The Buccaneers currently have 89 players on their offseason roster, including RB/KR Jeff Demps, whose status hasn’t been fully clarified since the team acquired his rights from New England in a draft-weekend trade.  Of the other 88 players, not one was missing when the Buccaneers gathered for the first of their 10 allotted OTA practices on Monday.

That’s impressive, of course, but not entirely unexpected.  The OTAs are voluntary but usually draw most of the roster, at least in Tampa.  The most recent collective bargaining agreement reduced the amount of time a team can practice during the offseason, so most players want to make use of all the field work they can get.

Of those 88 players on hand at One Buccaneer Place on Monday, 85 were in practice gear and on the field for the full 100-minute session.  Starting offensive guards Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks spent that time with the team’s trainers as they near the final stages of their recoveries from knee and toe injuries, respectively.  And Darrelle Revis, the prized cornerback for which the Buccaneers traded their first-round pick a month ago, split his practice time between mental reps on the sideline and rehab work on his knee with the medical staff.

The Bucs have expressed confidence that Revis will be on the field for opening day this September – coincidentally in New York against his former team, the Jets.  To get there, they have to help him finish his recovery from last September’s injury and they have to get him comfortable in Tampa Bay’s defense.  Thus, the splitting of time between observing and rehabbing during OTA practices.

“Darrelle is learning the system, he’s watching certain things and then he’s doing other things so it’s kind of a split deal there,” said Head Coach Greg Schiano.  “But in all things, having him ready at the beginning of the season, that’s the main goal. He’s got to learn the schemes, learn the techniques and the verbiage.

“I think we’re in a good place, we’ve got a long way to go but I think he’d tell you he’s feeling better every day and doing more every day. Step by step, that’s how we’ll get there.”

As it turns out, NFL Network has already been following Revis’ step-by-step progress since his injury last season, with Chief Correspondent for Player Health and Safety Andrea Kremer chronicling his comeback.  Kremer’s series, entitled “Project Revis” has continued following the cornerback’s move to the Buccaneers, and on Monday night the latest episode will air on the Network.

Kremer traveled to Tampa for the latest Project Revis installment and had an opportunity to speak to Revis, Schiano, General Manager Mark Dominik and Director of Sports Medicine and Performance Todd Toriscelli.  The results will air Monday night on NFL Network’s Total Access Show, which begins at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The post Revis’ Progress Chronicled on NFL Network appeared first on Captain's Blog.

The very first full-speed, full-team practice snap that Akeem Spence took as an NFL player ended in a little “extracurricular activity,” as they say, a brief after-the-whistle skirmish with veteran teammate Jeremy Zuttah.

That might seem like either bad luck or bad anger management on the rookie’s part, but in reality the first snap was where this breakout was most likely to occur.  The disagreement was over proper tempo in the trenches, where “practice etiquette” is most important, and Spence learned an immediate but important lesson on behalf of all the team’s rookies.

Because there are no pads and no non-incidental contact allowed during the offseason – as mandated by the collective bargaining agreement – linemen essentially battle with their hands during full-team drills, and even then it is purposefully safe.  Too much enthusiasm, while overall an admirable trait in a prospect, can get a young player in trouble.

“My first live OTA rep, me and Zuttah got off to it,” said Spence later, after the rest of practice passed without further incident.  “I didn’t know the tempo and I was going full-speed.  I came back down, so hopefully he respects me for that because I want to be a part of the team.  It was just me not knowing the speed, being from college.  I kind of had to throttle it down a little bit but at the same time get in my work.”

Head Coach Greg Schiano knows that learning practice etiquette at a new level isn’t always easy.

“It’s very tough,” said Schiano after Monday’s workout.  “And not only do we want it for safety, but it’s mandated by the rules. You know, you can lose OTAs, you can get fined. There’s a whole bunch of stuff. We’re very, very clear with it. We show examples. We really try to get the guys to understand. Now, when you put 22 guys that are going against each other, you just correct. And that happened early and it was a rookie mistake and it quickly got adjusted and there was no issue. I though today was really good.”

Indeed, it’s a tough line for a rookie to walk, trying to learn proper practice etiquette while also proving his toughness, both mental and physical.  Once the exchange became heated, Spence held his ground, even if he professed respect for his veteran teammate after practice and conceded that the tempo mistake was his.

“I’m never going to back down from a challenge,” said Spence.  “I’m just here to compete.  That’s who I am. I want guys to respect me and I’m not going to back down from anybody.  I had to let that be known on the first day.”

In the end, it’s hard to blame a rookie for being enthusiastic at the start of practice with his new team, given the entirety of the offseason that led up to it.  NFL hopefuls spend roughly four months focused solely on the draft, trying to prove they can measure up in drills like the 40-yard dash and the bench press and enduring countless interviews and physical examinations.  An actual practice is familiar and welcome after that strange process.

“It was getting back to football,” said Spence, appreciatively.  “I’ve been training to run a 40 for the longest.  Just putting my hand back in the dirt and actually playing football, it was like being back at home.

“The first day went pretty well, I thought, just going in, getting the live reps and getting the speed of the game.  You think about the tempo and the way the vets practice.  We’re not in pads so you can’t be full-speed so you’ve got to play with your hands.  I was just learning to do that, keeping the tempo and making sure I got all the checks, staying mentally focused and making sure I work hard in individual [drills].  I was making sure I was doing what coach wants.”

The post Spence Gets Quick Lesson in Tempo appeared first on Captain's Blog.

Last offseason, Darrelle Revis placed fifth on the NFL Network’s list of the Top 100 Players in the league.  This year, he comes in at #67.  It’s hard to say which honor is more impressive.

