There’s been a lot of chatter the past 48 hours or so about fat/in shape NFL players around these here parts. Well, here’s one about a player dropping weight.

Joe was talking with Bucs defensive end Adrian Clayborn. The stud right defensive end was felled by a nasty knee injury but Clayborn has been a madman in working out this offseason to make sure he is ready to go for training camp at the end of July

Clayborn looked svelte, as if he dropped weight. Not enough, says Clayborn.

“I need to get down a little bit more,” Clayborn said.

Clayborn seems to have a different body built. He looks lean but apparently has really built up his upper body and legs.

“I am just more comfortable going into the season light, never know what is going to happen,” Clayborn said. “The rehab is going good. I’m ahead of schedule. No tweaks or setbacks, going good. I hope to keep it positive. My goal is to be in pads by training camp.”

Joe will be very interested to see what the new-look Clayborn does to left tackles.

Perhaps the greatest unknown about Greg Schiano is what caliber game coach he really is.

Is Schiano better than Mike Smith or Sean Payton, his primary competition?

Will Schiano’s mind win games for the Bucs?

The jury is very much still out on Schiano. It’s not like he was known as a big-game coach at Rutgers. And the Bucs had their share of collapses late last season. Their obsessive blitzing and conservative play calling came under fire, and the Bucs didn’t show up in New Orleans — in December against a division rival.

On the flip side, Joe was very encouraged by the Bucs performance in Atlanta to close the season. It was as if Schiano found a way to right a sinking ship in very difficult seas. That’s a mark of good coaching.

Interestingly, while speaking with Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM last week, Schiano said the first thing he did after the season was perform an extensive evaluation of himself. And Schiano humbly said, “There are certainly a lot of things” he needs to improve.

For Joe, Schiano’s improvement is the unspoken X-factor of 2013. In the NFC South, with an extraordinarily talented Bucs roster, the Bucs desperately need Schiano to prove he’s a one of the better head coaches in the NFL.

Donnie Abraham, now coaching at Clearwater High School, was a damn fine cornerback for the Bucs.

Joe can’t remember a time like when the Bucs hit back-to-back home runs in drafting running back Doug Martin and outside linebacker Lavonte David in consecutive picks, after starting the 2012 draft with a solid extra-base hit in Mark Barron.

Was this the best Bucs’ draft in the team’s history?

The pride of Northwestern and overseer of “The Captain’s Blog,” on Buccaneers.com, Scott Smith, isn’t buying it yet. While Smith admits last year’s draft was fantastic, he has it tied with two other Bucs drafts as best ever, 1996 and 1988.

1996: The Bucs took two defensive linemen in the first round in Tony Dungy’s first draft but it was the second and third rounds, which produced Mike Alstott and Donnie Abraham, that really made this class. Alstott led the team in receiving and scoring and was a good complement in the running game to Errict Rhett. Abraham quickly took over the starting right corner job and led the team with five interceptions. Those two first-round linemen, Regan Upshaw and Marcus Jones, didn’t have an enormous impact, but Upshaw did start all 16 games at right end and had four sacks. Fourth-rounder Jason Odom started six games at right tackle and one at left tackle. Sixth-round WR Nilo Silvan was the team’s primary kickoff return man.

1988: Future Ring of Honor inductee Paul Gruber went from the fourth overall pick to the starting job at left tackle without pause, beginning an ironman streak in which he wouldn’t miss an offensive snap for five years. Lars Tate led the team in rushing and scored a then-Buc rookie record eight touchdowns. DL Pig Goff started six games and pitched in with two sacks and three fumble recoveries. G Robert Bruhin also started six games on the offensive line. Fifth-round RB William Howard not only became the starter at fullback but got almost the exact same number of carries and yards as Tate. Putting this one over the top was ninth-round find Reuben Davis, who immediately became the starter at LE in the Bucs’ 3-4 front and had three sacks. Even 11th-round pick WR Frank Pillow found his way to 15 catches and 206 yards.

Obviously, time will tell if the 2012 studs thrive or regress. Martin already has logged a Pro Bowl game.

Joe is glad Smith mentioned Donnie Abraham, who now coaches at Clearwater High School. It seems as though Abraham is one of the forgotten Bucs, but damn, he played really good ball and was a fixture on those Father Dungy defenses.

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What’s next in the fat assault on Donald Penn?

