State of the Tampa Bay Bucs Heading into Training Camp

(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

One of the biggest offseason moves this year was the Buccaneers acquisition of Kellen Winslow, Jr. from the Cleveland Browns. Winslow is an All-Pro tight end and an immediate impact in the offense. Alex Smith never lived up to his early potential with the Bucs and was eventually dealt to New England to make room for Winslow.

Kelly Campbell is a CFL reject who had a cup of water with the Buffalo Bills early in his career. Campbell performed well in the Canadian league and has been impressive in the OTA's and minicamp.

Joey Galloway was a dominant performer for the Bucs before age caught up with him this last season. After becoming one of the first Buccaneers to post consecutive 1,000 yd seasons, Galloway missed most of 2008 with nagging hamstring and foot injuries.

Sammie Stroughter is a seventh round draft pick that has the Buccaneers thinking they got their own Marcus Colston. Ike Hillard was reliable "Mr. Third Down," always there at the sticks when the Bucs needed to extend a drive.

Determination - Push.

Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski vs. Offensive Coordinator/Head Coach Jon Gruden

Coach Jags offense is not all that different than Coach Gruden's. The biggest change is the philosophy of pushing the football down the field vertically rather than run several short routes. Jags offense has simplified terminology compared to the voluminous playbook of Gruden.

It won't have as many shifts or motions as Gruden's offense had that enabled mismatches. Jags offense will run first to set up the pass, compared to Gruden's pass to set up the run philosophy.

Determination - Upgrade.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Bates vs. Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin

There's no denying the Tampa Two success in Tampa Bay that made Monte Kiffin a legend among Buccaneer fans. Kiffin's erratic and charismatic demeanor seemed to energize the team, while his defenses continued to dominate for close to a decade.

Toward the end, though, Kiffin's famed defense began to develop cracks. His penchant for using veterans over younger players helped the defense get off to good starts but when the veterans bodies began to break down, the defense would limp to the end of the season.

Jim Bates scrapped the famed Tampa Two in favor of a much more aggressive version of the 4-3 defense. This defense relies on bigger bodies in the middle to stuff the run, with pressure coming from the edges. The corners, do to the increased pass rushing responsibilities of the linebackers will be forced into more man-to-man situations.

Determination - Incomplete. It will take some time to see how the Bucs personnel adapts to Bates' style of defense.

Head Coach Raheem Morris vs. Head Coach Jon Gruden

Gruden won a Super Bowl in Tampa—there's no arguing against that. He was charasmatic in front of the media, showing an amazing wit and fun nature about him.

But there was a darker side to Gruden. A side that abused his players mentally and caused them to distrust their coach. Gruden couldn't tell the truth to his players and if one got injured, they might as well have been dead.

Toward the end, a good portion of the football team no longer believed in Gruden and had no interest in helping the Buccaneers suceeed with him at the helm. Under Gruden, the Bucs favored veterans and were more of a finesse football team.

Morris has looked confused and shaky in front of the media, causing fans to take pause, but according to several reports—he has made a tremendous impact on the players. Even newcomer Kellen Winslow sees it, saying "I never want to play for a coach other than Coach Morris."

There's more to coaching then having the players like you and it will be interesting to see how Morris will handle the game time decisions of going for it on fourth down, clock management and other situations that can win or lose games. Under Morris, the Bucs favor young players and want to be tougher, more physical style in mold of the Steelers.

Determination - Incomplete. Again, we have to see how Morris handles game-time situations.

The 2009 schedule vs. 2008 schedule

There's no doubt that own paper, the Buccaneers have one the NFL's toughest schedules this season. Facing the NFC and AFC East as well as Green Bay from the NFC North and San Francisco from the NFC West, in addition to the NFC South it appears to be a tough road to hoe for a young team under a first year coach and general manager.

A closer look at the schedule, however, and it doesn't look quite as daunting as one might believe. 

I really don't think Dallas is going to be all that good this season. Washington isn't a world beater and the Giants lost a lot when Plax shot himself in the thigh (plus they lost the fireplug in Ward).

I don't see Miami's gimmick working this season, Buffalo remains a work in progress, the Jets are starting Sanchez, and New England's quarterback is coming off multiple surgeries on a damaged knee (and lets face it, he wasn't overly mobile to begin with).

In our division, Carolina is solid—but can Jake Delhomme survive the season? Everyone will be ready for Atlanta's running game this year—will Matt Ryan step forward or step back? New Orleans continues to be New Orleans...all glitz, no championships.

Determination - Tougher.

Bottom line, there are many question marks about the 2009 Buccaneers but something tells me fans and pundits a like may be very surprised by the kind of play coming out of Raymond James Stadium this season.

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