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Here are five things that caught my attention this week:

FAB 1. Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia played well enough for Tampa Bay to beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Well enough to win by six points.

The Bucs should have beaten the Vikings by 20 points and could have done so if Garcia had played great. Despite what some of the touchy-feely newspaper columns said about the tough, gutsy, scrambling Garcia on Monday morning, the 38-year old quarterback didn’t play great.

But didn’t Garcia complete 76.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 255 yards and scrambling for 21 yards against Minnesota? Yes, but that’s not great.

Great is Brad Johnson leading the Buccaneers to a 34-10 win against the Falcons in 2002 with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Great is Johnson throwing five touchdowns and no picks in Tampa Bay’s victory over Minnesota, 38-24, that same year.

Do you think Garcia could throw four or five touchdowns in a game for the Buccaneers as Johnson did under Jon Gruden? Do you think Garcia could even throw three TDs in a game?

He’s only done it once in his last 34 NFL starts, 19 of which have come in Tampa Bay. That outing came during Week 13 against Carolina back in 2006 when Garcia was playing for Philadelphia.

By contrast, Johnson had six games in which he threw for three touchdowns or more in a 25-game span under Gruden between 2002-03.

But didn’t Gruden just say that Garcia played great on Sunday? Believe that coachspeak if you wish, but Gruden is happy being 7-3 right now and Garcia is playing well enough to win.

Well enough for a six-point win last week. Well enough for a three-point overtime road victory against a one-win Kansas City team the week before.

But don’t you get the feeling that one of these days, playing “well” will simply not be good enough for these Buccaneers? I still like Tampa Bay’s chances at home in a playoff game because of its defense, but I don’t feel confident in saying that this team is capable of scoring a road win in the postseason with the way the offense is playing in the red zone. Do you?

That’s not meant to be an indictment on Gruden’s play-calling. That’s an indictment on the play of the quarterback in this quarterback-based offense.

What Garcia does extremely well for the Buccaneers is manage the offense. He is lights out between the 20’s where third downs are converted, first downs are amassed, a high percentage of passes are completed and yards are rolled up on a weekly basis. But once inside the red zone, the ultra-conservative Garcia needs to go from being a hesitant caretaker to a decisive playmaker.

A couple of plays from Sunday’s game against Minnesota illustrate this point.

• With 9:38 left in the second quarter, the Bucs had a first-and-goal at the Minnesota 6. Wide receiver Antonio Bryant came open on a crossing route in the end zone, but Garcia hesitated, scrambled around and then threw late to Bryant and the pass was incomplete. For some reason, he didn’t want to pull the trigger and he ended up getting whacked by defensive end Ray Edwards, who was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty. Without the hesitation, Garcia has an easy touchdown pass and the Bucs tie the game, 10-10.

• Two plays later on second-and-goal from the Minnesota 7, tight end Jerramy Stevens had a late release off the line of scrimmage because he thought there was going to be a false start penalty called. He was supposed to get a fade pass on that play, but Stevens’ late release caused Garcia to look elsewhere. Garcia looked in the middle of the field and saw Michael Clayton wide open on a slant, but hesitated, scrambled around for a second and then threw late to Clayton. The pass was incomplete, but that was second opportunity for Garcia to throw a touchdown pass and tie the game at 10-10.

• With 11:07 left in the third quarter on first-and-10 from the Minnesota 17, Stevens and fellow tight end John Gilmore ran double posts into the end zone against Minnesota’s Cover 2 defense. Garcia read the defense and threw the ball down the middle of the field to Gilmore, who was the inside receiver, based on the Vikings’ coverage on the play – not how they were playing. During the pre-snap read, that was the right read for Garcia, dropping the ball over the head of linebacker Ben Leber and in between safeties Darren Sharper and Madieu Williams. But the Vikings read Garcia’s eyes from the start and the safeties keyed on Gilmore quickly and closed in on him and knocked the ball away. Stevens, who was outside and to the left of Gilmore, should have received the ball as he had more separation and only had to deal with one safety on the outside – not both safeties across the middle. Had Garcia thrown the ball up for Stevens instead, the Bucs likely would have scored a touchdown, which could have been the second for Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback.

