by JOHN ROMANO , St. Petersburg Times

1. Kellen Winslow: The only player in the locker room you can legitimately argue is the best at his position in the NFC. If Winslow stays healthy, you can pencil him in for 80 receptions and 900 yards.

2. Antonio Bryant: Overlooked for the Pro Bowl last season, Bryant will be hard to ignore if he posts another season of more than 1,200 yards.

3. Davin Joseph: If the Bucs run the ball as well as they hope, the offensive line will get its fair share of attention. Joseph made it as an injury replacement last season and could be voted in as a starter this time. Center Jeff Faine is another strong contender for Hawaii.

4. Barrett Ruud: Among Derrick Brooks, Shelton Quarles and Hardy Nickerson, the Bucs have sent 16 linebackers to the Pro Bowl in the past 13 seasons. Before he adds to that total, Ruud is going to have to come up with more splash plays.

5. Clifton Smith: He set the standard for kick returns last season. Now, all he has to do is live up to it.

* * *

Five Bucs witha lot to prove

1. Quincy Black: For a guy buried on the end of the bench the past two seasons, much is expected of Black, who epitomizes the new-look Buccaneers. A young, athletic player who is supposed to infuse speed and a pass rush for a linebacking corps that had grown old.

2. Gaines Adams: Not quite a make-or-break year for the first-round pick from 2007, but it's getting close. Adams has been criticized for being too weak and too one-dimensional. He's being paid a lot of money to get to the quarterback. He needs at least 10 sacks.

3. Sabby Piscitelli: The Bucs were willing to move Jermaine Phillips out of the secondary to make room for Piscitelli (although Phillips will return during Tanard Jackson's suspension). That's a lot of faith in a guy with five career starts.

4. Mike Nugent: Not his fault, but Nugent is under the gun. Matt Bryant had a lot of fans in Tampa Bay, and Nugent is going to have to be nearly perfect to win their hearts.

5. Raheem Morris: The road from unproven to unpopular is a short one. And there are no traffic signs.

* * *

Five reasons to feel better about Byron Leftwich

1. When Jeff Garcia arrived in 2007, he was a former playoff quarterback who was on his fourth team in four seasons. Just like Leftwich. Garcia had a career winning percentage of .478. Leftwich is at .522. Garcia had a career completion percentage of 60.9. Leftwich is at 58.6. I'm not saying Leftwich is a better quarterback than Garcia, but his career suggests he's not a stiff as some people have suggested.

2. Kyle Orton. JaMarcus Russell. Kerry Collins. Matthew Stafford. Mark Sanchez. Trent Edwards. Brady Quinn. There are some youngsters with greater potential, and some veterans with longer histories, but Leftwich is far from being the worst starter in the NFL today.

3. After eight consecutive seasons of more passes than rushes, the Bucs are finally committed to running the ball again. That takes the pressure off Leftwich and brings the play-action pass back into the picture.

4.Jeff Garcia was cut by the Raiders. The most the Bucs could get for Luke McCown was a sixth-round pick. And Brian Griese has not signed with any other team. In other words, the Bucs were not dealing from strength at this position in the past nine months. Even if Leftwich turns out to be a dud, it's not as if the Bucs cut a young Johnny Unitas, left, to keep him.

5. You have no other choice.

* * *

Five reasons the postseason will be seen only on TV in Tampa Bay

1. The new defense does not fit the personnel. The Bucs need a strong pass rush and strong man-to-man corners in the scheme brought in by coordinator Jim Bates. But the defensive linemen on this team have never proved they can consistently get the quarterback, and Ronde Barber, left, built a Pro Bowl career by playing excellent zone coverage.

2. The Bucs took an unnecessary risk by trading Luke McCown. If Byron Leftwich gets hurt - and the guy has the mobility of a palm tree - the Bucs will have to turn to a pair of quarterbacks with virtually no NFL experience.

3. Asking too much of too many unproven players. Sabby Piscitelli, Quincy Black, Geno Hayes, Jeremy Zuttah, Ryan Sims and Jimmy Wilkerson are starting for the first time or the first time in a long while. And that doesn't even include Byron Leftwich and Aqib Talib. Or the head coach.

4. The schedule, at least on paper, is brutal. Six of the first seven opponents were .500 or better last season. And by selling a home game to London, the Glazers did not do their team a favor.

5. An offensive coordinator is fired, a starting safety is suspended for four games, a starting corner may be facing a suspension, the placekicker and punter are both replaced because of injuries ... that's quite a lot of upheaval for a young team in training camp.

* * *

Five ways the Bucs could shock the bejeebers out of you

1.This is potentially the best offense the Bucs have ever had. The running back combination of Cadillac Williams, left, Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham is the deepest since the days of Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn. Kellen Winslow is the best tight end since Jimmie Giles. The offensive line may be Tampa Bay's best ever. Now about that quarterback ...

2. With a younger team, the Bucs should not fade the way they have in recent Decembers. Too many key players have been too beat up by the end of previous seasons.

3. Um, sellouts at Raymond James?

4. In a new environment (i.e. new game plan and coaching staff), Michael Clayton, left, has a chance to rediscover himself as a receiver. If he does not, the Bucs just spent a lot of money on a very average player.

5. First postseason victory since Super Bowl XXXVII? Yeah, right.

Copyright 2009 Times Publishing Company All Rights Reserved
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.