The NFL Network has compiled its Top 100 list, using exclusively ballots cast by NFL players themselves, since the 2011 offseason.  In each case, the series of shows revealing the list has been titled with the current calendar year; i.e. this year’s series is called “The Top 100 Players of 2013 Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.”  However, since the votes are cast near the end of the previous year’s regular-season, it is clear that the list reflects who the players believe are the best of their peers at that time.

And that’s what makes Revis’ placement in 2013 a rather striking complement.

By placing fifth on last year’s list, Revis took the highest ranking of any defensive player, following only the usual quarterback trio of Aaron Rodgers (#1), Drew Brees (#2) and Tom Brady (#4) plus Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson (#3).  Revis was also eighth on the original list in 2011, third among defenders behind only Ray Lewis and Troy Polamalu.

It’s reasonable to predict that Revis would have remained in the upper reaches of that list in 2013…if not for the season-ending knee injury that interrupted his work before he had played two full games.  While other standout players around the league emerged and others cemented their reputations with fine play, Revis spent the fall rehabbing.

In the end, then, it’s not critically important where Revis landed on the list (and, of course, the list itself is not critically important, though still an enjoyable conversation piece)  but simply that he still attracted enough votes to be on the list at all.  That issue is part of the debate in the supporting video on the NFL.com Top 100 page devoted to Revis.  Obviously, plenty of Revis’ peers expect his dominance to continue in 2013.  As former teammate and fellow cornerback Antonio Cromartie put it, “Even with him coming off the ACL this upcoming year, he’s still going to be the best corner in the NFL.”

Several other of the league’s top cornerbacks also appear in the video, and it’s clear how much respect those at the position have for Revis.  Arizona’s Patrick Peterson calls him, “The best player at my position,” and Green Bay’s Tramon Williams adds: “Polished, patient, strong – everything you want to see in a cornerback.”

Revis is the third Buccaneer to appear on the list so far.  S Dashon Goldson came in at #96 and DT Gerald McCoy was ranked #92.  The NFL Network reveals a new segment of 10 players every Thursday evening; next week, the players ranked #51-60 will be announced.

The post Revis Remains in Top 100 appeared first on Captain's Blog.

I’ve heard, from multiple sources, that using the NFL offseason to analyze your football team, identify your weak points and address your team needs through free agency, trades and the NFL Draft is a good strategy.

I’m no general manager, but this theory does sound pretty good to me. And taking a look at a couple numbers from the Buccaneers in the last few seasons shows that Mark Dominik, Greg Schiano and company are certainly making the moves to make this a better team and make the push to the next level.

The 2011 season ended with the Buccaneers ranked 27th in points scored and 30th in rushing yardage, and as one of nine NFL teams without a receiver eclipsing the 800-yard mark. Cue the offseason and the Buccaneers add three key players on offense, turning those numbers around.

Despite a midseason injury, Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks did spend some time paving the way for the offense. Vincent Jackson took pressure off of Mike Williams and gave Josh Freeman a big target. Doug Martin had a tremendous rookie season ending in a Pro Bowl appearance and adding to the newfound explosiveness of the Bucs offense.

By the end of 2012, the Bucs had sprung to 13^th in points per game, Doug Martin had racked up the fifth most rushing yards and TDs in the NFL and Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams had both finished in the top 20 in receiving yards.

As we all know, the Buccaneers turned to a new need this offseason. Coming out of a 2012 season in which they allowed the most passing yards in the league, the Buccaneers acquired the top-ranked free agent safety in Dashon Goldson, traded for perhaps the best cornerback in the league in Darrelle Revis and drafted 2012 Jim Thorpe Award-winning cornerback Johnthan Banks. With Eric Wright and Mark Barron added into the mix, the Buccaneers now have one of the scariest secondaries in the league.

So, we all know that the Buccaneers have done a fantastic job isolating their weaknesses and turning them into strengths, but what about the rest of the NFC South? And thus ends my lengthy setup to today’s Point/Counterpoint query. I’ll pass it on to you Scott.

Which division rival has done the most this offseason to address and, most importantly, improve upon their biggest weaknesses?

Scott Smith: Y’know something, Andrew?  I think you’re on to something with that theory from your first paragraph.  That’s subtle, but I detect an element of truth in there.

And I like the question, too.  Yes, the Buccaneers have (at least on paper, and probably on the grass when the time comes) vastly improved their biggest 2012 weakness.  Really, there may not be another team in the NFL that so thoroughly addressed a pressing issue than the Bucs and their defensive backfield.  But enough about us.  Who else in the always-competitive NFC South has done something similar?  Well, I’m going to say it’s the Falcons.

You know how hesitant I am to say anything nice about the Falcons, but you’ve got to admit they made one of the best round-peg-in-a-round-hole signings in free agency when they swiped RB Steven Jackson from the St. Louis Rams in March.  That wasn’t good news for the rest of the division.

Obviously, the Falcons were very good in 2012, compiling an NFC-best 13-3 record and advancing to within a few minutes of the Super Bowl.  Statistically, however, there was one area in which they were among the league’s worst, and that was in rushing offense.  Michael Turner had lost it, and wasn’t really a good fit for a pass-first offense anyway, and as much as they tried to claim so before the start of free agency, Jacquizz Rodgers was probably not destined to be an every-down back.  So they go out and get Jackson, who is a much more versatile and well-rounded back than Turner and who is a 1,000-yard-season machine.

