Bucs employees, fresh off an unpaid week off, returned to the office Monday just in time to hear news the Buccaneers inked a new, multi-year marketing partnership with drug store giant Walgreens.

What timing! What a morale builder! 

The team spit out the announcement on its official website. It is said to include exciting “store-level” programs for customers and fans. This is a great score by the Bucs corporate sales staff. Hats off to them.

Joe wonders whether Walgreens will get creative. Perhaps logo condoms with player packaging and numbers?

Joe imagines three-packs of LeGarrette Blounts would move well on Saturday nights.

"Don't worry Mr. Glazer. We won't have any defensive rookies smelling like a goat this year."

It is an established fact that rookie defensive linemen often struggle in their first year in the NFL because they are no longer facing 19-year old children across the trench known as the line of scrimmage.

In the NFL, rookies are facing men, grizzled veterans. It’s a different game.

But this is virtual balderdash to Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. Cornered by eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune about the youthful ages of his defensive linemen, Dominik dismissed the notion that it can be a drawback.

The Bucs have used a flurry of premium picks on defensive linemen in the past few drafts, but Dominik isn’t concerned Tampa Bay has become too young up front.

“Defensive linemen can jump in and play early in their career,” Dominik said. “I steal from every club in this league and you look at a team like the New York Giants – their pattern of drafting defensive linemen every year makes a lot of sense to me.

“We’ll continue to bolster our D-line because we now play against Drew Brees in New Orleans, Matt Ryan in Atlanta and a young quarterback (rookie Cam Newton) we’re going to have to deal with every year in Carolina. We want to have the best defense in the NFC South next season.”

Well, sure, the Giants may get decent play from rookies up front, but is this the norm or a fluke? NFL history suggests the Giants getting solid play up front from their rookies is more fluke than norm.

Let’s just say Joe is not expecting Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers to be playing in Honolulu next winter.

Photo courtesy of Rachel Baribeau.

Joe recently ran a story that Bucs defensive tackle Brian Price, who is said to have screws in his pelvis as a result of a ruptured pelvis that cut his rookie season short, was involved in Zumba classes as part of his rehab.

Joe had no idea how this could help (or hurt) so Joe decided to speak with a solid source on Zumba. Rachel Baribeau is not just a sports journalist, but a Zumba instructor. You may be familiar with her TV work on the “Tony Barnhart Show” on CBS College Sports or her appearances on “The Tim Brando Show” heard on the Sporting News Radio Network.

Until recently, Rachel hosted sports radio shows, did grunt work for ESPN GameDay broadcasts in the south, and was the online anchor for Tidesports.com (though she’s an Auburn graduate). A few weeks ago, she began working for Fox Sports and Scout.com.

JoeBucsFan: How long have you been teaching Zumba and in your view, how can this help football players?

Rachel Baribeau: Well, first, I know Zumba is great for the cardiovascular system, it’s just wonderful. Secondly, you are moving constantly. That’s what Zumba means: moving every part of your body. A lot of the moves are centered in the core area. You are moving your pelvis and your lower back, your abs, the whole nine yards. You are burning calories and building muscle. Generally in a class you can burn 500 calories. In my class you can burn 1,000.

You do not come to the gym or my class if you are not going to get a good workout. I will kick your butt (laughs), that’s for sure.

Joe: Bucs defensive tackle Brian Price is recovering from a fractured pelvis that allegedly has screws in it. Would Zumba be too intense? As an instructor, how would you assist someone like that recovering from such an injury?

Rachel: Definitely you would have to get him released by a doctor. Then the doctor allows him to come back, make sure he can work Zumba movements. Zumba is very much based in Latin dancing. It comes from Colombia. There’s also some belly dancing and hip hop and rock and roll involved but it is based in Latin dancing. Second, like any student, there are always options. Do the moves you like to do. You are not going to do the same moves the first couple of days like I do, especially if there are screws in your pelvis. Zumba kicks my butt every single time and I have been doing this for three years. I never teach the same class. Your body… you never know what is coming. But you have to listen to your body. You are the master of your own body. I can’t feel your pain. You have to be very, very in tune with your body so take it easy. After you ease into it, you can do more, very gingerly, sort of dipping your big toe into the pool.