Will a major newspaper accuse him, via a hidden source, of wearing a rubber shirt at practice to somehow lose up to 30 pounds at a clip? Oh, wait, the Tampa Bay Times did that last year.

What about the GM sharing disgust of Penn’s body? That’s old news.

Yesterday, PewterReport.com Bucs beat writer Mark Cook used an anonymous-source assault on Penn’s fitness only to revise/fix his story to reflect that Penn did, in fact, meet all the weigh-in requirements assigned him by the Buccaneers in 2012.

This, and fans ripping Penn for his weight, makes Joe shake his head. Penn has made 92 consecutive starts and at worst is an above-average left tackle. It’s sad that he’s been targeted by fat haters. Just last week, offensive line coach/guru Bob Bostad praised Penn and called him a “rock.”

So a damn good left tackle has been known to attack buffets like he does defensive ends. Big freakin’ deal. There’s a reason they call these guys “hogs.” They’re not supposed to be chiseled. Fat is ok as long as it doesn’t hinder productivity.

The Bucs invested tens of millions of dollars into Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks, who is rather Penn-like in his approach to fitness. There is no evidence Penn’s waistline has gotten in his way.

Joe will now wait to see what hit comes Penn’s way next. Perhaps TMZ will catch him eating butter with a spoon.

Just reading the tea leaves and sifting through the scant quotes about the tight end position since Dallas Clark left the Bucs/unofficially retired, it sure seems on paper that Tom Crabtree is your starting tight end.

Now Joe knows some Bucs fans slammed empty beer glasses because Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik didn’t draft a tight end. In some ways, that would have been a wasted pick. Despite those Bucs fans wanted, it actually was a non-move driven by Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and his hybrid Giants offense in which the tight end is not valued as a receiver.

Joe spoke to someone a few months ago who met quarterback Josh Freeman in a public setting. There, Joe’s acquaintance told him, Freeman was asked if the Bucs should draft/sign a top shelf tight. Freeman shrugged his shoulders and said, “We don’t use the tight end that much in this offense anyway.”

Crabtree, various Packers beat writers have documented, is a strong blocker and some scouts — including Bucs coach Greg Schiano — believe Crabtree has the capability of being a fine downfield pass catcher. He flashed that ability from time to time in the limited chances he got on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

But here is why Joe thinks Luke Stocker would get plenty of action even if Crabree is the starter: Crabtree has never started for a full season. Remember, Crabtree was in a logjam with the Packers stuck behind Jermichael Finley. In three seasons, Crabtree has started 16 games.

No one really knows how Crabtree will hold up physically for a full 17-week season as a starter.

This is why Joe is of the belief that Stocker would log quite a few snaps — to ease Crabtree into the transition from a part-time player to a full-time starter.

It didn’t start out as a pleasant Memorial Day holiday for Bucs left tackle Donald Penn. The proud resident of the City of Angels awoke to a story on PewterReport.com that alleged Penn is failing his weight tests regularly and, as a result, is in danger of not staying with the Bucs after the 2013 season.

This didn’t sit well with the normally laid back Penn, who took first to Twitter.

@DPENN70: This article here is some bullshit n false I been working hard n putting in work messed up my whole weekend

Then Penn reached out to the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio to vent.

In a tweet directed at our Twitter account, Penn declares that he’s “330 right now in the best shape I been in in a long time stop reporting bullshit I made all my weigh in last yr n this yr.”

He later added: “I still shut down the best DEs in the game n ball out every Sunday I gave up 4 sacks all yr last season get yo shit right.”

Penn then apparently realized that the information came not from us but from Pewter Report.

In addition, Florio has several other Twitters from Penn about the report in which Penn used various forms of colorful language that he has since deleted from his Twitter feed.

Unless the Bucs went out and got a left tackle — there’s not that many decent left tackles floating around looking for work at this time of the year — Joe finds it difficult to fathom Penn being bounced. Hell, the Bucs barely have the right tackle position locked up.

If anything affected Penn’s play last year, it was the loss of left guard Carl Nicks, forcing Penn to be spread out a little too thin.

Look, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and coach Greg Schiano don’t play games. If they are displeased, they won’t hide it, which is why cornerback Eric Wright had to crawl back with his hat in his hands begging for another chance, then Dominik went out and beefed up the corner position big time.

Could Penn be gone by 2014? Sure, shoot, Joe may be dead tomorrow for all he knows. This year, barring something terribly unforeseen, Joe expects Penn to be in the starting lineup in Gotham against the Jets.