• With 3:47 remaining in the fourth quarter on second-and-goal from the Minnesota 8, Garcia had Bryant open on a slant across the middle, but hesitated and didn’t throw the ball. He then scrambled around a little bit and then overthrew a wide-open Warrick Dunn in the left flat. If he hit either Bryant or Dunn for a touchdown on this play, Garcia could have had his third scoring strike of the game and the Bucs would have led 23-13 instead of 19-13. With a 10-point lead, the game is essentially over. However, with only a six-point lead, the Vikings were still within a touchdown of winning the game with 3:23 left in regulation.

These are the kinds of plays that have to be made if the Buccaneers want to go from being a playoff contender to being a Super Bowl contender. Whether it was after the Dallas game or another contest when Gruden says something like, “There were plays that were there that we just didn’t make” or “There were shots there that weren’t taken” – now you know what he is talking about.

As the play-caller, Gruden knows he has to call better plays, evidenced by his ill-timed toss to Dunn on first-and-goal at the Minnesota 3 – a play that resulted in a 4-yard loss. But Gruden has come out and publicly admonished his own play-calling after the Dallas, Kansas City and Minnesota games. He’s held himself accountable.

Meanwhile, Garcia attempted to blame Gruden for not taking enough shots downfield and in the end zone this year rather than blame his shortcomings as the quarterback in an interview in the St. Petersburg Times on November 9, in which he said: “I don’t think we put ourselves in a position to make enough big plays just because of a certain approach at times. But I think we're getting to that point. It’s all about trust. And the main trust has to come from (Gruden). He has to trust in us that we can make the right decisions, that we can make the play down the field. I think that’s something that’s building, it’s a process. It’s becoming more evident that we do have some guys who can be those types of players. I mean, this is the NFL. Everybody has playmakers. But you have to give yourself opportunities to do those things, and I think coach will give us those opportunities to do it.”

As I stated at the end of the last SR’s Fab 5 column, multiple sources at One Buccaneer Place from all levels within the organization – players, coaches and the front office – have told Pewter Report that isn’t true. What we’ve learned this week is those statements made by Garcia did not sit well with several members of the organization, who have told Pewter Report that the trust lies on Garcia’s own right arm and that game film shows that he is the one that does not trust his teammates enough to make plays in one-on-one opportunities. Instead, he opts to check the ball down to an open receiver rather than taking a shot downfield. This happened several times against Minnesota on Sunday, as I will document later in Fab 3.

To his credit, Garcia has shown more of a willingness to take some shots downfield and into the end zone over the last few games – and low and behold – it’s actually working. His 47-yard touchdown pass to Bryant in the first quarter against Seattle was inspiring. His 27-yard touchdown pass to Bryant in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter at Kansas City was bold. His 31-yard strike to Stevens down the middle of the field in the third quarter against Minnesota was daring. The problem for the Buccaneers offense is that these plays are too far and few between.

Garcia also deserves credit for finally putting some of the red zone blame on himself and being accountable, rather than insinuating to the general public that all the fault lies on Gruden and his play-calling.

“It’s really how we have to play,” Garcia said about his 31-yard pass to Stevens. “We have to be able to utilize or look for opportunities to get the ball down the field. That was just one of those plays where he was not necessarily the number one guy in the progression, but because of the match-up, and because of the coverage it allowed me to give him a shot. Jerramy is the type of guy where you need to give him opportunities to make plays. He’s a big-time tight end, a great receiving tight end and he made some clutch catches for us today.”

Garcia also said that his indecision has caused him not to make enough plays in the passing game when describing missing Clayton down in the end zone on a slant against Minnesota.

“I think that situation – the second time late in the game, I definitely had an opportunity to throw the slant either to him or to Antonio on the other side,” Garcia said. “I think that comes with just trusting in myself to make a good decision and give them a chance to make a play. Sometimes I might over-think a situation and in wanting to protect the ball and not force the issue, it probably took away from our chance to score a touchdown in that sort of situation. The time prior to that, he did come open over the middle in what we call an ‘under route’, but I was looking to the right to Jerramy Stevens, who unfortunately, didn’t get off the ball on the snap. Then it just kind of created some chaos on the play. I ended up scrambling. Had I dropped back initially and looked to my left, I might have found Mike and if I would have been able to get him the ball we probably would have scored on that one, too. So it really comes down to execution and I’m as much to blame as anybody else. It’s all of us that have to find a way to eliminate mistakes, to eliminate unfortunate penalties. But then also, when we have opportunities to make plays, to give our guys a chance to make a play and that’s something that I’m going to focus on myself real hard and look at the film and see where I can improve in those types of situations and hopefully better myself next time.”