After you come along, Zumba will make your hips will be moving and more fluid. It will help in that area. I really think Zumba is perfect [rehab for Price]. This is targeted for that area.

Joe: Have you ever had athletes in your classes?

Rachel: Sure have. As a sports reporter three or four years ago in Columbus, I trained with an arena football team there. There were no perks. I tried to train but nothing prepared me for two-a-days. I was the only female who has fully participated in a training camp with a professional football team. I had the contusions and bruises from my head to the bottom of my feet. They didn’t take it easy on me. It was the most amazing and terrifying experience of my life.

Because of that, I got into Zumba again and I invited some of those players to join me in my class. See if they could cut the mustard. There was a defensive end and another defensive lineman in the class. They were whipped. They were absolutely whipped. No joke. They almost passed out. They almost didn’t make it. They said it would be great for football players.

We cheered them on. They were dancing. They were feeling it. It was something special. They had newfound respect for Zumba.

Joe: Tell Joe a little bit about your new job with Fox Sports.

Rachel: I am a field reporter. That means I will be covering the SEC West, which will be an amazing division to cover. I will do a touch of recruiting, both football and basketball as Scout.com sends me to other events. I am very fortunate. I am excited about the new gig. The possibilities are endless. It’s pretty exciting.

You can follow Rachel on Twitter at @RachelBaribeau or monitor her work from her website RachelBaribeau.com.

The Bucs’ first-round pick, manbeast defensive end Adrian Clayborn, continues to tour the local radio airwaves and returned to the Buccaneers’ flagship station today on The Ron and Ian Show, co-hosted by former Bucs guard Ian Beckles on WDAE-AM 620.

Beckles and Clayborn had an exchange about adapting to the NFL when Beckles seemed to assume Clayborn would be trying to add weight to his frame, which was 6-3, 281 pounds at the scouting combine.

Clayborn set him straight.

Ian Beckles: You’re probably going to have to change it up a lot because that bull rush is going to get old about the second quarter because you’re playing against 350 pound men. Have [the Bucs] said anything to you about your weight. You’re listed here at 281. Do they want you to come at that weight or maybe a little bit heavier?

Adrian Clayborn: Oh, no. I’m getting down a little bit more. I’m at 278 right now. I trying to get down at least to 275 by training camp. I’ve heard horror stories about losing weight [at training camp], but I don’t think I’ll have any problem with that.

Joe’s not sure what to make of Clayborn looking to drop weight entering training camp. Perhaps the Bucs and other NFL teams at the combine told him they wanted to see him add speed.

It’s only six pounds in Clayborn’s case, which is probably meaningless.  … Or not.

Regardless, Clayborn will have his hands full in practice with Donald Penn lined up in front of him and chewing his ear off.

Joe has an avowed distaste for BSPN because, well, frankly, Joe has higher standards (and if that offends people for being snobbish, so be it). If Joe wants intelligent information about his sports, he turns to the man channels, the NFL Network, MLB Network and the NHL Network.

(To be fair, ESPN — notice Joe can type the correct call letters when warranted? — is the gold standard when it comes to college football coverage, and Joe is very sincere about this. Every time that outfit does something college football related, it demonstrates to anyone with a keen eye and open mind the laziness and disregard it has for other sports.)

So unless Joe is tipped off about something relevant broadcast on the Romper Room show (SchlockCenter), Joe is unaware. The last time Joe watched SchlockCenter was June 2004.

Thankfully, or unfortunately, Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times helps the rest of us. In his otherwise solid “Shooting from the Lip” Monday morning column, in which Jones recaps the highs and lows of a weekend of sports broadcasting, rarely if ever Jones does not reference BSPN in some way, almost as if he is contractually obligated to do so. Sadly, Jones often writes about that insipid “Sports Reporters” show, a horribly, bastardized ripoff of the old principled, thoughtful, “The Sportswriters on TV” weekly show.