There’s been little public chatter about winning a Super Bowl around One Buc Palace in recent years. Perhaps it’s often done privately or in hush tones, but Joe often senses a hesitation by Bucs brass and players to even say the words “Super Bowl.”

“Super Bowl” is just not a goal often verbalized by Bucs players, who just don’t seem to want to talk a big game or speak about the ultimate goal.

Joe has no problem with players staying humble and focusing on day-to-day improvement, but it was still good to hear Doug Martin reference winning a Super Bowl in a recent Buccaneers.com interview after an OTA practice last week.

The Bucs have nine young former Pro Bowlers on the roster — nine — plus imported blood in Darrelle Revis, Dashon Goldson, Carl Nicks and other Super-Bowl winning coaches and players that should bring a Super Bowl mentality. Also, a guy like Martin, a legitimate star out of the gate, should be dialed in to a championship mindset. Bravo!

Heck, new tight end Tom Crabtree was emphatic last week saying that there is “no dropoff” in talent on the Bucs roster comparted to what he left in Green Bay.

Bucs fans and players should be thinking and talking about a Super Bowl. It should be why we’re all here, and at least the current Buccaneers are legitimate longshots.

There is one regular commenter on this here corner of the interwebs who is absolutely stressed about who will be the Bucs’ strongside linebacker. This commenter is freaking out worse than a drinker who bought a house in a dry county and just realized it.

It’s May! There is a reason why NFL teams have training camps and preseason games to determine who will fill open positions.

One person who is not sweating is Bucs middle linebacker Mason Foster. The Bucs’ own version of Ric Flair was corralled by the Buccaneers.com video crew after a recent OTA practice and Foster said he is confident the Bucs linebackers will be strong this year.

“It’s good to get out here with the guys,” Foster said. “It’s good to actually play football but this is competition. We have a great group of guys. We have a lot of chemistry. We have a lot of athletes in the room. I am excited to see what we do this year.”

Now Joe was highly critical of former strongside linebacker Quincy Black and his subpar play during the Raheem Morris era. But when he got some coaching, Black had the best year of his career and even Bucs coach Greg Schiano believed Black was improving at the time of his injury.

So if Bucs coaches can coach up Black, Joe isn’t sweating bullets about who will replace him.

As for the commenter who nearly daily asks who will start at strongside backer, Joe feels so bad for him, Joe is almost inclined to lie and claim Player-X will succeed Black, just so said commenter can rest at night.

Joe always feels sheepish posting this each year, though Joe does it so the message is not forgotten.

One reason why we are able to choose to inhale beer, brats, brisket and pork and football is that a helluva lot of men and women gave the ultimate sacrifice. As the old saying goes, in our nation’s military engagements overseas over the past century, “heroes didn’t come home.”

This day is to remember those souls.

So amid sun and fun and beer and BBQ today, if for a brief moment, please remember we get to party and veg on the couch and enjoy NFL Network thanks to high price paid by others.

Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy your freedom today.

Clearly, a football coach wakes up from the drool stains on his pillow after dreaming of a lightning-fast return guy galloping down the sidelines for an easy six points.

That, in part, is why the Bucs asked for the rights to track star Jeff Demps when the Bucs unloaded LeGarrette Blount to Bill Belicheat. So what may happen with Demps? Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times took a look.

Jeff Demps was the lone player not in attendance at last week’s first offseason practice, not a surprise given his current focus on track and field. The Olympic silver medalist and former Gator, traded to the Bucs last month from the Patriots, still is concentrating full time on sprinting during the offseason and isn’t expected around One Buc Place until the preseason — at the earliest. The Bucs seem content to put off any decisions about Demps’ future for at least a little while.

Let Joe just say he believes Demps signing with the Bucs is, well, dubious. Here’s why:

On the day of the trade, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik stated that Demps “is interested” — Dominik’s exact words — in playing football. Demps’ goal is, however, to win a gold medal at the next Olympics.

Joe just doesn’t know if Bucs coach Greg Schiano is really on board waiting for a guy who is playing football as a hobby right now. That simply doesn’t seem to jive with Schiano.

Hey, it’s nice to think of having an Olympic medalist return kicks, but be honest, how many times has this worked out since Bullet Bob Hayes played for the Cowboys and 49ers in the mid-1970s? Track speed isn’t football speed.