With Jackson added to an offense that already has Matt Ryan throwing to Julio Jones, Roddy White and the decidedly-unretired Tony Gonzalez, opponents will have to fear that this offense will shape up like those great Vikings attacks of the late ’90s.  You know, when you couldn’t pay too much attention to Cris Carter or Randy Moss or they’d kill you with Robert Smith?  And vice versa.  Man, that team was a pain in the butt.  I hope the Falcons’ offense doesn’t end up being that good and well-rounded, but I think they took the right step in trying to get there by adding Jackson.

I know that’s only one added player, so I may be stretching the “thoroughly addressed” qualification, but that’s my answer.  You could add in there that they re-signed left tackle Sam Baker (though some consider that an overpayment) and got Gonzalez to come back, thus keeping the front line as intact as possible.  But, really, they just found the exact thing they needed for their biggest deficiency.

What about you?  What team do we have to worry more about in the NFC South now?

Andrew Norton: I think that of the three choices it will be the New Orleans Saints that ended up filling the most needs this offseason. Much like you said with the Falcons, I don’t believe that the Saints (or any NFC South team, for that matter) did as good a job turning around a weakness as the Buccaneers did. But, unlike your Falcons choice, the Saints addressed their needs through quantity.

Granted, the Saints had a few more needs that the Atlanta Falcons did.

Last year, the Saints and Drew Brees had one heck of a terrifying offense. First in the NFL in passing offense, second in total yards per game. They had a myriad of weapons with a three-headed running back monster and enough quality wide receivers to give any fantasy owner a migraine. Still though, that offense needed some help. Primarily on the line.

And what do the Saints do to address their weakness at safety and loss of Pro Bowler Jermon Bushrod? Well, I really set this one up to be a bit more impressive than it is, but you never know. They added a second rounder in the Draft with Terron Armstead and a former second-overall pick Jason Smith who will look to wipe “bust” status off of his name.

While that was certainly a need, I think the Saints most lacked in pass rushers and safeties, both which were pretty thoroughly addressed this offseason. But, again, the quality remains to be seen.

The Saints tied for 25^th in the league in sacks last season, showing that they are without very much pressure on the edge. They re-signed Junior Galette, who was their best rushing linebacker of last season. They also signed free agent pass rush specialist Victor Butler, a former Cowboy who is going to be reunited with his Defensive Coordinator, Rob Ryan. Butler has not seen a lot of field time, but that is mostly because he has spent his career as backup and understudy to DeMarcus Ware. I’ve read he’s pretty good.

And, addressing the secondary, the Saints found two capable safeties while signing CB Keenan Allen, regarded as one of the top available. To replace/assist Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins at safety, the Saints signed Jim Leonhard who saw his best playing days as a New York Jet. They also used their first-round pick to acquire the top-rated safety in the draft, Kenny Vaccaro.

As I said before, the Saints had a lot of holes, and while they didn’t find any big names or guarantees to plug those holes, they did at least find their weaknesses and address them. I think they found a few upgrades at a few positions of need.

Oh, do I get to count the biggest need filled by the Saints: The fact that they are getting their head coach back this offseason? I feel that should count. Yeah, I’m gonna count it.

The post Point/Counterpoint: Which NFC South foe has most thoroughly addressed a weakness from last season? appeared first on Captain's Blog.

NFL Network began counting down “The Top 100 Players of 2013″ on the last night of the draft, and Buccaneer fans immediately had a reason to tune in.  Two of the first 10 players revealed on the list proved to be Buccaneers, as S Dashon Goldson landed at #96 and DT Gerald McCoy at #92.

Three weeks later, the network is set to divulge the 61-70 portion of its list – a new group of 10 is unveiled each Thursday night – and Buc fans get to play the guessing game again.  There is definitely a Tampa Bay player in that group; who will it be, and where exactly will he land?

The latest episode of the aptly-named Top 100 Players of 2013 Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings series airs on NFL Network at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 16.  At 9:00 p.m., the weekly reaction show follows, with analyses from Warren Sapp, Michael Silver and host Lindsay Rhodes.

This is the third year that the Network has counted down the Top 100, and the first time that Goldson and McCoy have been on the list.  Last year, three players who were or are now Buccaneers made the Top 100: T Donald Penn at #97, G Carl Nicks at #76 and CB Darrelle Revis at #5.

While the Top 100 list was created by voting from NFL players themselves, fans can still get in on the process here on NFL.com.  You will be presented with a series of “matchups” between two top players, and after casting 30 votes you can begin producing your own “Top 10″ list.

The post Another Buc in the NFL Network Top 100 appeared first on Captain's Blog.

Last year, the Buccaneers finished the season with the NFL’s top-ranked run defense.  That was the first time that had ever happened in franchise history.  In addition, Josh Freeman recorded the first 4,000-yard passing season in team annals and the Bucs won a game in Oakland for the first time ever.

So what first-time accomplishments could be on the horizon for the NFL’s 27th franchise this coming fall?  Here are a few possibilities:

1. First Road Win vs. the Jets

The Bucs crossed one zero off their table of head-to-head records against other NFL teams last year when, as mentioned, they won at Oakland.  Before 2012, the Raiders were one of seven remaining teams, all in the NFC, against which Tampa Bay had not tasted road victory.  The Doug Martin-led 42-point thrashing of the O.co Coliseum denizens in Week Nine took care of one of those seven.  Of the other six – the Bills, Texans, Jaguars, Jets, Steelers and Titans – the only one that will welcome the Bucs to town in 2013 is New York.  The Bucs’ 1-9 all-time mark against the Jets is, weirdly, their worst winning percentage (.100) versus any opponent, and it includes an 0-6 mark on the road.