That Lupica show — Joe has never confirmed but is led to believe from rumors that Lupica’s brother-in-law owns the company that produces the show — is not just predictable but worthless in Joe’s eyes, in other words, perfect for BSPN. Joe doesn’t give a damn what Lupica thinks or speaks nor will his opinion or position on anything influence Joe. Really, who the hell cares what ivory tower, New Yawk-centric Lupica thinks about some first-name-reference-only non-basketball association clown?

The heavily-edited, if not butchered, Sunday morning cable reruns of “The Sopranos” are more enlightening and entertaining.

This week, Jones references a SchlockCenter piece Sunday where the Bucs came up.

Cris Carter believes the Bucs should go after convicted felon/wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Carter suggests the young Bucs receivers need a veteran to lead them.

Jones, correctly thinks this is a bad idea. Joe agrees for a myriad of reasons. Burress, before he was thrown in a cage, was a malcontent. The Steelers tired of his selfish ways and washed their hands of him, despite the pleading of way-too-handsy-with-women Ben Roethlisberger.

With the Giants, he was habitually late to meetings and practices and often didn’t put out 100 percent effort.

Then, throw in the fact the dude decided to go to a night club with a loaded rod in his sweatpants pocket no less! After facing charges, Burress had a chance to plead out and maybe serve a handful of weeks during the offseason in a pen, but decided to fight the charges and threw away a couple years of his life and career.

Real swift this guy.

As Jones points out, is this the type of veteran the Bucs want with young players? The answer is simple: No.

Carter pointed out that coach Raheem Morris might be a good fit for Burress and the Bucs could use a veteran receiver to go with its young core. But, when you think about it, Tampa Bay really doesn’t make sense. With all their recent arrests, the Bucs probably would be best served to avoid bringing in someone with that kind of baggage. Plus, the way the Bucs receivers were playing at the end of last season, they don’t need a guy who hasn’t caught an NFL pass since Nov. 16, 2008.

But Joe will go one step further than Jones. Last year we heard cries from all sorts of football pundits that screamed the Bucs needed veteran leadership because the team was so young, specifically at wide receiver.

While the points were valid, look at what happened: The Bucs still won 10 games.

If the Bucs were able to get by without a veteran receiver then (what, is Micheal Spurlock a spring chicken?), the Bucs certainly don’t need one now. And as Jones wrote, certainly not a guy with Burress’ baggage.

So folks can stop lying awake at night with the thoughts of Burress wearing pewter and red this season.

If there is a season.

Back when the Bucs snatched Adrian Clayborn in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, the big defensive end got on the phone with draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620 and talked about being physical in a big way.

His tough talk got Joe fired up and some of the quotes went national.

Clayborn said Bucs fans will see a defensive end who gets after the quarterback and will “kick offensive lineman’s asses” in the running game. And he said, “If you’re not playing violent on the defensive line, there’s something wrong with you. Go somewhere else.”

Apparently, former Bucs QB Shaun King was paying attention and he asked Clayborn about those comments Friday on The King David Show on WQYK-AM 1010.

Shaun King: You made interesting comments after the draft. … You got a lot of fans by these comments. You were pretty adamant that you’re very aggressive, that you’re violent, that want nothing better than to hurt offensive linemen and offensive players. Talk about that mindset.

Adrian Clayborn: I just believe that’s the way all great defensive linemen want to play. I mean look at [Ndamukong] Suh. He plays so violent. He gets after people. It’s just an aggressive position. That’s how I like to play and that’s how I’m going to play.

Of course, Joe doesn’t know whether Clayborn will pan out or whether he can back up the tough talk, but the Bucs could sure use a punch-him-in-the-mouth kind of guy at D-line or linebacker.

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

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

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

Were all excited waiting for the time to pass so it can be football season again! Oh sure there is lockout, some of us actually pay attention to it, while others realize it’s just a few OTAs were missing so far.

