Five questions for Bucs to ponder

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By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 23, 2000

TAMPA -- If you plan to park yourself over at $2 Place, a k a, Pepin/Rood Stadium, to watch the Bucs training camp workouts, keep your eyes as wide as Frisbees.

There are a few keys, not just one named Johnson, that will help decipher whether the Bucs are a mile and a half from Super Bowl XXXV or if the journey will be much longer.

Considering how difficult it was for the Bucs to score last season, you don't have to be Les Steckel to determine that most of the improvement has to come on offense.

A good yardstick of how formidable the Bucs might be this season is that only a handful of jobs are really up for grabs in training camp -- almost exclusively backup spots -- and most will go to the club's 2000 draft picks.

So here are the five biggest questions the Bucs have to answer in training camp:

1. Will Shaun King be efficient in the new offense?

At a time when King should be worrying about opposing defenses, he has to learn a new offense. That will take time, affect the timing with his receivers and cause some seat squirming at Raymond James Stadium.

King will have to play more in the preseason to gain confidence and understanding. But Steckel has some experience developing young quarterbacks. By the end of training camp, King should be able to manage the game effectively and spread the ball with short, quick passes to his backs, tight ends and receivers.

"We're not a quarterback-driven team," coach Tony Dungy said. "Until you win, whoever the quarterback is, you're always going to get those questions."

2. Will the addition of two Pro Bowl linemen produce an outside running game?

Of all the off-season additions, Vikings Pro Bowl center Jeff Christy and guard Randall McDaniel will have the biggest impact. Not only will they give King more time in the pocket, but both are athletic enough to pull and provide some outside running lanes for tailback Warrick Dunn. For two years, Dunn has run almost exclusively between the tackles and it's a testament to his toughness that he is not selling insurance by now.

3. Who will win the battle at right cornerback?

Imagine what it must have been like for Brian Kelly all off-season, knowing he gave up the winning touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl -- Ricky Proehl! -- in a 11-6 loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. Of course, Kelly is not to blame for the loss. But it's a sandbur in his shoe that he will carry to training camp. Ronde Barber will be an unrestricted free agent next season. No matter what, both will play. But at 5-11, Kelly might be better equipped to handle the NFC's tall receivers.

4. Will Jamie Duncan fill shoes left by Hardy Nickerson?

Duncan as Hardy? Hardly. But he has been in the system for two seasons and is great against the run. Shelton Quarles probably will team with Derrick Brooks in nickel situations. You won't see Duncan flexing his muscles or his gums. He is quiet by nature. But there are plenty of vocal leaders in that huddle. Remember, when he was a rookie, the Bucs went 4-2 with Duncan in the middle.

5. Will Jason Odom handle the switch to left tackle?

The biggest thing Odom might have to overcome is rust. He has not played in almost a year and is said to be nearly completely recovered from back surgery that ended his season in 1999.

The Bucs always believed Odom was better suited for left tackle. But that doesn't mean he can play that position with the same reliability as Paul Gruber, who never needed help against the NFL's premier pass rushers.

Gruber is a little behind schedule recovering from the leg he broke in the final regular-season game and it could be a month before he can play. So Odom has to make a quick and effective transition. It won't hurt having a sage veteran like McDaniel next to him.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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