Whenever the asinine, torurous lockout is over, the Bucs will report to training camp in a relative hurry and re-unite with trainers and coaches after several months away. Some players will come in fitter than ever; Some will be downright soft.

That’s going to be an inevitble byproduct of guys being out of touch: wild ranges in fitness.

In an interesting look at how a team is affected by all things lockout, Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith shares an insider look into various ,as he stepped in for the vacationing Peter King and penned his Monday Morning Quarterback Column for SI.com. One of Smith’s takes was on planning for the fitness gap. Here’s an excerpt:

Though some publications wrote off Aqib Talib from the Bucs before his wrists healed from being pinched, the crowd at The News Center was much more cautious in its assessment of Talib’s job security. Here, Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss Talib and the Bucs in this TBO Bucs video vlog.

Hey, fans are allowed to dream, right? Of course. And that’s the premise Dave Scheiber of FoxSportsFlorida.com took recently.

Scheiber decided to put fingertips to keyboard and pound out six things the Bucs must accomplish for the Pewter Pirates to advance to their second Super Bowl. Of the six is a dominant defensive line.

A disruptive D-line: The Bucs were among the league’s worst in stopping the run last season and finished second-to-last in sacks, but they have the makings of a much-improved defensive line heading into the season. Last year’s No. 1 draft pick, tackle Gerald McCoy out of Oklahoma, suffered an arm injury and didn’t get a chance to develop into the impact player the team expects he’ll be now that he’s healthy. And in the recent draft, general manager Mark Dominik tapped a pair of promising linemen: defensive ends Adrian Clayborn of Iowa in the first round and Da’Quan Bowers out of Clemson in the second. Second-year tackle Brian Price remains a question mark, trying to return from a rare surgery that repaired a torn hamstring and broken pelvis. But the defensive line features a promising blend of youth and experience (such as Roy Miller, Stylez White and Tim Crowder). And the unit, in spite of a poor turnout at Freeman’s minicamp, is positioned to turn up the heat on quarterbacks and rushers in 2011. For the Bucs to go far, it’s a must.

Just a hunch for Joe, but sans Miller, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is going to go all youth up front when the season begins (if it begins).

But Scheiber is correct: Dominik has spent much cash and collateral on the defensive line and it’s about time it starts to show results. Joe firmly believes Keith Millard will do wonders with Gerald McCoy and he certainly won’t hurt the rest.

It’s not farfetched to think the Bucs could be in a Super Bowl (no, Joe’s not saying the Bucs will be in the Super Bowl). Josh Freeman likes to talk about how the Bucs lost a playoff tiebreaker to the Packers. And it was the cheddar cheese and green that won the Super Bowl.

For the Bucs to accomplish such a feat, the defensive line has to dramatically improve.

Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports catches up with Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman at some 7-on-7 camp. Freeman explains why he doesn’t compare himself to Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford, and he talks about what made the Bucs offense click last year and how the Bucs have handled the asinine lockout.

Everything Joe’s read from many media outlets and heard directly from Bucs players claims Aqib Talib has been a regular at Josh Freeman’s offseason workout sessions in Tampa, plus Talib was at Freeman’s minicamp in Bradenton two weeks ago.

So Joe was surprised to read beat writer Rick Stroud’s offering today that paints a different impression of Talib’s offseason whereabouts. It’s in a St. Pete Times story about Ronde Barber commenting on what’s best for Talib. Here’s a snippet:

Barber said he and coach Raheem Morris have implored Talib to spend his offseason training in Tampa. But Talib has chosen to return to his hometown near Dallas, where his mother and two sisters live.

It was there, in Garland, where Talib and his mother, Okolo, were arrested in connection with a shooting involving the live-in boyfriend of one of Talib’s sisters March 21.

“He has his life in Dallas, and I don’t know what that life is,” Barber said. “Aqib is a person that should be … the confident Buc.

“But he’s got to embrace Tampa the way Tampa as the team wants to embrace him. (Former Buc great) Warren (Sapp) was great with that. He knew the team atmosphere was better when everybody is around. There’s a culture, a spirit, and nowadays (players) want to go back and train wherever they are.