That is not to say that the Buccaneers have never won in the Meadowlands.  In fact, the Bucs got a road win against the Giants, who share a stadium with the Jets in 1997.  Tampa Bay had to go to New York twice in a three-week span late in that season, handling the Giants easily on November 30 with a 20-8 decision, then losing just as emphatically to the Jets, 31-0, on December 14.

The Bucs could be helped somewhat by the schedule this time around as they try to knock that zero out of their Jets-on-the-road column.  That matchup is on opening weekend, which means the team is less likely to encounter difficult weather.  In addition, the Jets appear to have an unsettled quarterback situation, with 2013 draftee Geno Smith joining Mark Sanchez and several others, so it might be advantageous to catch them early in the season.  And finally, there’s the much-anticipated (and awfully quick!) return of Darrelle Revis to New York, where he may have extra motivation to lead the Bucs to victory against his former squad.

2. First Consecutive Season-Ending Road Wins

If the Buccaneers are in a playoff race at the end of the regular season, they may have to be road warriors in order to nail down a postseason spot.  In the ultra-competitive NFC South, it would be a surprise to see any team with the division crown fully in hand by Week 15, and thus the Bucs’ season-capping games against the Rams and Saints will likely be critical.

And both are on the road.  Tampa Bay travels to St. Louis in Week 16 and then stays on the road for a Week 17 tilt in New Orleans.  With another pair of road games at Detroit and Carolina in Weeks 12 and 13, the Bucs actually play four of their last six away from Raymond James Stadium.

If Tampa Bay is able to take down the Rams and the Saints on back-to-back Sundays, it would mark the first time in franchise history that the team won consecutive games on the road to finish a regular-season schedule.

Truth be told, the opportunities have been limited.  This season will mark just the fourth one in nearly four decades of play that Tampa Bay has finished its regular-season schedule with two straight road games.  That also happened in 1992 (at San Francisco and Phoenix), 1998 (at Washington and Cincinnati) and 2011 (at Carolina and Atlanta); the Bucs split those two games in ’92 and ’98 and dropped both in ’11.

Tampa Bay has won its last two games of the season on six different occasions, though none were a pair of road contests.  That happened most recently in 2010, and before that in 2005, 1999, 1984, 1982 and 1977.  The last of those six, 1977, is interesting in this discussion because the Bucs’ final two opponents that year – just like this year, though in reverse order – were New Orleans and St. Louis.  That was the St. Louis Cardinals, of course, who later left for Arizona and created a void that the former Los Angeles Rams filled in 1995.  Those were also the first two regular-season victories in Tampa Bay franchise history.

3. An Individual 15-Touchdown Season

The problem with choosing a specific statistical first-time achievement for a Buccaneer player is that there aren’t too many obvious milestones left, especially after Freeman’s 4,000-yard campaign last year.  Doug Martin rather noisily chased 2,000 yards from scrimmage last year, and while that would have made him just the third rookie to hit that mark it wouldn’t have been a first time for the Bucs.  James Wilder had 2,229 during his amazing 1984 season.  100 catches, 1,500 rushing yards, 25 touchdown passes, 200 tackles, 15 sacks, 10 interceptions – they’ve all been done.

We could go with 30 touchdown passes or 20 sacks or the next even number up on some of those lists, but we’ve chosen the 15-touchdown campaign – scoring 15 TDs, that is, not throwing them – for one good reason.  The Buccaneers are the only team in the NFL who has never had a player hit that milestone.  James Wilder’s 13 touchdowns in 1984 remains the franchise’s single-season record.

Obviously, Doug Martin would be the leading candidate.  He had 12 touchdowns as a rookie, which is a pretty impressive opening salvo.  If one assumes a little more development in his (already outstanding) game, and in the Bucs’ offense as a whole, it’s not hard to envision a jump of three more scores.  Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams might have a shot, as well.

The post Possible Buccaneer Firsts in 2013 appeared first on Captain's Blog.

Ronde Barber arrived in Tampa in 1997, just as the Buccaneers were beginning a long-awaited franchise revival under new ownership and a new head coach.  Tony Dungy’s 1997 Buccaneers went 10-6 and won a Wild Card game in ’97, breaking a 14-year stretch of losing campaigns.

Barber didn’t play a lot that year, until the very end, but in the ensuing seasons he was a big part of taking the team from that 1997 starting point to the NFL’s pinnacle.  He helped create a culture of winning at (the old) One Buccaneer Place, and shared in reaping the rewards.  It was possible to create that culture, Barber said last week after he finally called his career to a close, because everyone knew the roster was talented enough to win, and win big.

As he walks away after a remarkable 16-year-run, Barber does it knowing that he could be leaving just as another Buccaneer renaissance is right around the bend.  In fact, he joked at his retirement press conference that he wouldn’t be thrilled to see the team win another Lombardi Trophy in the season he could have chosen to play.

The Bucs are in a new building now, but Barber senses the same thing building inside One Buc Place that he experienced as a rookie.

“Our great teams in the late 1990s and the early part of this century, there was an imminent feel about success,” he said.  “It was just a matter of time before we won and that was because of the players.  There’s no reason that this group of guys that we have now can’t get that same imminent feeling back and make a run.  One of the things that Jon Gruden always used to say was, ‘Just give me a ticket to the dance and we’ll go from there.’  They should be well on their way to purchasing a ticket.”

Barber is almost certainly headed towards a job in the media as the next stage in his professional life.  He is expected to do well in part because he’s always been a straight-shooter, eschewing clichés, hyperbole and canned answers.  Barber may or may not be right about the current talent level at One Buccaneer Place, but he isn’t trying to stretch the truth as he sees it.  He clearly believes that the 2013 Bucs have what it takes to win, including the right leadership under Head Coach Greg Schiano.

