PALM BEACH—Not much action Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings, but I had several interesting conversations at The Breakers on a variety of football topics, including a session with Bucs GM Bruce Allen.
Allen said the 2008 draft shapes up as particularly intriguing because of the unusual depth at some positions, which he typically declined to specify. He said the Bucs “filled a lot of roles’’ during the first month of free agency and said he feels good about Tampa Bay’s depth at quarterback.
“Somebody offered me one (quarterback) today,’’ Allen said with a grin. Despite the presence of Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Chris Simms, Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski at the position, Allen still isn’t discounting the possibility of Jake Plummer adding even more intrigue to the mix.
“He’s under contract,’’ said Allen. “Could Jake have a potential role? Absolutely.’’
Allen was asked about Simms’ decision to skip preliminary workouts at the team facility.
“The offseason is voluntary and whatever he feels he needs to do to get ready for the season, that’s what he should do,’’ Allen said.
The Bucs are currently at 77 players according to Allen, who has five draft picks to work with at the present time. He confirmed former Patriots DB Eugene Wilson has been working out at corner following the departure of veteran Brian Kelly to Detroit as a free agent.
“That’s something to follow,’’ Allen said, stressing Wilson’s versatility to play both corner and safety. “Let’s see how this progresses.’’
At the critical LT spot, which protects Garcia’s blind side, Allen said Luke Petitgout is “doing well, very well in fact,’’ after tearing his ACL in Week 4. “And Donald Penn is not going to shy away from competition.’’
Tampa Bay’s first and most expensive free agent move was to sign center Jeff Faine, who played well for division rival New Orleans.
“We like Faine and our offseason program is interesting seeing him work against (DT) Chris Hovan,’’ Allen said. “Jeff’s fit in real well.’’
Veteran RB Michael Pittman still hasn’t signed a free-agent contract with another club, and although Allen didn’t discount the possibility of Pittman rejoining the Bucs, he said, “I think we’re comfortable with the group we have right now.’’
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I ran into former Bucs secondary coach Mike Tomlin, who won a division title in his first year as head coach of the Steelers.
“Man, I’m living a dream,’’ said Tomlin, whose fiery approach convinced owner Dan Rooney that Tomlin would be a natural successor to Bill Cowher. “Every day I come to work and I walk past five Lombardi Trophies to my right when I walk into my office.’’
Tomlin was asked if he had to choose between a great pass rush and a great secondary, what would be his preference.
“A great pass rush,’’ he said without hesitation, “because the ball never comes out. Look at some of the great defenses in the history of this league and they’ve got dominant men up front.’’
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Oakland coach Lane Kiffin, son of Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, is still recovering from an inaugural 4-12 season that obviously doesn’t sit well with maverick owner Al Davis. The Raiders change head coaches often and Davis serves as the club’s GM for all practical purposes.
“If you’re going to worry about being fired, you worry about that the day you’re hired by the Raiders,’’ Kiffin said. “I don’t need outside pressure – I put pressure on myself. Al’s very hand’s on and very demanding … and that’s intriguing. He’s also somebody who has done a lot in this league. For us, last year kind of reminded you of how far away you are.’’
-- Ira Kaufman
The Bucs look like they’re auditioning for “Dancing With The Stars,” instead of preparing for their preseason opener.
You write the caption.
TAMPA - In retrospect, we probably should have seen that 4-12 disaster that was the 2006 season coming.
Though they were coming off an encouraging playoff run and had 21 of 22 starters returning, the 2006 Bucs were a team with an aging defense and an inexperienced offense.
That certainly won’t be the case this year. The Bucs have injected a lot of youth into their defense and most of the kids on offense have either matured a little bit or been replaced.
Whether that will make for a more successful season remains to be seen, but it should make for a rather dramatic training camp. With lots of position battles to be waged, this could be one of the most interesting camps in years.
With that in mind, here’s a position by position breakdown of the Bucs and a look at the players to watch as the battle for roster spots and starter’s job wages on at training camp.
Only an injury will keep Jeff Garcia from stepping up under center when the season opens in Seattle. That said, Garcia still bears watching. He exited the offseason program still looking for his comfort zone in Coach Jon Gruden’s offense and needs to get to a point where he can bark out a play, walk to the line, call out a change and execute it without mishap. That will take time but this savvy vet should be able to get the job done by the time the season opens. Beyond Garcia there is plenty of drama. Chris Simms’ mechanics were a mess during the offseason program. If he doesn’t straighten them out soon he could lose practice reps to Bruce Gradkowski and Luke McCown. If that happens, he could possibly lose his roster spot. Watch closely how all of these guys throw in this camp. The one who stands out the best wins the title ‘’Quarterback of the Future.’’
Cadillac Williams will be the starter, of course, but the Bucs would really like to see him earn the right to stay on the field on third down. To do that, he has to become a better pass catcher than Michael Pittman. That’s asking a lot because Pittman is one of the best in the business, but it’s more important than ever this year, because the backs’ ability to make plays in the passing game will be the key to any success Garcia has at quarterback. When he took over the Eagles offense late last season, Garcia leaned heavily on Brian Westbrook to carry the load for him. He’ll need to do something similar here, so Williams’ ability to become an every-down back is crucial. It will also be crucial for the Bucs to get a strong contribution form their fullbacks, Mike Alstott and B.J. Askew. Both are good pass catchers so both should get plenty of playing time.