“That’s different than from when I was coming up. We always wanted to be around.”

Joe suggests you read Stroud’s entire piece linked above. There’s no mention of Talib working regularly with his teammates this offseason, and there’s no source that backs up “Talib has chosen to return to his hometown.” Very strange.

And how about the irony? Talib is being advised, via a St. Pete Times story, to build roots in Tampa, when the same newspaper reported the Bucs already have decided to cut Talib when the lockout ends.

Joe gets Barber’s desire for Talib to immerse himself in the Tampa community, which likely would keep him away from his troubled family, which led to his recent legal troubles. 

However, Joe’s not about to advise Talib to distance himself from his loved ones. Like Barber said, he doesn’t know what Talib’s Texas life is like.

Neither does Joe.

For all we know Talib has great relatives and friends there who offer him real support. Regardless, Talib needs some form of regular counseling first and foremost.  As Talib knows, he can find trouble regardless of his address. Joe can only hope he’s getting that counseling.

In many respects, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is hoping to see some payback on his investments the past three years on the defensive line.

Dominik has spent much collateral (and Team Glazer cash) on the defensive line in three drafts. Roy Miller, Kyle Moore, Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers. Only Miller (third round) and Moore (fourth round) were not high draft picks.

That’s six defensive linemen in three drafts. Yet the Bucs continued to stink the joint up on the defensive front.

Part of this was inexperience, part of this was bad coaching (Todd Wash), part of this was injuries. And it may be the latter reason why the Bucs and Dominik still may not see the corner turned on the defensive line, so writes eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

The Bucs have struggled to generate an effective pass rush or establish a credible run defense during the two years of the Mark Dominik/Raheem Morris regime. Tampa Bay has used four premium picks in the past two drafts on defensive linemen, adding tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price in 2010 and ends Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers in April.

McCoy (biceps) and Price (pelvis) suffered significant injuries as rookies and third-year defensive tackle Roy Miller has yet to develop into a force against the run. Bowers was bypassed in the first round because of lingering questions about the health of his knees.

One of the league’s youngest defensive lines hasn’t had the benefit of organized team workouts under the guidance of Tampa Bay’s staff, which includes new defensive line coach Keith Millard. Even Dominik sounds unsure just how much playing time the Bucs can expect from Bowers in 2011 and Price may not be ready to contribute much in his second season as he continues his recuperation.

Joe believes the Bucs will flourish under Millard, but it will take time, as Kaufman suggests. GMC, during Josh Freeman’s minicamp last week at IMG, said he met Millard just before the lockout and Millard showed GMC many, many clips of how GMC had his man beat, time after time, but because of lousy technique and fundamentals, GMC couldn’t finish the play.

GMC said that has been his offseason goal, along with getting healthy, to work on the fundamentals that Millard pointed out before this asinine lockout began.

Joe believes that was also why GMC was such a coach to his fellow defensive linemen, specifically Clayborn, last week. GMC knows what he did wrong, thanks to Millard, and how to correct his mistakes, also thanks to Millard.

And it was cool to see Clayborn soaking up each and every word GMC spoke.

"You see Dominik's post-lockout scenarios? I like No. 41c"

Joe had an unexpectedly great Bucs free agency conversation with a grumpy old dude/stranger at Target last night.

Forgetting about the guy’s bad breath and misguided rage, it got Joe focused on how much the Bucs will have to spend to meet — at minimum — the new salary cap floor, whenever it’s revealed following the end of the asinine lockout.

NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, of ESPN.com, tapped his team of stat geeks weeks ago and came up with the Bucs needing to spend $50 million over what’s already committed for 2011, in order to reach what could be the new real-cash salary cap floor (not capology funny money). 

A lot of Bucs fans, Joe NOT included, seem to think the Bucs could and should sign Nnamdi Asoumgha for around $19 million a year and still re-sign all their free agents and leave themselves in good position for future years.