“I’ve had a feeling this team is getting there,” said Barber.  “We certainly have the players, we certainly have the coach.  He has the right mental attitude to deal with players.  The vision is good.  It’s strong, it’s consistent.  There’s no reason we shouldn’t be successful, and I expect them to.”

Barber couldn’t help but say “we” in most of his references to the team, right up until that last phrase referring to the seasons ahead, and of course no one would ever begrudge him that choice.  He’s a Buccaneer for life, having cemented his place in team history by virtue of showing up at just the right time and then being instrumental in fulfilling the potential of that time.  Those Bucs had in the previous few years added the likes of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Donnie Abraham, Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn…and then they got Ronde Barber.  That core took off in Dungy’s second year at the helm, after an inaugural season largely aimed at chasing the organizational culture and philosophy.

Before he capped his career, Barber saw the current Bucs add the likes of Gerald McCoy, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin, Dashon Goldson and Darrelle Revis.  Now in its second year under a new head coach, after a season largely aimed at chasing the organizational culture, that team may be poised for the same type of run it began in 1997.  Though he’ll be watching from afar, Barber envisions just that sort of near future for the Buccaneers.

The post An Imminent Feeling of Success appeared first on Captain's Blog.

At his retirement press conference on Thursday, future Hall of Famer Ronde Barber admitted that he only recently got a better grip on some of the amazing career numbers he posted during 16 years in the NFL.  That is, he knew he had played more games than the vast majority of players, for instance, but he didn’t know the exact number was 243, et cetera.

Most of those numbers have been part of the public discussion for years now.  As he racked up the interceptions and sacks through the years, he frequently became members in new clubs, until the point where he became the only man in the 40-interception/25-sack club.  Listing all of his accomplishments takes a while, but finding a new angle on Ronde’s numbers isn’t easy to do anymore.

That said, the Captain’s Blog has a new one for you, and it speaks to Barber’s incredible durability and career longevity.

During the first 37 seasons in franchise history (1976-2012), a total of 906 men have played in a regular-season or postseason game for the team (players on the roster who did not play in a game were not counted).  Of those 906, Barber has appeared in a game with 372 of them.  That means that 41.1% of all the players in franchise history at some point shared the field with Ronde Barber.  Cool.

And now, for posterity, the rest of the numbers that, in five years, will make Barber a very attractive Hall of Fame candidate:

0…Number of other players in NFL history with 25+ sacks and 40+ interceptions.

1…Super Bowl Championship.

2…Rank in NFL history in tackles by a defensive back.

3…Single-game career-high interception total, recorded twice, at New Orleans on December 4, 2005 and

against New Orleans on December 23, 2001.

5…Pro Bowl and Associated Press All-Pro selections.

6…Seasons with at least 100 tackles.

9…Number of NFC Defensive Player of the Week awards, including postseason, tied for the most in NFL

history.

10…Interceptions made by Barber in 2001, setting a team record, and tying for the most in a single season

in the NFL since 1981.

11…Number of defensive units for which Barber started that finished in the top 10 in the NFL’s rankings.

12…Career touchdowns on fumble/interception returns, tied for the third most in NFL history.

14…Single-game career-high tackle total, vs. Green Bay on November 16, 2003.

15…Career touchdowns, including postseason.

16…Number of seasons played by Barber, all with the Buccaneers, the third-longest tenure with a single team in NFL history.

28…Number of career sacks, the second-most by a defensive back in NFL history (Rodney Harrison-30.5).

47…Number of career interceptions, the most in franchise history.

65…Players selected ahead of Barber in the 1997 NFL Draft.

92…Length, in yards, Barber returned his interception in the 2002 NFC Championship, sealing the win for

the Buccaneers and sending the team on to Super Bowl XXXVII.

120…Single-season career high in tackles, recorded in 2002.

160…Single-season career high in interception return yards, set in 2012.

215…Consecutive starts, from Week 10 against Atlanta in 1999 (11/21/99) to Week 17 at Atlanta in 2012

(12/30/12), the most ever by a defensive back, and tied for the sixth-longest streak in NFL history.

232…Career starts, the most in team history.

240…Consecutive games played, the most in franchise history, and tied for the second-longest streak by a defensive player in the NFL since 1970.

241…Career games played, the most in team history.

242…Career passes defensed, the most in team history.

923…Number of career interception yards, 16th in NFL history.

The post Ronde Barber: By The Numbers appeared first on Captain's Blog.

Nowadays, everyone agrees that instant-reaction draft grades are essentially meaningless…and, of course, everyone does them anyway.  So if nobody is really being held to these grades in the long run, then here is my assessment of the Buccaneers’ 2013 draft: A+++.  Full scholarship to Harvard in the mail.

I might be a bit lacking in objectivity, however, so let’s turn our attention to something draft-related that, hopefully, we can address with some fairness and neutrality.  Specifically, let’s look at the 13 teams on the Buccaneers’ 2013 regular-season schedule and try to determine which one(s) just got harder to beat.  Forget about how these teams have helped themselves two or three years down the road; we’re only worried about which team made themselves a more formidable foe for the Buccaneers this fall by their actions on draft weekend.

Andrew, I will let you go first, since your accuracy rate is a bit south of that of a broken clock (twice a day!).

Andrew Norton: Geez. Pick the season opener with 1 out of 16 probability and all of a sudden you’re some kind of oracle. Hope you put up some money on Orb last weekend. So, great and powerful Oracle, I’ll try to throw a curveball and give you someone that you won’t expect.

I think that the team that “made themselves a more formidable foe for the Buccaneers” through the Draft is the Carolina Panthers.

