little bit of arrogance.

Kirwan: Let me react to that, I have two reactions: One, no one will beat you out. No. 2, you have totally screwed up the average age of this young football team.

Barber: Yeah, i know, I keep killing it. You know what? When we released Ryan Sims the third or fourth week because of injury, we were No. 2 in youth and we went right down to No. 1 youngest football team. If I wasn’t there, they may have started to call us a college football team.

Miller: When I look at Raheem Morris, his decision to go back to the roots of the Tampa-2 defense, obviously you would agree it was the right decision but what are the wrinkles? Is it youth or is it guys like you who are able to bring the young guys along? Why has it been so successful?

Barber: The players are good. The Tampa-2 is just a concept. It is not like we play a whole bunch of Cover-2 like we used to in Monte’s early days but the base concepts are similar, they are so easy to understand. You can plug anyone in, really, if they have an understanding and let their athletics kind of take over which is amazing because I think we were down six starters on defense last year. We didn’t really skip a beat. We know we can get better. We know there is still some more learning that needs to be done, more understanding of what teams are trying to do to you that makes those great defenses. It’s just the simplicity of it is its genius. Rah believes that and the coaches Rah has around him believe that. I think we played well because of that last year.

Kirwan: I had dinner with a former head coach the other night who was from a place that was all about scheme defense. He was an offensive guy but he always had scheme defensive guys with him. He said to me, “Now that I am taking time off and looking at things, and the NFL, there is a lot of merit into what Monte Kiffin was doing in Tampa. When I saw Raheem switch gears in midseason, it confirmed to me that you should be simple and play fast, make very slight adjustments — you might cheat a little bit on coverages but work inside tighter or deeper — but to stay inside that defense and play fast.” That’s your biggest advantage in my mind.

Barber: Yeah, allow your athletes to be great athletes. I think that is what is good about it. Schemes work well if your defense is aged and understands what to do in every situation. But there is not a lot of players, with injuries and turnovers in the league, it’s hard to keep a defense together like Pittsburgh. That’s an anamoly. But they have done it well and it works for them.

Miller: It’s got to be nice for your defense to see your offense ring up 20, 24 points each game consistently each week. Sometimes even crossing the 30-point barrer. I have interviewed Josh Freeman a few times on the airwaves but finally got to meet him down at the Super Bowl for the first time. This this kid is the real deal Ronde. This kid is the real deal. He is all that and a bag of chips now. He is something special.

Barber: You are very impressed when you meet him personally both his personality and his physical tools. They are incredible. You meet him in person and you understand how together he is and how calm he is. That demeanor you met at the Super Bowl is the same demeanor he takes to the football field every day. You can see why he is so successful. He just doesn’t panic. He does not have that shock value to him which has made him a good player in such a short period of time. I hate to say it, I have been around a long time. Our offense and that quarterback last year is the best I have been around. I have never had a feeling like if we didn’t play up to par on defense we still had a chance to win and I had that feeling all last year.

Kirwan: Let me ask you this question about your offense and it probably involves your head coach as well. Is it fair to say, observing from the outside, your coach gets the players to play loose? [It appears that] you feel like you can trust the guy.

Barber: That is exactly what it is. He is mellow though he has a lot of energy but he is not always on, not the Jon Gruden type of energy who will give motivational speeches every other day and is in your face yelling at you. He brings a sameness that makes young players feel like he is with them. He has the ablity to make everyone want to be with him and that we are all in it and I have never been around a guy like that. I’ve had some position coaches like that but not any of my four head coaches. I think him losing his first year helped that. We built from the bottom with him. I think that was good for him and good for the football team.

Miller: Are you worried if the [CBA] deal will get done?

Barber: Mildly worried. I don’t think this deal with not get done. They will find a way to keep a great product great. Obviously there are disputes with unions involved with upper management. There will always be issues but I think they both are looking out for the best interests in the game. I think something will get done. There’s a lot of talk and misinformation out there, partly as players, we don’t know everything that is going on. In general, players want to play and we think they actually want us back on the football field.

Kirwan: How are we going to get Tampa fans back in the stadium? There are too many no shows.

Barber: We are hit by the poor economy. Last year was the perfect storm as the original seat licenses when the stadium opened expired. But we have to put a good product on the field. We had a lot of star players let go the past four years and it’s hard for the fans to relate to this football team. But after last year, I think we are ready to see them come back and watch this football team go somewhere in the future.

Miller: Ronde you know what you need to do to get ready, but with a lockout and no OTAs, some of the young players may not. How will this affect the team?

Barber: It’s definetly unfortunate for the young guys. I go into every offseson knowing what I need to do. For the young guys, to be around the organization and the strength coach is hugely beneficial. But Josh will bring the guys together to keep the cohesiveness. The best part of the offseason is to get the guys together. When you come together is when you start building and we need the ability to do that. The real leaders on this team will organize something. Unfortunately, we may not be able to mingle with the coaches and that will be a step back for the young guys.