The Bucs could probably do it. Here’s the expected Bucs free agents, per eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune:

LB Quincy Black
DL Tim Crowder
TE John Gilmore
LB Adam Hayward
G Davin Joseph
LB Niko Koutouvides
LB Barrett Ruud
WR Micheal Spurlock
WR Maurice Stovall
T Jeremy Trueblood
DE Stylez G. White
RB Cadillac Williams

If the Bucs signed Joseph and Ruud and half the other guys, that probably leaves more than enough dough to break the bank on one “outsider.” But would the Bucs want to sign a big-name guy from outside the organization? Joe’s not seeeing it, unles they’re really forced into it if Joseph and Ruud are gone.

It seems more Dominik-like, if the rules allow, to heavily frontload some of the homegrown free agency deals in 2011, in order to free up plenty of cap room next year when the team can be assessed all over again.

Speaking on the usually rancid Dan Patrick Show this week, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik again stressed he wants to re-sign the homegrown Bucs and build through the draft. But Dominik added he’s “gone through all the scenarios” at it relates to the salary cap.

Surely Dominik is prepared, but the number of scenarios for the Bucs has got to be beyond extraordinary because of the fat wad the team will be forced to spend — and it’s probably going to be extremely complex in a tight time window. Joe suspects the Bucs’ 2011 free agency/salary playbook looks as complicated as anything Chucky ever produced.

Loud, sweaty, and crazy is on display in this cut from the JoeBucsFan TV studios, as Joe comes after WDAE-AM 620 personality Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski for his A grade of the Bucs’ 2011 draft.

(Disclaimer: Yes, Joe’s aware The Commish calls Joe another name.)
(Disclaimer II: The Commish is not ill. There is no air conditioning blowing during taping in the JoeBucsFan TV studios.)

Bucs backup quarterback Josh Johnson isn’t shy about his loyalties. He’s a dedicated Buccaneer who seems equally eager to play for his former college coach, Jim Harbaugh, now head man of the 49ers, which just happens to play nearby where Johnson makes his home.

This isn’t fresh news. Johnson has expressed his love of the Bucs and Harbaugh in previous interviews. But he seemed to kick it all up a notch in a story by Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday. Johnson was at an event promoting his charity foundation.

Joe just doesn’t get Dull Patrick, never did.

His show is literally no different than BSPN radio schlock. The same lame, predictable topics (GASP! — Tom Brady was spotted with Gisele instead of working out… hey, LUH-bron dribbled a basketball… OMG, Derek Jeter farted!), only in a delivery that would make insomniacs want to chug a 24-ounce Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Throw in how he just slurps guests worse than a Tijuana businesswoman and acts like he’s some intimate of his guests, it makes Joe just want to vomit on his keyboard.

Look, Dull Patrick is so lame, the only time his show was remotely interesting was when he had Rob Dibble of all people as a co-host. Joe’s last attempt to listen to this feces was the day Indiana University fired Bob Knight, truly a sports news item of historic proportions. Dull Patrick whined like the little girl that he is, “I don’t want to talk about Knight, I want to talk about TY-gggeeerrr.”

(FACEPALM!)

And to think that someone in a position of decision-making authority actually was of the mind that the Tampa Bay area would prefer to listen to Dull Patrick over Bobby Fenton if you can imagine such a thing.

It drives Joe nuts seeing Dull Patrick — only because he’s an NBC employee — working the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC. This guy Dull Patrick likely wouldn’t even know what the hell a plus/minus is!

(And there are actually people out there that wonder why satellite radio exists.)

Anyway, Dull Patrick’s show got infinitely better yesterday when instead of Dull Patrick invoking traffic accidents by boring people to sleep, the great Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, hosted the show. Florio had Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik as a guest and Dominik had many interesting things to say.

One piece of speculation from Dominik was about how free agency will play out. Now when/if this asinine lockout ends, there will likely be a landrush to sign free agents. Dominik, so he told Florio, projected that the NFL could offer a window to target undrafted free agents immediately because the process wouldn’t have a lot of rules and is “a fairly simple process to get through.”

Then Dominik said the process could move to traditional free agents and, subsequently, put drafted rookie contracts on the backburner.

The reason for this would be that with a small window to sign players, getting rookie draft picks signed is not a priority. Thus the process for signing a rookie will be delayed. What is interesting about this is, as ProFootballTalk’s Gregg Rosenthal suggested, there could be a lot of holdouts when practices begin, perhaps more than usual.