As a division rival, the Buccaneers will face the Panthers twice, just as they did last season. In those two games last season, the Bucs walked away with the win, relying heavily on 1) stout run defense and 2) a powerful run game. Perhaps it is not 100% cause-and-effect, but looking at the Panthers’ pitfalls in these two matchups last season, it seems pretty interesting that they would spend the first three of their selections on the trenches.

With the 14^th pick, the Panthers grabbed Star Lotulelei, one of the highest-rated defensive tackles who is capable of lining up at the nose or outside. You see this pick and think, dang, he is going to look pretty good lined up at tackle beside Dwan Edwards (11 tackles, 2 sacks vs. Bucs last season). You now have another big body who can effectively rush the passer and plug running lanes.

So what do the Panthers do in Round 2? They grab another big body at defensive tackle in Kawann Short. Now, your seemingly imposing front of Lotulelei and Edwards has just become a dynamic three-man rotation. The Panthers run defense and pass rush up the middle just got quite a bit better.

Round 4 rolls along and they snag offensive guard Edmund Kugbila who could make a play at the starting right guard position. And, while they look good at running back, they add a refreshing change-of-pace with RB Kenjon Barner out of Oregon.

While the latter two don’t necessarily point out immediate impact players, the two defensive tackles make the Carolina defense far more imposing when you look at their biggest weakness against the Bucs last season. In Week 1, the Bucs put up 130 rushing yards, compared to 138 in the air. The Week 11 game in Carolina saw nearly double the passing attempts and yardage, but the run game is still what did the Panthers as Doug Martin ran for another 138 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

After the draft, the Panthers now have what some might consider one of the toughest front fours in the NFL with Lotulelei, Edwards and Short rotating at tackle and the always-impressive Greg Hardy and Charles Johnson on the edges.

Needless to say, the Buccaneers have their own answers to these picks, with the return of two All-Pro guards, a sensational running back with a year under his belt, and one of the most high-powered receiver duos in the league. And that whole “revamped secondary with Dashon Goldson and Darrelle Revis to accompany the NFL-leading run defense” thing.

But, I suppose you’d expected me to say Carolina, right? The all-knowing Oracle is never surprised. How can he be, he knows everything. But if that’s true, then why write this Point/Counterpoint?

Maybe you knew I was going to say that, maybe you didn’t. If you did, that means you phrased this question and let me answer first deliberately, purposefully. Which means you’re writing this Point/Counterpoint deliberately, purposefully.

Scott Smith: Wow.  Need help climbing out of that rabbit hole you just went down?  I don’t even know how to react to that last part.  So, uh…

Panthers, you say?  Okay, Let’s start there.  So Carolina drafts two defensive tackles to rotate with superstar Dwan Edwards (he of the 5.5 sacks and 83 tackles in the six seasons prior to 2012), and now their interior line is a brick wall that Doug Martin won’t be able to crack?  Okay, got it.  The Panthers, who were almost exactly league average in stopping the run last year, are going to shoot to the top of the Run D rankings.

Makes perfect sense.  I mean, last year the Cincinnati Bengals spent two of their first four three on defensive tackles (Devon Still and Brandon Thompson) pairing them with Geno Atkins (who truly was a superstar in the making) and shot all the way from 10th in the NFL run defense rankings in 2011 to…12 in 2012.  Okay, sorry bad example.  Just trying to help.  Let’s see here.  How about the Lions, who finished 19th in the Run D rankings in 2010 with Ndamukong Suh in the middle, and chose to pair him with another top-of-the-draft DT in 2011 in Nick Fairley?  Why, with that dynamic duo plugging the middle, the Lions leapt all the way from that #19 spot in 2010 to…uh, 23rd in 2011.  Okay, sorry, another bad example.  Flukes, I’m sure.  I mean, it’s not like our own Buccaneers spent their first two picks on defensive tackles in 2010, helping them jump from ninth in rush defense in 2009 to…oh my…uh…dead last in 2011.  Gee, I’m really bad at this.

Listen, I understand that for this question we kind of have to count our chickens before they hatch in order to present a good argument.  For all we really know #1 pick Eric Fisher will be a huge bust in Kansas City and the much-maligned Geno Smith will be the next RGIII for the Jets.  I mean, I doubt it, but it could happen.  So I have to concede that Lotulelei and Short could work out as rookies in Carolina.  I just don’t think they are likely to step right in and fully correct what really wasn’t that horrible of a problem to begin with. I don’t believe that defensive tackle is one of the positions (as opposed to say, running back) where most good prospects are immediate studs.  It takes a while to develop ‘em.  And, you know, maybe Carolina did poorly against Doug Martin because, well, Doug Martin is really good.

You know that curveball you threw me?  Think you might have hung that one, buddy.  Next time, snap it off.

I don’t think I need to waste any additional time on Edmund Kugbila or Carolina’s 300th running back, so let’s just get to my pick.  Had I framed this question better, I’d probably go with the Seahawks, because I think Percy Harvin is going to be a difference-maker in that offense.  However, they didn’t really get Harvin on draft weekend, trading their first-round pick for him weeks earlier, so that’s probably not a legal choice.  As such, I’ll go with my second choice, the St. Louis Rams.

Here’s a team, like the Buccaneers, that clearly started a turnaround last year under a new head coach.  Playing in a tough division, they snuck up on .500 (7-8-1) and played the 49ers as well as anyone.  They were not, however, a particularly dynamic offensive team, especially through the air (27th in the NFL), despite having spent the first overall pick on a quarterback just a few years ago.  Then free agency comes and robs them of Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson, their top two pass-catchers last year, and suddenly the cupboard is looking very bare.

