Bucs in the middle of the pack?

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports ranked all 32 NFL teams and placed Tampa Bay just a notch above the middle, ranking the Bucs 15th.
Here’s what he had to say about the defending NFC South champs:

“A lot of money was spent in the offseason on a lot of aging veterans who appear to be on the downside of their careers. But does anyone really expect guys like Warrick Dunn, Marques Douglas and Jeff Faine to turn this into an NFC powerhouse?”

Indianapolis, New England and Dallas are the top three teams in the league, according to Robinson.
He ranked New Orleans 12, Carolina 26 and Atlanta dead last.
Click here http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-rankings032408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns to view all of Robinson’s rankings.

Gruden's call to arms

I never heard anyone say, “Quarterbacks are like pitchers. You can never have too much of either.”

But that seems to be Jon Gruden’s motto.

The Bucs now have five quarterbacks on their roster – Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Luke McCown, Bruce Gradkowski and Chris Simms. That’s six if you count Jake Plummer.

Gruden can fill a starting rotation on a baseball team with his quarterbacks and have one left over.

Why, when a team needs help at other positions, would the Bucs trade a draft pick for a back-up quarterback?

Well, Griese knows Gruden’s offense and he was available.

And Gruden likes Griese. It’s not hard for the coach to remember the Bucs 5-1 start in 2005 with Griese at quarterback.

This doesn’t look good for Simms, unless he wants to move to wide receiver, or Gradkowski, unless he wants to switch to cornerback.

This could also be the groundwork for a trade. Say Simms for a receiver or a corner or an extra pick on draft day.