Yet, you didn’t see these Garcia quotes in either Tampa Bay area newspaper, and you probably didn’t hear them on sports radio stations, either.

Unfortunately, not enough sports reporters in this area put in the time to watch game film and investigate the situation. They just hear Garcia blame Gruden’s play-calling and Gruden blame his own play-calling (he’s not going to publicly call out his quarterback in a press conference), so they just report to fans that Gruden’s play-calling – especially in the red zone – stinks. No wonder newspapers are going down the tubes.

Behind the scenes at One Buc Place, it’s a much different story. The Bucs had some red zone woes last year, just not as bad as they are having them this year. There was a reason why Tampa Bay did not sign Garcia to a contract extension and a reason why the Bucs flirted heavily with the idea of trading for Brett Favre, who is probably one of the best red zone quarterbacks of all-time.

What’s the reason? Touchdown production.

In 20 regular season games he’s played in with Tampa Bay, Garcia, who made the Pro Bowl as a reserve last year, has only thrown 18 touchdown passes. Those numbers pale in comparison to the two-year production that other Pro Bowl NFL quarterbacks, such as Tony Romo (51 TDs), Tom Brady (50 TDs), Peyton Manning (48 TDs), Brett Favre (46 TDs) and Matt Hasselbeck (31 TDs) have produced. And that’s with Brady missing nine games this year, Hasselbeck missing five and Romo missing three.

By comparison, Johnson threw 51 touchdown passes in Gruden’s offense from 2002-04 in 33 regular season games, which was an average of 1.6 per game. Garcia has averaged 0.9 touchdowns per game in his stint with the Buccaneers. The difference between the two numbers, if averaged out over a 16-game season are 25 touchdowns (1.6 avg.) for Johnson and 14 touchdowns (0.9 avg.) for Garcia. That’s an awful lot of points – 77 to be exact – between the two quarterbacks.

The Buccaneers offense has sputtered inside the red zone and left way too many points on the field this year. The NFL’s eighth-ranked offense is too good and too talented to rank 31st in red zone production with 42 trips inside the 20-yard line and just 14 touchdowns (33.3 percent), but that’s the case.

So why haven’t the Bucs made a quarterback change to Luke McCown? Sources tell Pewter Report that the Bucs were going to consider making a change during the bye week if Tampa Bay had lost at Kansas City. In fact, had Clifton Smith not scored a touchdown on a 97-yard kickoff return before halftime to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 24-13, McCown could have seen action in the second half.

Instead, Garcia helped rally the team to a historic come-from-behind win with improved play in the second half and the overtime period. The fact that the Bucs are now 7-3 and poised to make a playoff run with another good performance at home from Garcia against Minnesota will likely prevent McCown from seeing the field down the stretch unless Garcia is injured.

Gruden would never admit this right now because at 7-3, he isn’t going to change quarterbacks. At this point in time, Garcia has done enough with wins at Kansas City and Minnesota where he is viewed as the quarterback who gives the team the best chance to win.

But unless Garcia starts trusting his receivers to make plays in one-on-one situations and plays decisive football inside the red zone with more touchdown passes, Tampa Bay’s top 10 offense will not reach its true potential in terms of point production. And unless Garcia sheds his conservative ways, becomes a playmaker in the red zone and restricts Matt Bryant to extra point attempts instead of field goals, the Bucs won’t last long in the playoffs if they get there.

FAB 2. It’s interesting to look at Tampa Bay’s quarterback situation in 2009. Both Jeff Garcia and Luke McCown are unrestricted free agents, while veteran Brian Griese and inexperienced Josh Johnson are the only signal callers under contract in 2009.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the last six games with Garcia, who will be 39 next year. Even if the Bucs make the playoffs with Garcia at the helm, there may be too much friction between he and the front office over his demands for a contract extension, the team’s flirtation with Brett Favre and his demotion after a Week 1 loss at New Orleans for him to return. The Bucs have refused to give him an extension and will likely allow him to test the waters in free agency.