But along comes the draft and the Rams move aggressively to get Tavon Austin.  I’m a Tavon Austin guy, as you know.  We all remember, I’m sure, that I was on the Tavon Austin bandwagon way back in early March, before his draft stock started to supernova.  Percy Harvin in Seattle and now Tavon Austin in St. Louis – the Bucs have some scary slot receivers to deal with this season.  The Rams also added the other West Virginia receiver, Stedman Bailey, in the third round, and while I know he’s not the same level of prospect as Austin, I think he will help immediately.

The same argument applies to these guys as it does to any of the draftees – we don’t know yet how well they will deliver on their promise.  Still, the question we’re debating today is which team improved the most on draft weekend, not over the whole offseason.  So whatever you think of losing Amendola and Gibson and replacing them with Austin and Stedman, the Amendola and Gibson departures had already happened when the draft came along.  The Rams desperately needed help there, and they got it.

WAIT!  I’m not done.  I know you’re eager to get back to navel-gazing about the nature of reality, but I have a little bit more to say.  That little bit more would be: Alec Ogletree.  That’s another player I really liked in the lead-up to the draft, and I wonder if he fell a little bit to the Rams at #30 because of some off-field troubles he had.  Whatever the reason, I think the Rams lucked into a player that will help them immediately.  Quick, name the Rams’ starting linebackers from last year.  I imagine you came up with James Laurinaitis, but did you also get Rocky McIntosh and Jo-Lonn Dunbar?  I think Ogletree can crack that lineup somewhere and offer all-over-the-field playmaking ability.

I like the two DBs the Rams picked up, too – T.J. McDonald and Brandon McGee.  However, I’ve gone on long enough here, so I won’t expound on that.  The impact of Austin, Stedman and Ogletree should be enough to improve the Rams to potential playoff contender status and, more importantly, win me yet another Point/Counterpoint trophy.

Andrew Norton: Alright. I might have taken the red pill going with the Panthers, but I still feel that they greatly boosted their run-stopping prowess. Does it mean that the Bucs can’t run on them? Absolutely not. But Lotulelei and Short are certainly two people that Schiano and Co. will need to pay attention to, especially since they will have seven games of NFL experience before they face the Bucs for the first time.

Now, on to your selection. The Rams definitely did some work. They had a hell of a defense last year and Ogletree lined up beside James Laurinaitis makes them that much scarier.

But your argument as to why they are imposing would really be my argument as to why the draft wasn’t that scary at all. The Rams got two stellar picks in Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, and I would agree that they had the best draft if we were taking this out long-term or at least a few years down the road. But counting on two rookie wide receivers to come in and have immediate impact, starting 1 and 2 (hypothetically) and being a force at all? That seems far-fetched.

Take, for instance, that in the past five years, only 12 rookie wide receivers have averaged 50+ yards per game. Last season it was Justin Blackmon who compiled the most yardage as a rookie wide receiver, that was good enough to land him solidly at 29^th in the NFL in receiving yards.

The year 2011 shows two outliers, A.J. Green (73.8 ypg) and Julio Jones (70.5 ypg), who are the only rookie WRs since Marques Colston in 2006 to top 70 ypg. Green is the only one since Colston to have broken 1,000 yards receiving in his first NFL season.

2010’s best rookie, Mike Williams notched 60.2 yards per game and is the only rookie WR since 1998 to have more than 10 touchdowns. 2009 saw four first-year receivers break 50 ypg, but none of them had more than 57. Hakeem Nicks had the most yardage for a rookie that year with 790, good for 39^th in the league.

So, I’m going to say that you might be stretching the potential of the two STL rookies. History shows that it is one of the hardest positions to make the transition to the NFL. And I feel that I should probably bring up the fact that one of them will be lining up against Darrelle Revis, the other against Eric Wright or Johnthan Banks, and if either of them dare make a break over the middle, they will be properly welcomed to the NFL by Mark Barron and Dashon Goldson. Yikes.

Spot on with that Ogletree paragraph though.

I know I’m going to get myself beat up again for bringing up one more team that is going to cause people more trouble this year than we figured they would at the end of last season. If we really are talking about teams that made themselves more imposing through the draft than they were before it, then I have to mention Buffalo Bills.

Are you done laughing? Good.

You get a rookie quarterback that you can really change into anything you want to. Many people are saying that he wasn’t considered a high round draft pick not because of his play, but because of the system and coaching he was in at Florida State. You have two receivers coming in with Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. And while my argument against your WRs counts the same for these two, at least they open up the field a bit for the only two stars on the Bills offense, C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson. Along with maturity on their should-be-way-better defense, they add a solid inside linebacker in Kiki Alonso.

The AFC East should certainly be interesting this year. Patriots are always strong, many people are counting on the Dolphins to make things interesting, and I don’t think we should entirely dismiss the Bills. The Jets will certainly be interesting as well this year, just for different reasons.

Scott Smith: You really should have put that, “are you done laughing” paragraph at the bottom of your rebuttal because I was still laughing two paragraphs later.  The Bills?  Thanks for that!  My day needed a good dose of laughter.

Not that I’m one to laugh at any NFL team.  I’m a firm believer that one or two teams will shock us every year with how good they are, and it’s certainly possible the Bills will be one of them.  However, your very argument is the reason I would put them near the bottom of the list of possibilities: An a-still-to-be-molded rookie quarterback.  Yes, some rookie passers have made stunning impacts in recent years, but with the exception of Russell Wilson they have been guys drafted at the very top of the first round, many coming in with a fully-formed game.  Maybe you are right about the Bills being able to mold Manuel into something great, but I would be shocked if it happened that quickly.