Joey Galloway is still the top receiver but that’s not really the way Jon Gruden wants it. He wants his flanker to be his go-to guy, so the battle between Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall for the starting flanker spot should be a dandy. Clayton is trying to save his career and Stovall is trying to prove he’s better than a guy who was runner-up for Rookie of the Year honors three years ago. If both play at the top of their game the Bucs will benefit greatly. Another player to watch here is David Boston. He’s in better shape and healthier than he was last year, when he made the team out of camp but got cut on the eve of the season opener. He should push the likes of Clayton and Stovall and maybe even Galloway for playing time. Another guy to watch is Paris Warren. It’s about time Warren started making an impact, too, or he’ll be looking for work elsewhere.
The Bucs still list Anthony Becht as their first-string tight end, but Becht has two players pushing him, and one of them could move past him in this camp. The challenger that Bucs fans recognize most, of course, is Alex Smith. Smith falls a grade short of being in the class of players such as Antonio Gates, Alge Crumpler and Todd Heap, but he’s a good one nonetheless and he’s getting better. The Bucs have designed a lot of plays specifically for him, so this is a camp in which he will get a lot of attention. The other challenger is Jerramy Stevens. Assuming he can stay out of trouble off the field, Stevens has the ability to earn a lot of playing time, perhaps even start. He’s got great size and skill and if he can keep his focus he could prove to be the best of the bunch here. The Bucs, of course, use a lot of two- and sometimes three-tight end schemes, so all three players will get significant opportunity. Still, the guy who starts will get the most opportunities so there will be a battle for supremacy.
All five starters from last year’s unit return, but they don’t all return in the same capacity. For example, LT Anthony Davis is being moved inside to LG, where he will battle rookie Arron Sears for the starter’s job. In addition, LG Dan Buenning is being moved to center, where he will try to push John Wade to the sideline. Those two battles figure to garner the most attention, but projected starting LT Luke Petitgout is a player to watch, too. The Giants just up and let Petitgout go after last season and you don’t usually see teams dump LTs that way. The Panthers did it with Todd Steussie a few years back and Bucs fans quickly learned why. The Bucs can only hope that Petitgout, who reportedly has some back problems, doesn’t turn into another Steussie. Also worth watching here is second-year starting RG Davin Joseph and second-year starting RT Jeremy Trueblood. Both got better as the year progressed last year, and the Bucs are counting on them continuing that trend. If they don’t, it could be another long season.
This is where the most interesting camp battles will be waged. The battle for the starting under tackle’s job figures to be particularly intriguing. Ellis Wyms is the returning starter, Kevin Carter is considered by some to be the favorite to win the job this year and Jovan Haye is a strong dark-horse candidate. And don’t forget about Ryan Sims and Greg Peterson. Either one could emerge as the starter if another slips. With five players (Darrell Campbell is the other) battling for playing time, this figures to be the most hotly contested battle of all. The other D-line spots are pretty much set with Greg Spires at left end, Chris Hovan at nose tackle and Simeon Rice at right end. Keep an eye on Rice, though. He’s coming off a season-ending shoulder injury and hasn’t taken a rep in a team drill since the middle of last season. The Bucs need him to be his old disruptive self again because they have to get more pressure on the quarterback. And keep an eye on Gaines Adams, the first-round draft pick. He’s proving to be a little raw, but if Rice can’t regain his Pro Bowl form, Adams may see more playing time than expected.
This is a spot where it seems as if the starters’ jobs have already been secured. Don’t be so sure, though. Derrick Brooks will start at weakside backer and Barrett Ruud will start in the middle, but Ryan Nece figures to give Cato June a pretty good run for the starter’s job at the strong-side spot. The Bucs also have Jamie Winborn, Patrick Chukwurah and rookie Quincy Black, so this is easily one of the deepest spots on the team. The downside is that outside of Ruud, all the players are pretty much the same. They’re all pretty fast and a little undersized, which means they’re all best suited to play the weak side. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because it allows the Bucs to interchange players and fiddle with their scheme a bit. For example, look for the Bucs to make greater use this year of 3-4 alignments and to blitz more.
The starters are all set here, too, but there’s plenty to watch. First off, everyone will want to keep any eye on CB Brian Kelly to make sure he’s fully recovered from the turf toe injury that ruined his season last year. In addition, you’ll want to watch safeties Jermaine Phillips and Will Allen very closely. Neither played very well last year and they must improve to keep their jobs. Alan Zemaitis is another player to watch. The Bucs still have high hopes for him but he couldn’t earn a roster spot on game day before going down with an injury last year so he has to prove himself. In terms of battles, the battle for the nickel back’s job is one to watch. With Juran Bolden gone the job will likely go to Phillip Buchanon, but either Zemaitis or rookie Tanard Jackson could beat him out. Sabby Piscitelli bears watching, too. He’s drawn some comparisons to John Lynch because of the way he hits and could unseat one of the projected starters at safety if he plays to his capabilities.
Matt Bryant is set as the place kicker and Josh Bidwell is set as the punter. Only an injury will force changes there. The same cannot be said about the kick and punt return jobs. Those are up for grabs and the player to watch in the battle for those jobs is Chad Owens. A third-year pro out of Hawaii, Owens set NCAA records for most touchdowns scored on kick returns in a career (eight) and punt returns in a season (five) while in college. Mark Jones will push him for the punt return job and Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham will push him for the kick return job, but there’s a good chance Owens will finish camp with a roster spot and a chance to make history as the first Buc to return a kick for a touchdown.
The rich get richer as the defending NFL champions find another target for Peyton Manning. Gonzalez will combine with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne to spread the field and open things up for TE Dallas Clark.
The NFC champions steal the best TE in the draft. Olsen’s ability to find seams downfield should help Rex Grossman open up a plodding attack.
The Chargers don’t need much, but they added a blazer. Davis has had some injury issues and his hands are a tad suspect, but he can stretch a defense and make people pay for double-teaming Antonio Gates.
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