Besides, summer is coming and that’s when the NFL usually goes quiet full-time. Outside of JoeBucsFan.com and BucStop.com, you never hear much about football in July until camp opens, and we can’t wait because the Bucs should be competitive and this time we all know it.

Josh Freeman is a seriously talent. We have some exciting receivers, we’re building a defense, and we have a legit running threat in LeGarrette Blount.

Or do we?

Question of the day: Was it Blount that gave the Bucs a respectable running game? If you think you know the answer for sure, keep reading, because some of the evidence may surprise you.

We all know our recent history; the Bucs won the first two games of 2010 over a couple bad teams with some opportunistic plays on defense and some nice throwing by Josh Freeman. But the running attack was nothing to write home about.

And it got worse; big time losses to Pittsburgh where the Bucs got 53 yards on the ground, and New Orleans where we couldn’t even run for half of that. Cadillac Williams was averaging about two yards per carry, worst of any starting running back. Fans saw LeGarrette Blount hop for 12 yards on his first carry and bulldozer into the endzone with an ala-Alstott effort against Pittsburgh and we were calling the radio stations and posting on the websites “We want more Blount”!

The Bucs couldn’t accommodate, Cadillac knew the protection schemes; Blount did not. We couldn’t risk getting Josh Freeman hurt. The image of a sprawling on-the-turf Tony Romo was all anyone needed to see.

But it was right about then some changes started to happen. Keydrick Vincent, the starting left Guard the Bucs picked up from Carolina for his allegedly great tenacity in run blocking, couldn’t run block!  Normally, the team would have gone with its backup, but Jeremy Zuttah was busy backing up Center Jeff Faine who was out with a triceps injury.

In came Ted Larsen who played football 40 minutes away when he was in high school at Palm Harbor. Then a week or so later, Jeremy Trueblood goes down, and James Lee finally gets action after waiting since 2008 on the Bucs roster; that’s three new O-linemen.

In the first five games of the season, the Bucs averaged 64.8 yards per carry from the running backs. Two weeks later with Penn, Larsen, Zuttah, Davin Joseph, and Lee at the front, the Bucs over the next five weeks averaged 111.6 yards per game. That’s no small difference, that’s the kind of variation a team hopes for going from one season to the  next; must less separated by a mere two games (or changing three linemen).

Getting 46.8 yards per game more out of your running backs has to be  explained, so how do you do it?

Ok, Let’s say it WAS Blount – simply put, he is a better runner than Cadillac. Ok, I can take that in, but how many of those Blount runs were through holes you or I could have gained a few yards through? I think of Cadillac’s early season runs for no yardage and see him hitting a ton of opposing uniforms for the most part.

Later in the year with the improved line (which also substituted Derek Hardman for Joseph), Cadillac’s average greatly increased too. From 2.5 ypc, Williams was averaging about six yards over the final six games. 

Better productivity due to the new linemen? Could be, but there is a window of about two or three games where the Bucs running attack improves before Cadillac’s numbers go up. too.

Was it the THREAT of a Blount boosting Cadillac? Or did things improve behind a better group of O-linemen who were also better at pass protecting, which provided better passing numbers, opening more holes for Cadillac?

If this is getting confusing, don’t worry, your probably not alone; and I have bad news – I don’t have the answers. I’m not even sure there are any. But one thing is for certain – either LeGarrette  Blount is one heck of a better runner than Cadillac Williams, or the  of Penn, Larsen, Zuttah, Joseph and Lee are better than Penn, Vincent, Faine, Joseph and Trueblood.

There is one other option: They are both true. And if that’s the case, a 10-6 season in 2011 might be looked at as greatly underachieving.

So much has been speculated about Adrian Clayborn’s potential limitations because of Erb’s Palsy. And perhaps the most popular take is that Clayborn can’t play the left side of the defensive line because of the problems he has with his right shoulder.

The Bucs’ first-round pick threw a bunch of cold water on that Friday during an interview on The King David Show on WQYK-AM 1010.

Clayborn answered questions about his body and limitations, or lack thereof.

