Bucstop.com interview with St. Pete Times Gary Shelton

During the year, Gary and I will discuss football via email on occasion, and I even helped Gary out with his project on Josh Freeman by supplying him a DVD of Freeman’s interceptions for him to analyze. Gary has been a St. Pete Times writer since 1990, and had been around Miami for the Dan Marino years. So Gary, Whats your impression of Josh Freeman in Camp? Gary Shelton: Well Nick, It depends on your standards, doesn’t it?  If you are comparing him to a polished, finished quarterback, well,  he isn’t. But if you’re comparing him to the lost, wide-eyed rookie of  a  year ago, he’s a different guy. He seems to know his way around the field, and the players seem to look at him differently. Does he still sail a ball on occasion? Sure he does. Does he complete every pass? Of course not. Is there any doubt of who the quarterback is going to be? None at all. Even the worst of Freeman’s critics has to be impressed with how he attacked this off-season. Freeman wants to be good, and h e’s willing to work to get there. That doesn’t guarantee anything, either, because some bad quarterbacks have worked hard. But there haven’t been many greet quarterbacks who took shortcuts, so that’s a start. Here’s my concern for Freeman. I fear the Bucs may be counting too much on a guy who has nine career starts (and three career victories). The running game has a lot to prove. The receivers are young enough for textbooks. The offensive line wasn’t nearly as strong last year as most of us thought it would be. Right now, the best way for the Bucs to get to the end zone is for Freeman to throw it there. It’s dangerous for an offense to count this much on a kid who is still in a learning curve. I like the kid. I think the kid’s going to be fine. But he could use a little more help around him. Gary I don’t get to see Camp the same way  you do. Which Bucs player is surprising you in camp so far, either in a negative or positive way? Gary Shelton: You know, every time I look up, I see Preston Parker making a catch. I don’t see how he has a chance to make this team with so many other young receivers, but he’s been pretty good. Myron Lewis seems to react fairly well in drills. Quincy Black has a lot of people talking. Right now, though, we’re grading side-straddle hops. It’s all stretching and sweating. Once the preseason games start, there will be a guy or two who will make a run at the roster. That’s when the KareemHuggins.com and CodyGrimm.org websites will spring to life. And let’s face it: The Bucs could use someone — a running back, maybe — to wow them. Don’t forget www.bucstop.com! OH wait, they’re already here! Ok, I know this years team is going to be young Gary, but seriously, how many rookies are we looking at starting by the time we play the Browns in week 1? Gary Shelton: It would be a disappointment if there weren’t at least two — Gerald McCoy and Mike Williams. It would mean those two haven’t had a good preseason. You also figure that Aurelius Benn and Brian Price will make a run at starting. They’ll at least be in the playing rotation. You’ll also have a rookie punter in Brent Bowden, and I think Dekoda Watson and Grimm will be on the special teams. And Lewis could be on t he field in nickel situations. That says good things about this year’s draft. It doesn’t say good things about the drafts of the last half-dozen seasons, however. A team should have enough veterans to make some of these kids wait their turn. Yeah no waiting here! Gary I’m a big Raheem  Morris fan, I think he is a stand up guy and will be a GREAT Coach. What differences if any do you see from Raheem Morris first camp last year and this current one? Gary Shelton: Direction is the main thing. The Bucs had an awful off-season last year. They made mistakes with both of their coordinators, who spent time instilling systems that would both be thrown away. They turned the off-season into a quarterback battle between Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown, and they got three starts from it. They force-fit players into their defense. They changed blocking schemes. You know what it looked like? It looked like one of those old electric football games where the players run in circles. Let’s be  honest. No one knows for sure this plan is going to work, but unlike last year, there seems to BE a plan. I’ve written it before. Last year was a lot to ask of Morris. He was a 32 year old coach who should have been in his first year as a defensive coordinator. Instead, he had to learn on the fly, against a tough schedule, with his veterans stripped from the roster, with players learning new systems. I think we learn more about Raheem this year. He’s a bright guy, and he’s a big-energy guy. But he isn’t in a job where the customers are patient, is he? No not really Gary, especially with some of the Bucs fans around these parts! Thank You for your time Gary!