Nebraska linebacker Levonte David celebrates a third down tackle.

Last year during football season Joe was hoping beyond hope that somehow, someway, the Bucs could land Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David.

Tonight was that night.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik traded up and got David in the second round.

Why is Joe, much less Dominik and new Bucs coach Greg Schiano, pumped over landing David? Joe will give you a snippet courtesy of ProFootballWeekly.com.

Positives:
Highly instinctive — moves before the snap and shows excellent ability to diagnose. Is around the ball a lot. Flies around and plays with intensity. Outstanding balance and body control — almost moves like a safety. Very dependable tackler in and outside the box — can string backs to the sideline and has outstanding playing range. Very alert eyes and zone awareness — covers ground and clings to receivers passing through his area. Superb football character — has tunnel vision, takes pride in his craft and breathes football. Coachable film junkie.

As Schiano said after the pick to the pen an mic club, “A lot of players love football. This kid lives football.”

Joe needs a beer (or five).

Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David tracks down lightning fast Michigan quarterback "Shoelaces" Denard Robinson.

Joe’s not sure if this came through on Buccaneers.com when new Bucs coach Greg Schiano addressed the pen and mic club to discuss the draft of Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David, but Schiano looked as if he wanted to buy everyone shots.

Schiano beamed, smiled, laughed. At times he looked like a kid on Christmas morning who just found a bike under the tree. At other times Schiano looked as if his wife just gave birth to a healthy, strapping baby boy.

Starting the evening with no second round picks, the Bucs, thanks to the poker playing of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, not only purloined a second round pick from the Texans, but were able to acquire one of the top outside linebackers in the draft.

David was a junior college transfer starting as a junior at Nebraska, his first season in Lincoln. David started right away and racked up 152 tackles in 14 games in Nebraska’s last season in the Big XII.

Last season in Nebraska’s first season in the Big Ten, David floated from outside linebacker to middle linebacker and in 13 games had 133 tackles.

In two seasons of Division-I football, David compiled 285 tackles. In one game at Michigan he had 14 tackles. His most tackles for a loss in a game were four at Texas A&M in 2010. In three different games (Kansas 2010, Michigan 2011, South Carolina 2011) David had two sacks.

Last year against Iowa, David had four pass break-ups.

This dude is simply a ballhawk and Joe won’t be sleeping well tonight, not even after pounding some beers.

“He can play all three linebacker positions but for us, but he will play the Sam or the Will linebacker,” Schiano said between smiles. “We got one of our coveted players. His production is through the roof. Sometimes production can be misleading but [David’s] production is not misleading.

“He’s clutch. He played in an NFL defense.

“We really got better in the past 24 hours.”

The Bucs have wiped out their third- and fourth-round picks in the trade up for Lavonte David, snagged with the Texans’ former second-round pick. 

That means the Bucs, barring a deal, will get some action again tomorrow around 1:30 p.m. in the fifth round of the draft. (Feel free to join Joe and The Commish at Pete & Shorty’s in Pinellas Park.) It’s a safe bet that the Bucs won’t be trading up into the fourth round. At this point, Joe suspects the Bucs are looking to stockpile quality camp bodies who can compete and various positions.

Best available cornerback, anyone?

They also landed the Texans’ seventh-round pick in the trade-up for David, so that’s another spot for rock star general manager Mark Dominik to work with.

New Bucs linebacker Lavonte David, who played for the same junior college as New York Giants and former USF defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, has made Joe’s good friend, “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski’s night.

And Joe’s night as well.

The fact the Bucs were able to jump up into the second round and get David is outstanding. David is such a stud, Justin had David ranked as the No. 3 outside linebacker in the draft.

3. Lavonte David – Nebraska
6’1” – 233 lbs – 4.65
2nd Round

Why The Commish would take him:Instincts!!! David knows where the ballcarrier is going before the ballcarrier even gets the ball. He rarely bites on fakes and has an outstanding understanding of the game and his position. When he gets to the ball, he makes the tackle.

This David is simply a ballhawk. He was always around the ball and is outstanding in pass coverage and is not afraid to stick his nose into a fullback’s belly behind the line of scrimmage.

Here are some clips of new Bucs linebacker Lavonte David.

Eddie Van Halen is humbled. The rock star comes through again!