Because no teams inquired about trading for him when he was benched, Garcia may feel that Tampa Bay is the best fit for him at this stage in his career. But given his age, his arm and his statistics – Garcia has thrown just five touchdowns and has three interceptions while playing in six full games and a quarter at Denver – the Bucs may just want to move on with a younger starting quarterback.

Currently, Garcia’s five touchdown passes is tied with Cincinnati’s Ryan Fitzpatrick for 29th among NFL quarterbacks. Unheralded quarterbacks, such as San Francisco’s J.T. O’Sullivan (eight), Baltimore’s rookie Joe Flacco (eight), Kansas City’s Tyler Thigpen (10), Chicago’s Kyle Orton (10), New England’s Matt Cassell (10) and Atlanta’s rookie Matt Ryan (11), have more touchdown passes than Garcia, but it should be noted that some of those QBs have played in all 10 games this year.

It is more likely that the Bucs will re-sign McCown before or during free agency next year. The 6-foot-3, 212-pounder has yet to see action in 2008 after playing in five games last year, including three starts. During those games, McCown completed 94-of-139 passes (67.6 percent) for 1,009 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. That gave McCown a career-high QB rating of 91.7.

He also rushed 12 times for 117 yards (23.4 avg.), was sacked 15 times and lost two fumbles while going 1-2 as a starter. However, McCown was playing with mostly backup players in the second half at San Francisco and against Carolina in the season finale.

By not playing McCown, the Bucs are preventing other NFL teams from evaluating him this year and thus might be improving his chances of returning to Tampa Bay. Other franchises can only judge McCown on what he did a year ago and in the 2008 preseason when he completed 32-of-48 passes (66.7 percent) for 305 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and an 89.3 QB rating. He also rushed three times for 33 yards (11.0 avg.).

At the start of the year, it looked as if McCown would be the most sought-after free QB on the market in 2009. He had kind of a Rob Johnson-Matt Schaub element working where McCown was still a mystery due to the fact that he had only started seven games, but he had flashed enough potential to put some teams in hot pursuit. But as fate would have it, the emergence of Cassell, Arizona’s Kurt Warner, Tennessee’s Kerry Collins and even the availability of Chicago’s Rex Grossman and Buffalo’s J.P. Losman will likely push an unknown commodity like McCown down the list of free agent quarterbacks.

Plus there is the chance that Philadelphia parts ways with Donovan McNabb this year via trade, or that St. Louis does the same thing with Marc Bulger unless he and the Rams win more games. This would also hurt McCown’s chances of finding a starting job.

McCown’s best bet would be staying in Tampa and competing with Griese, Johnson and whoever else the Bucs bring in next season. McCown has improved his game behind the scenes in practice this year and even those within the organization that weren’t as fond of him at the start of the year have grown on him, likely due to the fact that Garcia doesn’t produce enough touchdowns in the red zone and Griese threw six interceptions in just shy of four games.

As long as he is given a chance to win the starting job in 2009 in an open competition, expect McCown to want to return to Tampa Bay. He really enjoys playing for head coach Jon Gruden.

“I think I have pretty much made that known. I love playing for him,” McCown said of Gruden. “I have the utmost respect for the man. I don’t think there is another coach in the league that will do for you as a football player what he’ll do as far as preparation goes. I don’t think there is. I would love to continue to play for him.

“Obviously, my goal is to be a starter and I’d like to have that opportunity at some point. But to be a part of this organization has been fantastic over these four years and I’d love to be able to be a part of it much longer.”

For those desiring to see McCown as the team’s starter due to his physical traits and upside, you may get your wish in 2009, especially if Garcia is out of the picture.

FAB 3. After watching the game tape from the Buccaneers vs. Vikings game, here are my additional thoughts on that contest.

• Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia did a very good job of picking up yards and first downs by scrambling against Minnesota, especially in the second half. But by doing so, he also missed seeing open receivers and the opportunity to pick up even more yardage had he thrown the ball downfield rather than scrambling.