“I’ve been dealing with this starting back in seventh grade. I couldn’t play baseball. I couldn’t play basketball. I couldn’t play football. And I had to deal with it in college a little bit and, I mean, it’s great proving people wrong and fighting against it,” Clayborn said. “I know the NFL is another next big step, but I’m looking forward to proving people wrong again.”

“I have a little bit of nerve damage in my shoulder and a little bit of lack of movement. So it’s not an extreme case. …I believe I can play both sides [of the defensive line]. Playing in my Iowa defense, we pretty much play the heavy technique, so we have to use both our arms and both our shoulders and all that stuff. And I’ve doing that for four or five years. …I guess I’ve got to prove them wrong, too.”

Clayborn also said a lot of fans and media are searching Google and finding the worst of Erb’s Palsy issues and patients. Essentially, Clayborn wants people to know he’s not in that boat.

Count Joe among those who assumed Clayborn was going to be limited to the right side of the line. But Joe wonders whether the Bucs coaches would invest any time in Clayborn playing on the left side in what could be a limited offseason.

It surely didn’t work last year when Raheem Morris bounced Gerald McCoy all over the line early in the season.

The Bucs wowed the NFL last year when the team, which some expected only to win two games, ran off 10 wins with both a young and injury-riddled roster, narrowly missing the playoffs.

But eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune has pulled back some of the onion skins and found a disturbing concern: The Bucs were one of the worst first-quarter offenses in the NFL last season.

The Bucs were outscored 73-43 in the opening quarter, and only the Panthers (35), Jets (36) and Bills (40) registered fewer points in the first 15 minutes of games than Tampa Bay.

Of the four touchdowns the Bucs scored in the first quarter, one came on a 41-yard interception return by linebacker Geno Hayes at Arizona.

That leaves three offensive touchdowns in 16 opening quarters, giving coordinator Greg Olson a troubling issue to address this summer in trying to initiate more productive starts.

Well, there’s two ways of looking at this. While eye-RAH’s information is indeed troubling, Joe sort of senses that Olson is pretty adept at changing on the fly and adjusting, which is a very key thing. It also could mean Olson is playing possum in the first quarter, keeping a keen eye at what the defensive tendencies are before he pulls the trigger.

Whether Olson is preparing his offense adequately, well, this season will prove telling.

Joe understands most fans are as upset as Joe is at this asinine lockout thrust upon right-thinking Americans by NFL chieftain Roger Goodell. Not only does it hurt fans, it hurts players too.

“The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN, decided to put fingertips to keyboard and selected 10 NFL players that this asinine lockout is hurting.

Coming in last on the list is Bucs troubled cornerback Aqib Talib.

10. Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib: Teammate Ronde Barber spoke up for the troubled Bucs cornerback this week. Players don’t want him to be released, and the team is likely to keep him. But he faces up to 20 years in prison on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Texas. Instead of sitting through the summer worrying about the case, Talib would be best served by a quick labor settlement and the chance to focus on football.

Joe isn’t so sure how the asinine lockout is hurting Talib. Right now thanks to the asinine lockout, he is out of sight and almost out of mind, which is perfect for a guy embroiled in a legal battle like Talib. He’s also attending Freeman’s workouts so that’s a plus.

But there was one phrase in Clayton’s synopsis that caught Joe’s eye. “Likely to return?” Hhhmmm. Joe thought it was a done deal Talib was gone?

For a guy some Bucs fans point to as an incredibly unreliable teammate that’s never learned a lesson, Aqib Talib is piling up an astounding number of glowing endorsements from his fellow Buccaneers.

Joe was thinking about the sum total of the Talib love, and it goes far beyond the typical one-off comment in support of him.

Just this week:

1) E.J. Biggers, the guy who likely would take over for Talib, said on WDAE-AM 620 that the renowned cabbie-slugger is a great teammate who has helped him from Day 1. Biggers went on to say he can’t wait to see Talib and that he and Ronde Barber may be the best tandem in the NFL.

2) Barber himself told the online Pewter outfit that Talib is the best lockdown corner in Bucs history and “you don’t ever want to play a season or even a game without that guy.” Barber blathered on and on about how the Bucs shouldn’t cut Talib and the guy is family.

