State of the Tampa Bay Bucs Heading into Training Camp

Everywhere you look, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are written off. Beat writers talk about this being a rebuilding year. National pundits scratch their heads and wonder who the heck this Raheem Morris guy is and why in the world would they blow out Jon Gruden for him?

Add to the dismissal of veterans Joey Galloway and future hall of famer Derrick Brooks, as well as an apparent daunting schedule and four wins appears to be a bit high for an over/under on wins for 2009.

The Bucs are a younger football team, there's no denying that. But are they better? As we move closer to Training Camp, opening July 31 at One Buc Palace in Tampa—let's take a look at the major moves the Bucs made this offseason and do a little pigskin prognostication of our own.

 
Quincy Black, Jermaine Phillips, Geno Hayes and Angelo Crowell vs. Derrick Brooks and Cato June

You can never replace a leader like Derrick Brooks. In the locker room and in the community, few Buccaneers are as beloved and admired as Brooks. That admiration makes it very difficult for fans to accept the truth about their favorite player.

Brooks is done—he just doesn't know it yet. As much as Buc fans love No. 55, it was Brooks' pride that contributed to the Bucs defensive collapse at the end of 2008.

He was injured but refused to come out and opponents exploited the one legged linebacker, who had no where near the speed to fill the gaps and cover as he once did. He was beaten unmercifully and at times it was painful to watch him.

Can Jermaine Phillips or Geno Hayes replace him? You don't just replace a Derrick Brooks, folks. But that's only if we're talking about Derrick Brooks of 2002. Derrick Brooks of 2008 was expendable.

Neither Phillips or Hayes will have the vast amount of knowledge Brooks used to diagnose plays and make an impact. Still athletically, they will be far superior, returning to the defense the sorely missed speed they've lacked the last couple of years.

Under new defensive coordinator Jim Bates, the linebackers will be called on to blitz a lot more off the edge. Phillips and Hayes are built to do that.

As for Cato June, let's face it—June was an overrated football player at Indianapolis and was invisible in Tampa Bay. Quincy Black is a former third round draft pick with speed to burn and a desire to live up to his draft status. He will finally get that opportunity to compete for the starting spot with free agent Angelo Crowell.

Determination: Upgrade.

McCown, Leftwich, or Freeman vs. Jeff Garcia

Jeff Garcia has the heart of a champion, no doubt. What he lacks is height, the ability to see open targets down the field and the courage to stand in the pocket that extra second to deliver the ball.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Garcia lacks courage overall—on the contrary, he would make some gutty runs and bled for this football team. I'm saying that the decision to run always seemed to come too quickly and he lacked the trust in his line or his receivers to stand in the pocket that extra second to make a play.

Luke McCown is the polar opposite. In fact, it has been said he makes his decision too slowly and while he waits for plays to develop, he gets himself sacked.

Still, athletically McCown has a better arm than Garcia ever had, he may be one of the best athletes on the football team and has established a trusted relationship with many of the team's weapons.

Byron Leftwich has the most experience among the starters but his inability to get the ball out could be a major issue for him in the competition. With no rush in his face, Leftwich is deadly accurate, with a cannon to get the ball down the field.

Unfortunately a hitch in his throwing motion not only delays getting the ball out but tips off corners and safeties when the ball is coming.

Josh Freeman has all the physical attributes you'd want for your quarterback with the exception of one important one—experience. The only way you get experience is to play the game but we all know the horror shows that are rookie QBs indoctrination into the league.

Freeman was supposed to redshirt this year but either by the failure of the two other QBs or his own merits, he's forced Buccaneers management to rethink their position on the rookie's development track. In the end, its likely in the best interest for the team to keep Freeman on the bench for the short term.

Determination - Downgrade.

Kellen Winslow, Jr, Kelly Campbell, Sammie Stroughter vs. Alex Smith, Joey Galloway, and Ike Hillard

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.