On second-and-6 at the Minnesota 45 with 5:30 left in the third quarter, Garcia scrambled for five yards to set up a third-and-1. Had he thrown to a wide-open halfback Warrick Dunn in left flat, Dunn probably gains 15 yards on the play.

With 14:25 left in the fourth quarter, tight end Jerramy Stevens was wide open in flat for 10 yards and Garcia sees him, but hesitates, stops rolling to his left and then gets sacked for no gain by linebacker Chad Greenway.

With 11:19 to go in regulation, Garcia runs left on second-and-8 to pick up the first down with an 8-yard scramble. But wide receiver Antonio Bryant was wide open for gain of about 10-12 yards across the middle.

• Aside from scrambling, Garcia also missed other opportunities in the passing game.

On second-and-3 with 5:43 left in the first quarter, Garcia rolled right off play action and didn’t see a wide-open Antonio Bryant alone at midfield, if he finds him, it’s a gain of possibly 20 yards and maybe even a touchdown given Bryant’s ability to run after the catch. Instead, Garcia didn’t locate anyone and threw the ball out of bounds. Bryant flailed his arms around in disgust several times on Sunday because he was open and was not receiving the ball.

On second-and-5 from the Tampa Bay 45, Garcia hit tight end Jerramy Stevens down the left hash mark with a 20-yard pass over linebacker Ben Leber with 12:00 remaining in the second quarter. While this was a big play, it appeared as if tight end John Gilmore, who was streaking down the right hash mark, was more open and may have been able to pick up more yardage. However, it’s hard to fault Garcia on this as he and Stevens have a strong bond. Because of Stevens’ DUI arrest last year, he is prohibited from driving. Garcia picks up Stevens every morning and takes him to work at One Buc Place.

Perhaps the most egregious missed opportunity came on third-and-2 at the Tampa Bay 40 with 1:00 left before halftime. Slot receiver Joey Galloway was running open on a deep out-and-in route 20-30 yards down field. Garcia saw him, hesitated and then checked down to wide receiver Ike Hilliard for a loss of one yard. Instead of being in field goal range, the Bucs had to punt because Garcia didn’t throw the ball to Galloway.

On second-and-30 from the Minnesota 37 with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter, Garcia had to scramble right as left guard Arron Sears was rocked by defensive tackle Fred Evans. Garcia was flushed back to the left, found an open throwing lane and then overthrew a wide-open Clifton Smith, who had 10 yards worth of running room ahead of him.

On first-and-10 at the 5:47 mark in the third quarter, Garcia checked the ball down to tight end John Gilmore, who was covered, for a gain of four yards. However, he missed wide receiver Michael Clayton, who was open in the middle of the field running a slant. Clayton had 10 yards and could have picked up the first down on that pass.

• Garcia made a couple of great plays in the Minnesota game, one of which was the well-documented 31-yard pass to Stevens down the seam that got the Bucs down to the 1-yard line.

Another one came on third-and-3 from the Tampa Bay 41 with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Garcia had a perfect pocket to throw from, but couldn’t see over the linemen so he rolled to his left. All of a sudden, defensive end Jared Allen broke free from the block of left tackle Donald Penn and pursued Garcia. Penn came back to cut block Allen as Garcia scrambled to his right where he found Dunn behind coverage on a beautifully executed and improvised 36-yard pass play.

Garcia also made another big play on second-and-20 from the Minnesota 27 with 10:46 left in the third quarter. Vikings linebacker Ben Leber came up the middle on a delayed blitz and right guard Davin Joseph was slow to recognize the pass rush, and had to reach out and grab Leber’s jersey to prevent him from sacking Garcia. Garcia eluded the blitz, rolled left and found Bryant open in the middle of the field. Bryant took the short pass and dashed to his left for an apparent 27-yard touchdown, but the play was called back due to Joseph’s holding penalty.

• On Barrett Ruud’s first quarter sack, the Bucs blitzed Ruud and linebacker Derrick Brooks along with the defensive line minus left end Gaines Adams, who dropped into coverage across the middle. Free safety Tanard Jackson also showed blitz, but was spying running back Chester Taylor as Rudd shot through the “A” gap between center Matt Birk and right guard Anthony Herrera, who had a poor game, to sack Gus Frerotte. With Frerotte retreating the only player he could dump the ball off to was Taylor, but Jackson’s superb coverage denied him that opportunity and Ruud collected his third sack of the year.