3) Kellen Winslow told NFL Network that Talib is the Bucs’ second most important player, among other superlatives.

4) Stylez White, on his 1010 AM radio show, said he really likes Talib and is pulling for him. White also characterized Talib as a guy whose hard work as a teammate stands out.

Then there’s Josh Freeman welcoming Talib to the Bucs offseason workouts, which alone is a major blessing from the big man on campus. Looking back, before Talib’s alleged gun play in Texas, Jeff Faine explained why Talib was priceless to the offense, yes offense. Then, which has always amazed Joe,  there’s Torrie Cox, the guy Talib slugged and bloodied at practice with a helmet, who clearly had forgiven Talib and was hanging out with him during the violent cab ride in St. Pete.

Joe’s just seeing a pattern of Buccaneers going over the top in their support for Talib.

It’s interesting. Maybe the players are influenced, in part, by the unsourced, hard-to-believe report by the St. Pete Times that the Bucs have already decided to cut Talib when the lockout is lifted. Maybe they just genuinely love the guy.

If you’re in pain, don’t wait to call or e-mail Dr. Long. You owe it to yourself to stop the suffering. Dr. Long and her staff are fabulous and professional. You can enjoy all that summer has to offer.

Click below for more information.

It’s Saturday night and, if you’re not having a blast at Derby Lane, Joe thought you might enjoy the signature tones of legendary Bucs voice Gene Deckerhoff, who inked a new two-year contract this week.

Deckerhoff was interviewed on The Ron and Ian Show this week on WDAE-AM 620. You can click the arrow below to listen.

First, Deckerhoff said he wants to broadcast Bucs games for many years to come. C’mon, Team Glazer, give the guy a longer deal. He’s a freakin’ institution!

Later on in the interview, Deckerhoff tells some great Bucs stories, including one of Ray Perkins chewing him out when Deckerhoff dared to suggest to him that rookie Emmitt Smith was a heck of a running back. Perkins, that master talent evaluator, barked that Smith was too slow and too small.

Its’ a great listen, as Deckerhoff always is. Enjoy.

[audio: deckerhoff.mp3]

Clearly spending a No. 3 overall pick on Gerald McCoy, the Bucs have high hopes for the defensive tackle, even though his rookie season was not something to write home about.

Only the unbalanced expect a rookie defensive tackle to shine. Yes, manbeast Ndamukong Suh is a rare player, a once in a generation type of player. Remember, even Warren Sapp was largely invisible his rookie year.

When GMC began tuning out former defensive line coach Todd Wash midway through the season, his numbers shockingly began to rise until he blew out a biceps, ending his season.

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. is of the mind that GMC will soon become a disruptive force in the NFL.

The transition to the NFL is difficult for many rookie defensive tackles, in large part because they can no longer whip most players across from them with raw natural ability the way they did in college. McCoy has physical gifts but took some time to learn patience and to read and feel blocking schemes before his injury, and he is still a work in progress from that standpoint, but he did record four sacks in the last three games he played in 2010.

Overall, though, he is one of the quickest, most explosive and most athletic defensive tackles in the league. McCoy has a long linear build that should gradually fill out over the next few years, better enabling him to deal with the double teams and extra attention that he is sure to attract, and taking on multiple blockers will free up his teammates to get to the ball. McCoy has the ability to disrupt on his own and make the players around him better, which is exactly what you want from a 3-technique in a 4-3 defense.

Toward the end of the 2011 season — if there is a season — will be telling for GMC, Joe believes. He has a new defensive line coach, Keith Millard, hand-picked by Sapp himself.

If Millard is that good, and GMC has adapted to handling and recognizing NFL blocking schemes, there should be a marked turnaround.

While hardly as satisfying as running into a throng of scantily clad drunken babes on Clearwater Beach reading JoeBucsFan.com on their iPhones, Joe loves watching NFL Network, aka the Man Channel.