A lot is riding on the hopes that Darrelle Revis can make a complete comeback from knee surgery.

No, Joe hasn’t had any adult beverages today. Yet. Now, like most Bucs fans, Joe is eager for the 2013 season to get underway as it promises to be much better than last year’s.

But what if? What if Josh Freeman continues to struggle and/or the Bucs don’t adequately fill the holes left at strongside linebacker, tight end and on the defensive front? What if Darrelle Revis struggles to return to form? Then you could look at the Bucs and see all sorts of gambles on the field and, yet again, the Bucs miss the playoffs.

What then? Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida ponders the ugly thoughts.

“Darrelle is learning the system,” Schiano said later Monday. “He’s watching certain things, and then he’s doing other things with Todd. So it’s kind of a split deal there. But (it’s) all aimed at having him ready at the beginning of the season. That’s the main goal.”

There is plenty riding on Revis’ recovery – for him and Schiano, for Dominik and the Bucs’ medical staff, for the Glazer family and followers of a franchise that last reached the postseason after the 2007 campaign. Revis has the oft-repeated resume – a four-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time All-Pro, formerly The Best Player on the Jets – but the six-year, $96 million move that brought him to Florida remains a high-stakes gamble.

Revis has said Tampa Bay has taken a risk. He is confident the trust is well placed, but only time will show if he is proven correct. Many factors and unknowns remain to be sorted, and much about his status will stay a mystery until he runs out of a tunnel in a meaningful game for the first time since crumpling to the grass at Sun Life Stadium last September. For now, watching the cornerback’s rehab is like observing a dented Ferrari receive a new exterior, with fine attention given to the repair.

To be honest, Freeman playing well, to this point in his career, would be the exception, not the norm. Nobody knows how Tom Crabtree holds up for a full season of punishment, and there is no guarantee Da’Quan Bowers can stay healthy or Akeem Spence can replace Roy Miller.

But if Revis can’t return from his knee surgery, do heads roll at One Buc Palace?

To be fair, as Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik says, Revis at 80 percent is better than most corners. Very true.

Bucs honchos have talked a lot about how stud cornerback Darrelle Revis is going to be a major team leader.

Now there’s a little evidence out there.

Speaking in this Buccaneers.com video, Bucs rookie cornerback Johnthan Banks says Revis is “on the sideline coaching” him.

Joe saw Revis working with team trainers on practice fields and equipment at One Buc Palace, but it’s great to hear he’s getting hands-0n when he’s not focusing on rehabbing.

Interestingly, in the video Banks explains that Leonard Johnson is his brightest guiding light. Johnson clearly is an unselfish Buccaneer Man.

Bucs Pro Bowl defensive tackle was involved in a small car accident today, per his Twitter feed, and he’s OK as far as we know.

GMC was scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the Yankees-Rays game at the Fruitdome today but had the accident en route to the game, missing the chance to throw out the first pitch.

Details of the accident are unknown.

‏@Geraldini93: Apologies to all. Got in a car accident on way to game and it caused me to miss. Everybody is ok. … Thanx for all the concern. I’m ok. And at the game and rooting for @RaysBaseball. Preciate all the love!!

Well, it’s good to know GMC is OK. Thing is, even in minor accidents, things pop up later. Joe hopes that is not the case here.

Now, Joe will wait to see how long it takes before the other person involved in the accident tries to shake down GMC.

On Thursday night, NFL Network unveiled Vincent Jackson and Doug Martin on their coveted Top-100 Players in the league list, as chosen by the vote of NFL players. It’s the third season of the league honor. Jackson scored the highest ranking for a Buccaneer ever at No. 52. Martin checked in at No. 57.

Joe doesn’t want to take away from their honors, but the Top-100 list always reminds Joe of Josh Freeman being ranked 86th by his peers following the 2010 season, only his first full season as a starter.

Damn, that was “good Josh.” And here’s the link to the video of Freeman’s segment, much of it narrated by John Abraham.

It feels like ancient history, but it wasn’t that long ago that Freeman was a ferocious, fearless, intimidating and consistent presence.

The No Excuses Tour heads to Tropicana Field from Tampa Lee Roy Selmon’s locations. Click here for the schedule.

Catch the famous No Excuses Tour bus departing Lee Roy Selmon’s locations in Tampa for this weekend’s entire Yankees-Rays series.

Your Paradise Worldwide Transportation chauffeur is waiting — and it’s only $9.95 roundtrip!