• Rookie Clifton Smith continues to make on impact on special teams. Against Minnesota, Smith recorded a career-high three special teams tackles, including the Bucs’ first two. His final special teams stop came in the fourth quarter when Maurice Hicks was replaced as kick returner by Adrian Peterson. Smith stopped Peterson at the Minnesota 20 after only a 16-yard gain. Not only can Smith return punts and kickoffs well, he can also tackle.

• On Warrick Dunn’s first carry in the first quarter, left tackle Donald Penn slams defensive end Jared Allen to the ground. That play set the tone early in the battle between these two – a battle that Penn won handily by holding Allen to just two tackles and no sacks.

• The Bucs were in a 3-4 formation with 9:52 left in the first quarter. Cato June was the left outside linebacker and Gaines Adams stood up as the right outside linebacker with Barrett Ruud and Derrick Brooks in the middle. Kevin Carter was at left end, Chris Hovan was at nose tackle lined up over the center and Jovan Haye was at right end. While this wrinkle was supposed to confuse the Vikings, Adrian Peterson rushed outside for nine yards and a first down on second-and-6.

• Upon further review … Jeremy Trueblood nailed linebacker Ben Leber a half-second before the whistle blew. He shouldn’t have been flagged. Vikings receiver Bernard Berrian had a handful of Philip Buchanon’s jersey on Bobby Wade’s second quarter touchdown catch on a receiver screen. There should have been a holding call on Minnesota on that play. It also looked like linebacker Derrick Brooks got there a little early on Adrian Peterson on a fourth-and-1 passing play. Brooks wasn’t flagged on the play, but it would have been hard for Tampa Bay to argue the call if a flag was thrown on Brooks.

• Here’s an example of how well the Bucs are coached. With two minutes left in the first half on third-and-9, Gus Frerotte drops back to throw a screen pass to Chester Taylor. Left tackle Bryant McKinnie tries to cut right end Greg White, but White puts his hand on the ground and springs back up as Taylor races by. Left guard Steve Hutchinson and center Matt Birk try to cut block cornerback Philip Buchanon and linebacker Cato June, respectively, but like White, both Buccaneers put a hand on the ground and spring back up to beat the cut block. With Buchanon blocking the sidelines and June blocking the middle of the field, Taylor slams on the breaks just as safety Tanard Jackson tackles him from the front and White, who was in pursuit, tackles him from behind. Those coaching points on how to defeat a cut block helped a defensive lineman, a linebacker and a cornerback prevent Taylor from picking up a first down (he gained only four yards) and forced Minnesota to kick a field goal.

• Jimmy Wilkerson and Kevin Carter both got their sacks from rushing as defensive tackles. Wilkerson’s tackle of Chester Taylor and forced fumble with 1:14 left was all hustle. Wilkerson chased Taylor for 11 yards before causing the turnover. He’s got two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for the season. Perhaps he should be starting in place of Jovan Haye at under tackle as Haye has zero sacks and zero turnovers this year.

• Matt Bryant is having a phenomenal season, going a perfect 24-of-24 on the season inside 46 yards. All four of Bryant’s misses have come from beyond 46 yards in 2008, including Sunday’s 46-yard attempt. Why did he miss? His plant foot slipped in the turf during his approach, which caused the ball to drift to the right. Credit that miss to the turf at Raymond James Stadium – not Bryant.

FAB 4. Tampa Bay will likely be on the hunt for a wide receiver in the 2009 NFL Draft and with the talent that should be available next April, the Bucs may be tempted to use a first-round pick on a pass-catcher. Why might Tampa Bay be in the market for a receiver? There are plenty of reasons.

The first is that Joey Galloway will turn 37 on November 20 and he may be losing a step. Galloway missed all of the offseason and training camp due to recovery from shoulder surgery and a groin injury. After playing in the first two games, Galloway missed the next five games with an ankle/foot injury and all of these injuries may be catching up to him as he has had difficulty gaining separation from defenders in his limited opportunities in 2008.