Also, I really appreciate you making a list of all those great rookie receivers in recent years.  That’s a pretty impressive group in a fairly short period of time.  Makes me confident that another one can emerge this year, especially when he’s the most dynamic talent in the draft and he’s being plopped right into a starting job.

If you’re going to pick a second team, I will too, though I don’t know if I can possibly find another one with both Carolina and Buffalo off the board.  San Francisco would be a good choice – I like Eric Reid and Tank Carradine at the top – but it’s the Marcus Lattimore pick that everyone is raving about and he’s going to need some time to get healthy.  So I’ll go with Arizona and just a few quick words as to why.

The Cardinals badly needed help up front and they were fortunate that there were so many blue-chip O-Linemen this year, which allowed them to get guard Jonathan Cooper at pick #7.  I think he steps in and makes an immediate difference.  Then they got linebacker Kevin Minter of LSU at pick #45 after he was widely believed to be a fringe first-rounder.  I think he starts right away.  The wild card is third-rounder Tyrann Mathieu, of course.  If he can step in and give the return game a jolt, that would make it a worthwhile addition in my book.  That’s an “if,” I know, but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go find the key to my trophy case.

The post Point/Counterpoint: Which 2013 Buccaneer Opponent Improved the Most During the Draft? appeared first on Captain's Blog.

If you’re a Buccaneers fan looking for something to get you excited during this relative downtime between the draft and the start of OTAs, all you have to do is surf around the web a little bit.  In fact, we’ll help.  Here are a few entertaining and/or optimistic links we found on Tuesday while avoiding actual work:

* Doug Martin is not the number-one running back in the NFL

But he’s pretty darn close.

According to Around the League writer Dan Hanzus on NFL.com, the current king of the mountain at the running back position is Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson.  It’s hard to consider that a slight to Martin or anybody else, considering the season for the ages Peterson just had (and the unassailable six-year track record).  What should be encouraging for Buc fans is that, after just one year, Martin already finds himself on the short list right behind Peterson.

Hanzus’s list is sure to set off plenty of debate; in fact, his own colleagues immediately rushed into the fray with some criticism elsewhere on NFL.com.  However, none of the other analysts took issue with Hansus’s choice to put Martin, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy and Arian Foster on the list of “Studs” right behind Peterson.

* Bucpower.com is slowly unveiling it’s “All-Time Buccaneer 53”

If you’ve spent any time on Bucpower.com, you know that its creators are slavishly devoted to Buccaneer minutiae.  Like, at a historic level.  You’ll find bios on every Tampa Bay player ever, information on every Buc game ever played…and so on.  It’s rather impressive.

Dipping into that vast knowledge of Buccaneer football, those creators have come up with their version of an all-time team roster, which they are unveiling a little bit at a time.  Sticking to the current limit of 53 players and actually trying to construct a team with specific starting lineups and typical reserves, the Bucpower folks will eventually unveil their choices for everything from the quarterbacks to the punt returner.  The web site says the creators of the team solicited opinions from “team officials, writers, the media and former players,” and we happen to know that to be true.  In the end, it’s their list, though, and it should be entertaining.

So far, Bucpower is seven spots into that full 53, starting along the offensive line.  Spoiler alert: Paul Gruber is the starting left tackle.  Keep an eye on that link in the coming weeks to see how the team fills out.

* Bucs well represented in another list of the league’s best players

We were going to chime in on this list of the Top 101 Players of 2012 on Pro Football Focus, but ESPN’s NFC South blogger, Pat Yasinskas, beat us to it.  Yasinskas makes some good points about where certain NFC South players landed on the list – especially Saints QB Drew Brees – but as a Buc fan it’s hard to find too much fault with the selections.

Of course, the NFL Network is currently in the midst of counting down it’s top 100 players, and that list was created by votes from the players themselves.  So choose the source you find more credible – perhaps the objective number-crunchers at PFF might have a more comprehensive perspective on the matter, or perhaps not – but this is an interesting read either way.

The highest-ranked Buc on the PFF list? DT Gerald McCoy, at #20.  Vincent Jackson, Lavonte David and Doug Martin are all on the list, too.  As Yasinskas points out, Darrelle Revis and Carl Nicks would have been good bets to be on the list if they hadn’t missed so much of the season due to injury…again, this is a list regarding the 2012 season.  We might say the same thing for Davin Joseph, and it’s a bit surprising not to see Dashon Goldson on the list.

As long as you’re checking out Yasinskas’s recent work, here’s his take on why the Bucs’ signing of former Panther DT Andre Neblett was a good idea.

* Too early to enjoy some FANTASY football mock drafting? Nah!

The thousands of mock drafts that preceded the real NFL deal were certainly entertaining but had little chance of finding much success.  On the other hand, mock fantasy drafts contain information you can put to good use, if not for a couple more months.

It’s early, but it’s not too early to start looking at how your fantasy drafts might fall out, and where the Buccaneer studs may go.  Doug Martin is a likely first-rounder in most drafts; Vincent Jackson could potentially sneak into some second rounds.

The experts over at CBSSports.com decided to put together a 12-person fantasy mock draft right after the NFL’s draft, paying special attention to where the newest NFL players would be taken.  This year’s class isn’t likely to have anything like the impact of last year’s (RGIII, Andrew Luck, Doug Martin, Alfred Morris, Trent Richardson, etc.), but there are a few intriguing options.

Anyway, check out the link above to see where Martin and Jackson go among the CBSSports.com drafters, and scroll down to Round 11 to see the next Buccaneer off the board.

The post Links to Like appeared first on Captain's Blog.