Kirwan: Mike Williams, he made giant strides last year. The sky is the limit with him. Tell us about covering the guy in practice and what are Bucs fans looking at with him?

Barber: Oh, man. He is not a guy that wows you with his physical presense. He is not the fastest guy but he has that “it” factor. The guy runs great routes. His first OTA, he is running great routes. I never saw a college guy in his first practice that polished. I’m not sure where he got that? He reminds me of Michael Irvin in that he wants to dominate you. He wants to force his will on you. That’s what Mike has. When he has the opportunity to make plays on the football he makes plays on the football.

Joe is starting to fully appreciate the football calendar. In the NFL it differs from college.

In college football, in chronological order, there is bowl season, recruiting season, spring football, summer workouts, training camp and the season.

In the NFL there is the playoffs, Super Bowl, silly season, draft, OTA, training camp and the season.

The silly season is when fans — with no logic or reasoning — begin pining for Player-X on their team because they heard the guy’s name before.

This generally frustrates those in the fourth estate. Peter King, recovering from an illness this week, lashed out at fans for cherry-picking names as if it’s a $50 brunch buffet.

This too irritates Joe but Joe is starting to learn to laugh at this.

Take a chat recently on NFL.com. A Bucs fan from the Bahamas tried to make the case to Steve Wyche that the Bucs need to draft Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram.

Darin, Freeport, Bahamas
Blessed Steve! When the Bucs pick, if Mark Ingram is there should/would we take him? Thank you.

Steve Wyche, NFL.com
What A G’wan D? As for taking Ingram in the first round? Nope. Get a pass rusher. As Tampa learned last season when it procured the undrafted LeGarrette Blount from the Titans when he was waived, you can find a good RB later in the draft if in the draft at all. The Bucs have got ot find people to get to the passer.

This really cracked Joe up. Unless a team has but one hole on its roster and that hole happens to be running back, drafting a running back in the first round is a terrible idea. It’s a bad investment. Joe wouldn’t draft a running back before the third round.

The NFL is littered with stud running backs who were afterthoughts on the first day of the draft. While Joe believes it is vital to share the load in the backfield to save wear and tear on running backs and to extend their shelf lives, drafting a running back, even Ingram, is a bad move in the first round.

You’ve got draft questions? NFL draft guru Justin Pawlowski takes them on with passion every Wednesday here at JoeBucsFan.com.

Everything draft is on the table. You can hit him up at commish@620WDAE.com.

In this mailbag, Pawlowski talks about the Bucs and the possibility of safeties Ahmad Black or Quinton Carter becoming Buccaneers, among other topics.

Click the arrow below or click here to download.

The play of E.J. Biggers is one reason the Bucs have a strong secondary.

Joe used to snicker a few weeks ago when some Bucs fans — for reasons Joe cannot comprehend — began banging the drum for Bucs rock star Mark Dominik to sign Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

Setting aside reality for a moment — the stark reality that Mark Dominik will not sign a high-priced free agent — this move in Joe’s eyes would make nearly as much sense as the Bucs signing free agent quarterback Peyton Manning.

Of all the positions the Bucs need help in, secondary, aside from quarterback, was the last area of need for the Bucs. Crunching some numbers, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune agrees with Joe, so Kaufman Twittered on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.

Tampa Bay’s secondary excelled despite a dismal pass rush, limiting opposing QBs to a 77.6 passer rating that ranked third in the NFC.

That’s pretty damned strong. As Kaufman points out, the Bucs had pretty much zero pass pressure last season.

So if Bucs fans can fantasize with a modicum of realty (signing Asomugha is pure surreality), imagine a secondary where E.J. Biggers has more experience, Myron Lewis has more experience, Cody Grimm and Aqib Talib will return from injuries (and no, Tanard Jackson is no more a factor than Rachel Watson playing safety), a revitalized defensive front with two new coaches, a healthy Gerald McCoy and Brian Price and likely an upgraded set of defensive ends, it’s not out of the question the Bucs could have the strongest pass defense in the NFC next season.

And that’s much closer to reality than Asomugha wearing pewter and red.

A possibility for the Bucs?

The NFL Scouting combine opens its doors today in Indianapolis to tight ends and offensive linemen. These young men will be grilled and drilled by NFL clubs, hit the classroom, and be poked and prodded like race horses over the next handful of days.

Rock star general manager Mark Dominik is probably working on his poker face as he salivates over potential seventh-round gems.

NFL Network (surely every manly man has easy access to this channel) has all the watchable physical action live beginning Saturday.

Draft guru Justin Pawlowski, The Commish of WDAE-AM 620, fires off a look here at the lineman and tight ends, including who and what the Bucs might be thinking about.

Click the arrow and enjoy.

Don’t forget to fire off your draft questions to Pawlowski, and he’ll answer them here, commish@620wdae.com.