Joe is simply geeked about this. Joe is a Big Ten honk and watches Big Ten games religiously on The Big Ten Network. Joe first noticed David as the dude was a ballhawk, flying to the ball from sideline to sideline. Joe wrote about his desire for David back in December.

This is a freaking dynamite pick! For reasons unknown, David and other linebackers slipped and slipped and slipped until Dominik couldn’t wait any longer and pulled the trigger with the Texans in order to get David.

This is the third time in this draft, third time in two days, Dominik has traded up or down to get the man he wanted.

The cool thing about David, in addition to his talents, is that he was coached up by one of the better defensive coaches in the land, Bo Pelini.

Greg Schiano is on record saying he’s “got to have that guy,” that “bell cow” running back you can feed.

Now Schiano has LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin in his barn, and Joe can’t wait to see the competition unfold. This should pose quite a challenge for the New Schiano World Order. And it’ll be quite a wake-up call for Blount, who hopefully realizes the competition starts immediately.

Damn, these two talented young backs could push themselves, with Earnest Byner up their asses, to incredible heights.

If these guys are busting butts to win a job, Bucs preseason football should be more entertaining than it’s been in years.

Joe believes both backs will be called upon this season, but Joe also believes Schiano truly wants his bell cow.

So who gets the bell? Loyal JoeBucsFan.com readers likely know who Joe wants to get the bell. But Joe’s most cheering for a fiesty slug-it-out competition.

New Bucs safety Mark Barron, left, and running back Doug Martin meet the press at One Buc Palace this afternoon.

So Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik came out with what many NFL experts call a coup, landing Alabama safety Mark Barron and Boise State running back Doug Martin as first round draft picks.

It’s a bit ironic that both Barron and Martin both made their bones in high school football on the opposite side of the ball.

Barron was an offensive star, though he was told he would be a natural fit someday as a defensive player.

“My coaches all told me I was a natural free safety,” Barron said at One Buc Palace Friday. “I played almost [exclusively] on offense.

“When I came out of high school I was listed as an ‘athlete.'”

Barron wasn’t certain which side of the ball he would play when colleges began recruiting him out of St. Paul’s Episcopal High School in Mobile, Ala. Once he decided he would play defense, Alabama, he said, seemed like a natural fit.

Martin too excelled on the other side of the ball. He was a linebacker while playing for St. Mary’s High School in Stockton, Calif.

“I wasn’t heavily recruited coming out of high school,” Martin said. “Boise was the first [Division-I] college to offer me. I didn’t know anything about Boise.”

And that included the blue turf.

Originally, Martin was a linebacker at Boise “until a running back got hurt,” Martin said.

Once he began as a Broncos running back, he never played linebacker again. Despite being a dangerous runner, Martin also logged quite a bit of time on special teams.

Joe thinks it’s kind of cool that the Bucs were able to purloin a couple of versatile athletes like Barron and Martin.

One reason the Bucs drafted Alabama safety Mark Barron was that he’s not afraid of physical contact. In fact, it may be one of his best traits.

For Barron, speaking at his introductory press conference from One Buc Palace, a blast on an opponent is two-fold, and no, neither reason for the hit has anything to do with getting on BSPN or CBS Sports Network or NBC Sports Network.

A big hit, he said, sends a message to both friend and foe.

“It gets people excited,” Barron said of the reaction among his teammates when he buries a ball carrier. “But it also makes a big statement [to opponents]. It means you mean business. It lets [opponents] know you are here to play.”

There hasn’t been a good nickname for a Bucs running back since “The A-Train,” Mike Alstott, the great Bucs fullback who Bucs fans still miss.

Well, Joe’s got the nickname for new Bucs running back Doug Martin, and no, Joe cannot take claim for it.

They call Martin, “The Muscle Hamster.”

“I got it from a friend,” Martin said at his introductory press conference at One Buc Palace. He seemed so embarrassed he wanted to hide behind his nameplate in front of him.

Martin said he was tagged with the nickname in college, mostly because of his physique and how he isn’t the tallest guy on the team.

Joe can say this, the guy has a chest that looks like an offensive tackle. Dude’s a barrel chest.