Basically, Dominik and other NFL general managers will have about three months of work to do in about three weeks.

Word around draft time was that Adrian Clayborn could only play right defensive end because of limitations from Erb’s Palsy. Then after the draft Clayborn explained why that was baloney.

Now Clayborn says he can rush inside, so he claimed on the WhatTheBuc.net radio show last night.

“I think I can line up at 3-technique, hopefully I won’t have to go down too much farther,” Clayborn said. “Left end, right end, 3-technique. I think I can play those positions. Mostly 3-technique on passing downs. But I hope I can do it all at the next level. I wish I had some experience in OTAs but, you know, the lockout and all.”

Given how the Bucs bounce guys around the D-line, perhaps Clayborn could rush inside. Though Joe’s not holding his breath.  

Clayborn went on to say the lockout is a big setback for rookies and an uphill climb. “Hopefully it’s not Mount Everest,” Clayborn said. “Hopefully it’s just a baby hill somewhere in Iowa.”

Clayborn also identified his strength as his hands and his weaknesses are pad level and leverage. Joe suspects Donald Penn might have quite a bit of fun exposing those in practice.

If you didn’t read the St. Pete Times story of Bucs tackle James Lee visiting a longtime, hardcore Bucs fan in the hospital, then here’s the link.

It meant the world to the fan with blood cancer.

“I just love seeing him happy like that,” said Geneva, Clark’s wife of 38 years. “There are three things in his life: God, his wife and the Bucs.”

Lee’s one of those guys who knows what a great impact he can have in the community — even as a relatively little known lineman — and embraces the opportunity routinely here and in South Florida.

Watch the video and visit Topper Town in Clearwater, Joe’s favorite A.R.E. dealer. It’s really time to get your truck in shape. And there’s no better place to do it than at Topper Town.

Topper Town has everything you need for your truck, SUV and car, plus decades of experience. Joe highly recommends these guys.

"You want weapons, Olie? We've got weapons."

There’s no need for Tiki Barber when you’ve got LeGarrette Blount, Kregg Lumpkin, and Allen Bradford.

That was the sentiment expressed by Mark Dominik yesterday when chatting with fill-in host Mike Florio on The Dan Patrick Show.

Of course, since Barber remains property of the New York Giants, Dominik is not permitted to talk about him specificially. But Dominik made it clear that he’s happy with the guys on his roster. It’s hardly a surprise that Dominik isn’t seeking an ancient running back who’s been on the couch and frolicking around Manhattan for several years. 

Dominik went out of his way to tell Florio and the national radio audience that Lumpkin is a little-known, up-and-comer who “played well in the last game for us.”

“We’ve got three big backs. Three young backs that we’re pretty excited about,” Dominik said.

Conspiracy theorists are free to interpret Dominik not mentioning free agent Cadillac Williams in a running backs discussion. Joe doesn’t think it reveals anything. But Joe also doesn’t think the Bucs would have any problem with Earnest Graham filling Cadillac’s role.

Are fans falling in love with the Bucs?

In what has to be viewed as a surprise considering the Miami Dolphins’ long history and status as the first NFL team in Florida, a recent poll shows the Buccaneers as Florida residents’ favorite professional sports team in the state.

Commissioned by the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling outfit, an established left wing political pollster, about 850 people were surveyed and 17 percent picked the Bucs as their favorite in-state club.

The Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars checked in at 16 percent. The Miami Heat got 14 percent, followed by the Rays and Orlando Magic with 11 percent. The Lightning scraped up 4 percent.

Sure, the accuracy of the data is reported to be roughly +/- 3 percent. But as Antonio Bryant used to say, “Film don’t lie.” The Bucs are Florida’s favorite team.

A deeper look at the data shows women, those ages 30 to 45, and those who classified themselves as “very conservative” trended toward picking the Bucs.

Joe’s hoping this all translates into ticket sales sometime soon.

No stone goes unturned when it comes to rockstar Bucs general manager Mark Dominik scouring the universe to learn about players.

