FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
I recently spoke with former Bucs great Simeon Rice for some quotes for the last two SR’s Fab 5 columns on Hard Knocks and Ronde Barber. Rice, who has become a film director and produced the full-length feature film “Unsullied” last year, has a new movie production planned that will surely interest Bucs fans.

“I’m doing a documentary on my playing career,” Rice said. “I’ve got to write it, but I’m going to do it. I’ve got enough fans and I’ve got enough people that support me. I think I’m going to give them something that is inspirational, that is motivational and that is enlightening. It’s going to be about when I started playing football all the way through to what I’m doing now. It’ll be fun.”

Bucs DE Simeon Rice – Photo by: Getty Images

I have covered a lot of tremendous athletes in my 24 years on the Bucs beat, but Rice is at the top of the list athletically. When it comes to speed, endurance, quickness and explosiveness Rice is in a class by himself. He’s not the greatest Buccaneer of all time, but he is the most athletic.

• Bucs right tackle Demar Dotson believes wide receiver DeSean Jackson instantly makes Tampa Bay’s offense elite with his speed and playmaking ability, and he helps Mike Evans by preventing teams from double-teaming the Pro Bowl receiver as much as they did last year.

“No doubt,” Dotson said. “The one thing about Mike is that he draws so much attention. He’s set himself up to become one of the premier wide receivers in this league. Last year you could hurt us by doubling Mike. We had some guys that struggled at times to catch the ball and get open. The other team didn’t have to pay for it when Vincent went down. They could double Mike and kind of take him away sometimes. We didn’t have enough people step up and make them pay for it.

“Now we have DeSean on the other side. You have to respect the guy because the guy has been so good in this league for a long time. That’s going to create more one-on-one coverage with Mike, and I don’t think there are too many guys that can cover Mike one-on-one. Having another guy like DeSean Jackson on the other side is going to open up things for Mike.”

• In talking with several Bucs offensive linemen about the struggles in the running game last year, nearly all of them said that Logan Mankins’ presence was missed. The Pro Bowl guard retired after the 2015 season, and although Kevin Pamphile stepped in at left guard and played well from a physical standpoint, Mankins was a treasure trove of wisdom that every offensive lineman could draw from.

“Honestly, when you lose a guy like that, who was a huge source of knowledge, a guy that has seen every play and every style of defense – whenever you needed him he was there – it’s hard,” Pamphile said. “Even that time I got my first start subbing for Logan at left guard in 2015, I was soaking up his knowledge. He was a huge help for Donovan Smith in Donovan’s first year to help him get acclimated. We definitely missed having Logan in our room last year because he was such a great source of knowledge. We’re still young, but we’re still on a good slope of progressing.”

Bucs LG Logan Mankins – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mankins inspired the offensive line in the 2015 offseason by leading the charge for voluntary extra sprints during special teams periods in practice during the OTAs and mini-camps. That extra bit of conditioning and team unity helped the Bucs offense accumulate over 6,000 total yards from scrimmage in 2015 and become the league’s fifth-best unit for the first time in franchise history.

I certainly didn’t see any Bucs offensive lineman carry the torch last season in his absence and run extra sprints during OTAs and mini-camp practices like they did in 2015 to carry on that tradition. I’m talking to you, Demar Dotson, Joe Hawley, Evan Smith, Kevin Pamphile, Ali Marpet and Donovan Smith specifically.

• When I recently asked Bucs Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp to comment about Ronde Barber’s chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame he repeatedly declined, saying only, “I’m done talking about the Hall of Fame. I wish Ronde well.”

Read into that what you will.

• One of the Bucs’ offseason goals is to find a backup middle linebacker for Kwon Alexander. Last year, starting strongside linebacker Daryl Smith was tabbed with the responsibility of being the backup Mike linebacker, too, although Alexander stayed healthy and started all 16 games.