Veteran Ike Hilliard will turn 33 next April and has also slowed down due to an assortment of injuries. He generally starts each year strong, but then fades due to the injuries he has accumulated throughout the season and his career.

Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton are both in their prime and are playing well, but are slated to become free agents in 2009. While chances are good that both will return next year, free agency is a two-way street and they will likely draw interest from other teams.

Third-year receiver Maurice Stovall has yet to make an impact on offense and can’t seem to shake the injury bug. Stovall broke his arm against San Francisco and was placed on injured reserve last year. He tore his hamstring last week in practice and was once again placed on injured reserve. Time is running out for him to make a favorable impression in Tampa Bay as a receiver.

Rookie Dexter Jackson is raw and simply not ready for the NFL. Last year’s second-round pick has already lost the kick and punt return duties and may be a bust. He’s got an important training camp coming up in 2009 and he will not be assured of a roster spot next year.

With a slew of talented underclassmen possibly entering the draft, the receiver position could be loaded in the first round. Texas Tech redshirt sophomore Michael Crabtree is a top-10 pick and will likely be out of Tampa Bay’s reach in the first round. The next receiver slated to go would be Missouri junior Jeremy Maclin. He’s a sure-fire top 20 pick, and with the Bucs 7-3 and poised to make the playoffs, it’s doubtful he falls to Tampa Bay.

The other two underclassmen receivers that would likely be selected in the second half of the first round – should they come out - are Florida’s Percy Harvin and Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey. Any of these four pass-catching studs would look great in red and pewter and help solidify the passing game, but Heyward-Bey may be the most attainable for the Buccaneers.

The most productive rookie receiver this year has been Denver’s Eddie Royal, who was a second-round pick out of Virginia Tech last April. Although Royal has 56 catches for 659 yards and four touchdowns, including a 93-yarder, for the Broncos, he fell to the second round because of poor quarterback play at Virginia Tech, which limited his opportunities.

The same could be said of the 6-foot-3, 206-pound speedster Heyward-Bey, who has 4.3 speed and was clocked at 6.35 in the 55-meter dash in 2005 when he ran track in high school. Despite his speed and size, Heyward-Bey has been the victim of sub-par quarterback play at Maryland.

He is also a victim of his own success, according to former teammate Dre Moore, a defensive tackle on Tampa Bay’s practice squad, who played with Heyward-Bey for two years at Maryland.

“By now, the ACC knows who our biggest weapon is,” Moore said. “In some senses he’s a marked man. Other times we struggle to get him the ball. Coach (James) Franklin has been creative in the ways he’s used him. He took a reverse 76 yards against Clemson. He does try to move him around the perimeter, the slot and the backfield.”

Franklin, Maryland’s new offensive coordinator, came from Kansas State where he coached with Tampa Bay defensive backs coach Raheem Morris in 2006 when Morris was the Wildcats defensive coordinator. Expect Morris to get the inside scoop on Heyward-Bey for the Bucs from Franklin come draft time.

By all accounts, Heyward-Bey is a very likable, coachable, hard-working receiver.

“He’s real quiet. He’s a quiet leader,” Moore said. “He’s a good kid and a hard-worker. He’s super quiet and doesn’t say too much. He’s a good student – honor roll. He’s kind of standoffishly quiet.”

Heyward-Bey came to Maryland as a track star who was still learning how to run routes and catch the ball cleanly. He compares favorably to San Diego wide receiver Chris Chambers, who like Heyward-Bey, had to improve his hands to become a complete receiver despite having blazing speed.

“About two years ago after Vernon Davis left, the attention kind of shifted to DHB as our next big offensive weapon,” Moore said. “He did kind of struggle early on with some dropped passes. I remember summer workouts where he was out there on the JUGGS machine with one of the managers catching the ball all the time. He’s definitely done a 180-degree turn. He put the work in to have the kind of season he wanted to have. I’m really proud of him. He hasn’t let the success go to his head.”

Heyward-Bey has turned in several big plays that have showcased his speed, including a 96-yard touchdown catch against Miami as a freshman, an 80-yard touchdown catch against Middle Tennessee State this year in addition to the 76-yard reverse that Moore talked about. In three years at Maryland, Heyward-Bey has only caught 131 passes for 2,019 yards and 13 touchdowns, and his production will pale in comparison to that of Crabtree, Maclin and Harvin, which is why Tampa Bay may have a shot at him.