And on this proud channel of men was Kellen Winslow, Jr. during Total Access last night. He sat down live with Rich Eisen to talk all things Bucs. 

Winslow later got on the studio field with Willie McGinest to breakdown Xs and Os of his moves against double coverage. Truly great stuff, as Winslow said Greg Olson gives him freedom at the line of scrimmage to read defenses and change his positioning.

After Winslow explained to Eisen that Josh Freeman could be talked about among the all-time great quarterbacks, Eisen asked Winslow what’s next for No. 5.

Winslow was quick with an answer. “I think the no-huddle system is next for [Freeman]. Calling plays at the line, not huddling up so much,” he said. “There’s only so many coverages you can run when you run no-huddle offense.”

Joe likes the sound of that. But how much time the Bucs might have to work on a no-huddle remains to be seen as the heinous lockout marches forward.

Winslow reflected on 2010 saying “I didn’t think we were going to be that good, to be honest. …But we had Raheem Morris. We had Josh Freeman.”

On Aqib Talib’s future, in addition to repeating that he wants Talib to stay in Tampa, Winslow said “they’re very close,” regarding Raheem and Talib, and he said he thought that relationship would play a key role.

Joe wonders whether Winslow’s mention of the no-huddle means Freeman is already working on it.

NFL Draft guru Justin Pawlowski, The Commish of WDAE-AM 620, is back today with his award-winning sometimes Saturday show, The Blitz, thanks to the good radio gods of the Clear Channel family.

Pawlowski gets behind the microphone at 1 p.m. and drives The Sports Animal bus up to 3:30 p.m. Joe is confident Justin will bring Rays news and, of course, there will be Bucs talk, likely touching upon one of the favorite TV shows of Bucs first round draft pick Adrian Clayborn’s youth.

Those chained to a computer can listen online at 620wdae.com.

Buccaneers coordinator of pro scouting Shelton Quarles, also the last Bucs middle linebacker to get a Pro Bowl nod, says Tampa Bay again will play its share of rookies in 2011.

“I think our first four guys, or five  guys, [from the 2011 draft] will have an opportunity to play on Sundays for us right away,” Quarles said on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday. “We were the youngest team last year. I think we had 10 rookies start for us during the course of the season. It was the first team in NFL history to have 10 rookies start and have that team end up with a plus-.500 record.”

Of course, hearing this confidence in the rookie class prompts Joe to wonder which 2010 Bucs will be shown the door.

None are retiring, and the Bucs say their goal is to re-sign all their own free agents. Plus, the Bucs surely have high hopes for their three 2011 picks from the sixth and seventh rounds, and a pile of guys are returning from injury. It’s a long list, from the big-name guys to Demar Dotson and Kareem Huggins.

Joe’s planning on legitimate surprises come final cuts.

Love and support for Aqib Talib keeps pouring in from all angles. (Joe will have more on that tomorrow.)

The latest comes from Kellen Winslow, Jr., the Bucs’ leading receiver each of the past two seasons. He had a chat with NFL.com before appearing live on Total Access tonight. For those with Outhouse Networks cable television, Total Access is the NFL Network’s nightly show.

In the extensive NFL.com Q & A, Winslow was asked about Aqib Talib and explained that Talib is the second most important player on the Bucs.

Bucs CB Aqib Talib is in the middle of a tumultuous offseason. How important is he to your team?

KW: We need that guy to win. Talking about Super Bowls — we need him really more than anyone besides Freeman. He’s that good. He locks down receivers. He’s got to iron out what he’s got to iron out, but we need him as much as anybody.

Now Joe has written before that the Bucs don’t need Talib. They had success without him and he’s unreliable at best.

However, Winslow’s point is clear. Talib is a massive talent, and the Bucs need him to completely — not partially — straighten out his act. Joe believes Talib will get one more chance in Tampa, despite the St. Pete Times’ unsourced and unwavering claim that the Bucs have already decided to cut him.

Never boring and sometimes ridiculous, yet always a top-shelf HD production, it’s the unexplainable and unmatched JoeBucsFan TV. If you haven’t seen it, take a look.