Keep an eye on candidates that could be late-round picks or go undrafted. Cincinnati’s Eric Wilson is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds and ran a blazing fast 4.53 in the 40-yard dash with a 1.54 time in the 10-yard split. Southern Illinois’ Chase Allen is 6-foot-3, 241 pounds and runs a 4.6 in the 40 with a 1.65 10-yard split. That’s the type of speed the Bucs are looking for and both are smart, instinctive players that tackle well.

• I had a great time speaking at the Sports Club of Tampa Bay last night. It’s a tremendous group of sports enthusiasts ranging from young business professionals to retired men and women who have a real interest in sports in the Tampa Bay area. The Sports Club of Tampa Bay is celebrating its 56th year of existence and is very active in raising money for various charities having topped the $1 million in charity fundraising this past year.

With monthly guest speakers and dinners at the prestigious Tampa Club in downtown Tampa to special outings and group activities revolving around, the Sports Club of Tampa Bay is worth looking into and joining if you are a sports enthusiast. The organization recently held its Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame dinner and inducted several Tampa Bay area sports figures and legends.

Past inductees include former Bucs head coaches John McKay and Jon Gruden, Bucs Hall of Famers Lee Roy Selmon and Derrick Brooks, former Bucs greats James Wilder, Mike Alstott, Warrick Dunn, Ronde Barber and Vinny Testaverde. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Sports Club of Tampa Bay or want to attend a dinner as a guest for more information, visit TampaSportsClub.org.

• For those of you that kept pestering me about getting the @PewterReport account on Twitter verified, it worked. I got the cool little blue circle thingy with the white check mark by my name – so thank you.

Even though it says Scott Reynolds on the account and has my mug shot instead of the PewterReport.com logo, it’s still the same @PewterReport account that is shared by myself, Mark Cook, Trevor Sikkema and our PR interns with wall-to-wall Bucs content. If you aren’t following us on Twitter you can do so by clicking here. And to follow us on Facebook please click here.

• The last thing I want to do is jinx PewterReport.com, which admittedly has had site stability issues in the past due to incredibly high traffic during the NFL Draft, but I think our new web hosting provider and web development company has resolved all of the issues that have plagued us in the past. Having said that, I encourage you to dive in to PewterReport.com’s draft coverage Thursday – Saturday and engage other Bucs fans on our message boards for news and entertainment.

PewterReport.com didn’t experience any down time during this year’s record-setting traffic spikes during free agency, which were actually heavier traffic days than anytime last year during the draft. That’s a very good sign, and we’ve worked hard with Visual Realm since August to not only re-design PewterReport.com, but to ensure site stability for your viewing pleasure.

• If you haven’t had the chance to listen to this week’s PewterNation Podcast I encourage you to do so. There is plenty of Bucs draft conversation and banter between Mark Cook, Trevor Sikkema and I, and I finally get the chance to tell the Chuck Berry story! Click here to give it a listen and find out why Episode 6 is appropriately titled “Shake It Like A Polaroid.”

• While we couldn’t find a location that could meet our occupancy needs for a PewterReport.com Draft Party this year, we have something very cool, unique and special planned for our website when it comes to our Bucs draft coverage. Stay tuned for a big announcement on Monday on PewterReport.com.

• I haven’t made up mind as to whether I’ll have time next week to produce a new SR’s Fab 5 by next Friday or not. If I don’t I’ll still be producing plenty of Bucs draft content, it will just be in the form of multiple stories and columns. Or I may have time to do a full-fledged SR’s Fab 5 on PewterReport.com. Either way, I won’t leave you short-changed, and you won’t be disappointed with our Bucs draft coverage.

Besides, this is the longest SR’s Fab 5 in history at over 10,000 words.

I think I just got arthritis.

Seriously.

• And finally, remember to tweet out #Ronde4HOF today, Pewter Nation. Let’s see if we can get that that trending on Twitter to raise awareness among the national media that Bucs legend Ronde Barber deserves consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, which is the first class he will be eligible for since he retired after the 2012 season.

Thank you for your help, and as always for supporting our work here at PewterReport.com. You, Pewter Nation, are the reason why we do what we do, and the reason why PewterReport.com continues to grow and get better!