See, this is where our British friend gets in trouble - lumping tight ends with kickers in his position by position preview?  This ain’t Cricket, Chap!  I’m fairly sure that you won’t find Jerramy Stevens sitting next to Matt Bryant on the sidelines.  (Nor will you find Matt Bryant’s name on the Superior Court docket next to Stevens.) But alas, since our English Gentleman has taken the lead on this position by position preview, I’ll follow suit, with all apologies to the tight ends.

Let’s at least start with the tight ends, shall we?  Alex Smith.  Who would have thought that when we drafted the second Alex Smith in the 2005 NFL draft that we would have the one with the best chance at becoming a household name?  Of course I did.  Alex Smith was a find.  He should anchor that position for us for a few more years to come.  The cast of characters behind Smith on the depth chart represent a variety of strengths.  John Gilmore is a bull-dozer.  It will be interesting to see him in the line-up.  His pass catching abilities are lesser known.  Will he surprise us?  Jerramy Stephens appears to have his legal issues in the rear-view mirror.  Now it is Ben Troupe who fills that mirror - will both of them make the roster?  All in all, though, this seems to be a position of strength for the Bucs.

Now, the English man says that things are solid in our kicking game.  I hope so.  I’ll agree that Josh Bidwell is one of the league’s best punters, and I’m thankful to have him - even if I would rather never see him on the field.  And, if there were ever a tough-guy specialist who deserved to sit next to tight ends on the bench, he’d be the guy.  But Matt Bryant made me very nervous last week at Miami.  I hope whatever that was, he works it out in short order.  I really don’t want a return to inconsistency in our field goal kicker.  Where kickers are concerned, it really is a “What have you done for me lately?” world.  Great, you kicked one from 62.  Now, go get me three points… or go sit with the water boy.

Finally, one more word on the specialist front - return and cover guys.  These are the real camp battles and pre-season battles as far as I’m concerned.  For the 80 guys who desire to make the 1 team, many need to excell here.  Here’s hoping for some strong performances and some new faces.