“I like being rumored to be everywhere. I mean that in the sense that I’m going to call and find out what it takes to get anywhere in this draft class. That’s just how I do it. So if I call and I check to the St. Louis Rams and say, ‘What is it going to take? What would you want to do if you want to move up?’ Or if I talk to the Cleveland Browns or the Minnesota Vikings, I just want to know what’s going on because I want to be able to value what trades are going for in the National Football League. We all have these point charts but sometimes they’re obsolete. What are things actually going for? So you have to stay involved in those. Now at the end of the day I’ll talk to [teams] and say, ‘hey, we’re not in on that.’ But I need to know going ahead. That I think is just the way you need to be prepared.” — Mark Dominik following the selection of Mark Barron. Dominik was asked about rumors he was looking to trade up.

Joe led with the above quote because it meshes with the contention today from popcorn-munching,coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports, that Dominik was looking to trade up to No. 3 overall. King’s source is the Vikings head honcho.

Talked to Minnesota GM Rick Spielman after round one. He told me there was another team — Tampa Bay — interested in moving to No. 3. And before the round began, Spielman was in talks about swapping picks with Cleveland at four and Tampa Bay at five.

Cleveland had two picks in the fourth round (100 and 118 overall), the second pick acquired from Atlanta in the Julio Jones deal last draft day. The Browns also had two picks in the fifth round (139 and 160 overall), the second one part of the Brady Quinn deal with Denver two years ago. And the Browns had three seventh-round picks (211, 245, 247 overall), the final two compensatory picks awarded by the league.

Was Spielman bluffing? Would Tampa Bay have made the move up? I’m not so sure. But after the Browns lost Robert Griffin III to Washington because the Redskins made a better “final” offer for the second overall pick in March, you can be sure Cleveland wasn’t going to get caught short again.

Joe doesn’t think this is much of an X-file. If the Bucs really wanted to trade up, they could have outbid Cleveland. King’s not claiming the Bucs were in a bidding war.

Good luck finding anyone who will say anything negative about new Bucs safety Mark Barron.

John Lynch is raving about him. Mike Mayock’s already calling him a perennial Pro Bowler, (if there is a Pro Bowl anymore).

Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 this morning, even former Bucs QB Shaun King, a college football color analyst for NBC Sports Network and noted Bucs critic (and lover), joined in the love. And Perhaps King offered the biggest endorsement of all.

King agreed that Barron does everything well and said he watched every snap of Barron the last two seasons.

“He’s never had a bad game,” King said.

Joe enjoys all the hype, but Joe’s a realist. Joe will be happy if Barron stays healthy, stuffs the run and becomes a top-10 safety.

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Greg Schiano says Doug Martin can pass block. From a coach known for developing NFL-ready players at Rutgers, this makes Joe feel great.

On running back prospects that block, Schiano said, “there’s not a lot of them in college football.”

Schiano went on to say he sees some Ray Rice in Martin. “I do. I see a guy that is an incredible competitor and runs hard and plays hard,” he said.

Interesting back forth below between WDAE-AM 620 host Bobby Fenton and Senior NFL writer Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports. Cole thinks the Bucs thoroughly blew it by taking a safety over a cornerback, especially one in Morris Claiborne that’s widely considered can’t miss.

Take a listen.

The man channel, that’s NFL Network for you Outhouse Network slaves, is going wild over the Bucs’ moves on Day 1 of the draft.

In this video, the usually mild mannered Charlie Casserly gets his cardiologist nervous explaining why he gives the Bucs an A+. Then Kurt Warner says if he really has to pick a draft winner outside of the Bucs, then he’ll go with Minnesota.

Tis the season of optimism as the Bucs win another draft under rockstar general manager Mark Dominik. If only they didn’t play the game on the field.

Plenty of teams will trade up in the NFL Draft, and you can join them!!

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One reason the Bucs traded up to the 31st overall pick to get Doug Martin late last night was to grab the most value for their coveted running.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik explained that the new labor agreement lets teams to sign first-round picks to five-year deals but second-rounders get four-year deals. That meant Martin came with added potential value.

Of course, that means nothing on the field, but that fifth year is a nice bonus if Martin pans out.

During Dominik’s post-Martin-pick news conference, he painted a picture of Martin as a complete back, including “short yardage” and “goal line.” Dominik said Martin graded “close” to Trent Richardson and no personnel executive around the NFL would call Martin a surprise pick in the first round.