As a freshman, Heyward-Bey hauled in 45 passes for 694 yards and five touchdowns. Last year, he caught 51 passes for 786 yards and three scores, while rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown on five carries. This season, Heyward-Bey has caught 35 passes for 539 yards and five TDs, in addition to gaining 236 rushing yards and scoring one touchdown on 14 carries. Remarkably, Heyward-Bey has averaged 15.4 yards per catch in each of his three seasons, and has also never fumbled the ball.

Heyward-Bey has not indicated whether he will forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft yet. With Maryland’s victory over North Carolina last Saturday, the Terrapins are currently in first place in the Atlantic division of the ACC. With victories over Florida State this Saturday and a win at Boston College the next week, the Terps may play in the ACC Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium in early December. That could have an influence on whether DHB enters the draft or not, according to Moore.

“Whether or not he comes out depends on how they finish their season,” Moore said. “You definitely want to leave on top. If they make it to the ACC Championship Game or are in the mix, he may leave. If we drop the ball, then he’s definitely going to want to come back and help win a championship.”

Bucs fans may want to root for the Terps if they want a chance at getting Heyward-Bey in the 2009 draft. Moore would love to have him as a teammate in Tampa Bay.

“He’s a great player,” Moore said. “He’s the fastest player I’ve seen. He can separate from anybody he wants to separate from. I’d love to see him down here.”

FAB 5. Here are a couple of things to hold you over until the next edition of SR’s Fab 5.

• The Bucs will be playing a slew of former Tampa Bay coaches and players this Sunday when the team travels to Detroit to face the winless Lions. It’s a safe bet that there will be some house-cleaning at the end of this season, and don’t be surprised if Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli winds up in Chicago next year as the Bears defensive coordinator. The reason? Bears general manager Jerry Angelo worked with Marinelli in Tampa Bay for years, as did Chicago head coach Lovie Smith, who became best friends with Marinelli when he was Tampa Bay’s linebackers coach under Tony Dungy from 1996-2000. Chicago is not happy with the job Bob Babbage has done since he replaced Ron Rivera after the Super Bowl season in 2006. And don’t be surprised if defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake, who was Raheem Morris’ assistant in 2007, comes back to Tampa Bay if Morris leaves to take a defensive coordinator position after this year, or if Morris replaces defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin in Tampa Bay. Kiffin is being rumored to follow his son, Lane, into the college ranks next year to coach Lane’s defense, possibly at Clemson. So what about Lions defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who coached Tampa Bay’s linebackers from 2001-2005? It’s doubtful that he would return to Tampa Bay due to the bad blood and friction between he and general manager Bruce Allen. Tampa Bay could be losing two good defensive assistants as the contracts of both Morris and linebackers coach Gus Bradley are up after this year.

• Bucs defensive end Kevin Carter has lined up as an extra tight end during goal line situations this year. The same could be said for rookie guard Jeremy Zuttah, who played that role on Sunday against Minnesota due to the injury of Alex Smith that limited Tampa Bay to just two tight ends. One of these games either Carter or Zuttah will catch a touchdown pass. Former defensive tackle Warren Sapp had a couple of touchdown catches in 2003 in Jon Gruden’s offense, and Carter, who has never scored a touchdown in his 14-year NFL career, is one of Gruden’s favorite players. Keep an eye on Zuttah, too. He caught a pass as a left tackle on a tackle eligible play during his senior season at Rutgers.

• The Buccaneers appear to be catching the New Orleans Saints at the right time as it appears defensive end Will Smith and running back Deuce McAllister will be suspended by the NFL for using a banned substance when the two teams meet at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, November 29. Without having to face Smith and fellow defensive end Charles Grant, who is on injured reserve, Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia should be able to sleep a little better the night before the game.

• And finally, the Buccaneers are currently $27 million under the 2008 salary cap. Expect crafty general manager Bruce Allen to creatively roll over some of that money into 2009 through the use of likely to be earned (LTBE) bonus money in a few contracts in November and December. Tampa Bay is expected to be $46 million under the salary cap in 2009.

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