Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and notes

	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stories
	2010 NFL draft review: Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft is a bit confusing. They got one of the highly coveted DT prospects in the first round and then draft another DT in the second. If the goal is to completely rebuild the D line taking two tackles is a solid strategy. Really though this defense was the worst against the run, and something had to be done to fix that. Brian Price might have fallen to them with the 35th overall pick, and they grabbed him up. I would have liked to see them address their needs at DE before the seventh round, but it seems they made some ok moves.
	2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft class Like many of the teams at the top of the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are more than a few players away from being competitive week to week in the NFL. They think that they found a franchise QB in last year’s draft so they focused on rebuilding their defense in the 2010 draft.
	2009 NFL draft one year later: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Any way we try to slice this, this draft grade hinges on whether or not QB Josh Freeman develops into a franchise QB. Other than him the 2009 Bucs draft class started one game. All indications are this is a team headed in the wrong direction, a solid 3rd overall pick in the 2010 draft could change that, but the coaching staff and front office seem in over their head. One year ago I called their approach to the draft unconventional, considering this was a team rebuilding. Now, a year later, that seems to hold true, but if Freeman delivers we would still have to call this draft a success.
	Draft Day decision makers: Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Mark Domenik has been with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the last 14 years. 2010 will be his second year as GM, and he has final say on what the team will do in the draft. He consults with Head Coach Raheem Morris, and Director of College Scouting Dennis Hickey. Pro Scout coordinator Doug Williams also has some input. As think tank's go this Bucs have a relatively young one.
	Fix the franchise: Tampa Bay Buccaneers edition I really want to say that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the right track, but that might be a hard argument to make considering they just finished the 2009 season with a 3-13 record. During last off season they fired their head coach, Jon Gruden who just happened to be their all time wins leader, and who led them to a Super Bowl not that long ago. Apparently the ownership felt that Gruden had the team on the wrong path and Raheem Morris is the guy to lead them to glory in the future.
	Despite bad season, Freeman has the goods Sometimes really bad football teams have to take the long view when evaluating themselves. That is certainly the case for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as they have just one 2009 victory. With games left against the Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints on the road, and the Atlanta Falcons at home it is not likely they will win another. They could win the Seattle game, and finish with two victories as it looks like the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions will, but of the three worst teams in the NFL the Bucs are in the best shape.
	Tampa Bay Buccaneers make QB change Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris has decided to make a change at the quarter back position. Starter Byron Leftwich will be replaced by second year player Josh Johnson and rookie QB Josh Freeman will be his back up. That knocks Leftwich down to the third position of the depth chart, and the Bucs are looking for a move to help save their season. In all reality though the Bucs organization may have made a huge mistake is firing Coach John Gruden after last year.
	Buccaneers’ QB battle gets interesting New Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach, Raheem Morris, had planned to name his starting QB for the season in the days leading up to the third pre-season game this Thursday. QB Byron Leftwhich was believed to be in the lead, but the excellent play of QB Luke McCown Saturday night has reopened the competition. Now the Buccaneers have a very important very hard decision to make. However it is a very good problem to have.
	Josh Freeman settles down to fight for Buccaneers QB prize It took 2009 NFL draft first-rounder Josh Freeman a little while longer to sign his deal as the new quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers than it did for #1 draft pick Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions, but he’s in the books now and could start as early as Sanchez.
	Worst NFL uniforms ever This time of year my email inbox gets filled up with press releases about new teams, new uniforms, or new throwback uniforms for hockey, basketball, and football teams. For the most part a lot of these jersey color schemes are excellent and one can tell that a lot of time and research went into those decisions. It got me wondering about what were the worst uniforms worn in the different major American sports. Over the next couple of days we are going to be taking a look at some of the worst team uniform decisions ever made.
	2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft analysis Since the end of the 2008 season, when the front office fired, Head Coach Jon Gruden, the Tampa Bay Bucs have been a team looking to reestablish their identity.