More than 1,000 fans have enjoyed this amazing service.

Of course Mike Glennon will get more snaps in preseason games this summer than Josh Freeman. Backups always get more preseason snaps.

Joe loves how some people are reaching crazy conclusions believing Josh Freeman’s days in Tampa Bay are numbered. Take the notion that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is creating a smokescreen designed to grease the wheels for Freeman’s exit from the Bucs, as someone suggested in an ESPN NFC South chat.

Luke (Northdale)

I have a hard time believing Dominik when he says Glennon will get “most” of the snaps in pre-season. Are they really considering letting him start right out of the gate?

Pat Yasinskas

As I said before, I’m pretty sure Freeman will be the opening-day starter. If he gets off to a rough start, then we could see Glennon as the season goes on.

Good grief! Apparently people don’t watch the Bucs in the preseason.

Just how many snaps did Freeman have last year in preseason? Freeman was 18-of-34 passing for 164 yards last preseason. So he probably took 50-to-60 snaps. But to suggest a backup will get more snaps than the starter is pretty much a no-brainer. Dominik isn’t trying to con anyone.

Backup quarterbacks regularly get more snaps in preseason games than starters. Dominik stating Glennon will get more snaps in preseason than Freeman is simply common sense.

Bucs fans can debate over cold beers at their favorite watering hole who the most valuable Buccaneer is.

Not counting new arrivals such as Darrelle Revis and/or Dashon Goldson, one could easily make an argument for Vincent Jackson or Doug Martin or Carl Nicks, or even Lavonte David.

As far as defensive linemen go, Neil Hornsby, founder of Pro Football Focus, has determined that Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy isn’t just a valuable member of the Bucs, but he is the second-most valuable defensive linemen in the NFL.

Not sure how Hornsby came up with the calculations for this honor, being a non-stat guy, Joe isn’t sure he wants to know.

Joe found it interesting Hornsby’s research shows GMC to be so valuable, yet how many Bucs fans were ready to run GMC out of town at this point last year, including loud radio voices?

Now “this Joe” remembers turning to the “other Joe” at about midseason last year saying, “if Gerald McCoy goes down, this team is screwed.”

That, my friends, is a valuable player.

Now Let Joe be bluntly honest here: No Bucs running back is going to take snaps away from Doug Martin. That would be nuts.

Martin is among the best running backs in the league. If anything, you want to give him more carries (though to be careful, you don’t want to wear the guy down).

Joe finds it interesting that that a sixth-round pick like Mike James is getting so much love. Sure, James, a Polk County guy, seems to be a really good dude, a guy you want to root for. That written, he was a sixth-round pick.

Matt Williams, an NFL scout for ESPN, has written about the Bucs running backs and he too seems smitten with James.

Doug Martin was a phenom in his first season, accumulating nearly 2,000 combined yards even though the Buccaneers were missing their high-priced guards to help pave the way. Martin entered the league NFL-ready with an excellent all-around game. He is a very good, but not great, receiver. The same is true for his pass protection. He should only get better in both areas. But Martin is already a very good runner who can get to the corner with speed, break long runs and handle the physical pounding at the position. He is an excellent interior runner. Rookie sixth-round pick Mike James could be Martin’s direct backup, but Tampa Bay also used a seventh-round pick last year on Michael Smith. Brian Leonard is on the roster, as well. James isn’t flashy but has size and isn’t a dancer. Smith has more quickness to his game, but probably wouldn’t be suited for a large role if Martin were to miss time. Leonard plays hard and is a good blocker and receiver. He is also an accomplished special-teams player and knows how to help a team. Don’t be surprised if the Buccaneers consider adding a veteran running back before training camp opens.

Perhaps there is something to the bouquets being thrown to James. Running backs are a dime a dozen, Joe has often written. Shoot, Mike Shanahan is notorious for finding strong running backs in the middle- to late-rounds. It all depends on the front line.

And yes, the Bucs have strong offensive line, especially with Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks coming back healthy. Last year the offensive line, in the latter stages of the season, wore down. That was not just because Joseph and Nicks were out, but guys starting were worn out because they were not used to starting many weeks in a row.

This became a snowball effect. With Nicks on the sidelines, Donald Penn started to get overextended. Jamon Meredith was definitely exposed.

So with a healthy line, maybe there is reason to be excited about James?And Michael Smith is still captain of the inactive list.