Asked today on The Dan Patrick Show for any kind of update on the somewhat mysterious million-dollar knee belonging to second-round pick Da’Quan Bowers, Dominik said his hands are tied during the lockout when it comes to monitoring and managing Bowers’ injury and rehabilitation. But that hasn’t stopped Dominik from using all angles, so he told guest host Mike Florio, of ProFootballTalk.com.

“I wish there was more that we could do. I follow him on Twitter,” Dominik said, referring to Bowers and trying to gain any knowledge of his progresss.

Dominik went on to say, from various media reports, Bowers is “obviously” doing what he’s supposed to be doing.

Interestingly, Dominik said Bowers had been rushing his rehab earlier in the year and when the lockout was briefly lifted the Bucs used that time to advise Bowers to “calm down and work on strength over conditioning.”

Dominik went on to repeat his we-know-knees confidence in his training staff, referring to the team’s success with Kellen Winslow and Cadillac Williams. 

Joe had to laugh when Dominik said he follows Bowers on Twitter. Knowing all the ridiculous personal information players are Tweeting, Joe just can’t imagine Dominik sifting through all that BS.

Many Bucs fans were in stunned disbelief when the St. Pete Times cranked out a story several weeks ago claiming the Bucs already had made the decision to cut Aqib Talib when the lockout is lifted.

Joe quickly tried to soothe Talib fans and fans of intelligent NFL management, writing that the unsourced claim by the Times didn’t fit Mark Dominik’s approach to the Bucs and didn’t make any logical sense, considering under that scenario the Bucs would lose a valuable player without getting anything in return.  

It seems there’s an update to the Times’ claim, courtesy of a live chat with Times columnist John Romano on TampaBay.com yesterday. A chat participant asked whether the newspaper still stands behind its claim of Talib being a goner. Romano dodged the question like Josh Freeman avoids a rush.

12:56 Comment From Kevin G.
Do you Times guys still stand behind the report of the Bucs releasing Aqib Talib at the end of the lockout? 

12:56: John Romano
Shortly after his arrest, there was a lot of chatter from One Buc Place that he would not remain on this roster. That chatter has quieted considerably.

Does anyone answer simple questions any more?

Less than a day after former Giants running back and tarnished network news broadcaster Tiki Barber’s agent claimed the Bucs and the Steelers were finalists for his services, the twin brother of Bucs great Ronde Barber may want to quit fantasizing on toting the rock for the Bucs at The CITS.

That’s the word from eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, as he wrote on TBO.com that the Bucs braintrust has “no interest” in Tiki suiting up in pewter and red.

At the age of 36, Tiki doesn’t fit in with Tampa Bay’s youth movement and the people that count within the organization have no intentions of signing him once he is granted his release from the Giants upon the end of the NFL lockout.

Kaufman went on to write that Tiki is not a “right fit” within the Bucs.

This eases Joe’s mind somewhat. But could this also signal that the Bucs greatly covet free agent Cadillac Williams? In Joe’s eyes, if the Bucs didn’t want Tiki, that leads Joe to believe the Bucs will make sure Cadillac is back.

Never mind that a month ago Joe detailed a WDAE-AM 620 interview when Adrian Clayborn explained he was losing weight to prepare for training camp, not bulking up. (Memories can be refreshed here.) There are still misguided souls that believe Clayborn looked soft, if not pudgy, at the players-only minicamp last week.

Joe’s not buying that. And Joe didn’t encounter anyone at the camp who voiced those observations. Next to Gerald McCoy, sure, Clayborn hardly looks rocked up, but he’s supposed to be smaller. And McCoy wears tighter clothes and has spent months recently with a renowned football trainer in San Diego.

Regardless, more evidence that Clayborn is on track appeared yesterday in a Tweet from Clayborn himself. Already one of the best Twitterers in professional sports, Clayborn spit out this gem illustrating how he’s focused on his diet:

@AJaClay – Sucks I can’t even eat greasy unhealthy food anymore and enjoy it. #tummyhurt

Joe’s concerned about Clayborn getting enough coaching and absorbing his playbook before opening day. Joe is not concerned about Clayborn’s fitness.