The Dust has Settled Let the Work Begin Thankfully the Bucs finally took note of their punchless running game, and having spent the past 2 years trying to re-tool the Offensive Line to make it work, have at last acquired a genuine potential star to give us some juice on offense. His name is Carnell Williams and our offense will be all the better for his arrival. s To say I was relieved when we took Carnell at number 5 last month, rather than his namesake Mike or any other skill position player, would be an understatement. For the first time in god knows how long The Bucs have a guy in the backfield who is a threat to score on any down and from anywhere on the field. I don’t buy too much into analysis of his vertical leap, 40 yard time or bench press skills but have been wowed by what I have seen in games; Mr Williams can make guys miss, run like the wind with the ball in his hands and will create mismatches all over the place once The Chuckster figures out what he wants to do with him. All around a good pick, and most definitely the right pick for the Bucs given their current roster. Carnell’s nickname of Cadillac will breed a million potential headlines in the press and so in order to get my marker in first here’s a quick list of starters for you: - Top 5 Cadillac Headlines and When they will be quoted “Cadillac in Cruise Control” - will appear sometime in training camp when Mr Williams looks good in drills “Bucs hitch a lift in the Cadillac” – to be used when he carries us to a regular season win “Cadillac Back in the Garage” – obviously utilised if/when he picks up an injury, god forbid “Cadillac proves he’s the Elite Model” – To be used in Monday 17th October’s papers after we beat The Dolphins (please!) and Ronnie Brown “Cadillac Williams is an Alien Love Child who ate my pet Budgie” – Naturally from The National Enquirer at any time this year 5 Things I Think 1. I think nobody will be more pleased with Carnell Williams’s arrival than Michael Clayton. Another elite player and run threat can freeze linebackers and safeties, and if Clayton and Williams stay healthy, another 80 catch 1,200 yards plus season beckons 2. I think I’m pleased Michael Pittman is looking forward to his new competition at running back. Lesson for Mr Pittman this offseason is to take extensive classes on hanging on to the damn ball – that alone would be a start for him. 3. I think with Williams and Pittman at running back, the only role I can see for The A-Train this season is to be our feature back inside the opponents 5-yard line, as all the other carries will be swallowed up elsewhere barring an injury 4. I think whoever invented the Crazy Frog and whiny Chick “novelty” ringtones wants to be taken away and not so politely instructed to stop producing such utter noise polluting $hite as this. Either that or be made to listen to it non-stop for 24 hours, that might sort the problem out. 5. I think Ike Hilliard will catch 50 plus passes this season in our offense and will be recognised as a bargain come January 2006. Then again I said Tim Brown would catch 50 plus passes last year so if I start sounding like Mel Kiper Jnr I apologise (Ed - do you have the John Davies hairstyle to match though?). Looking at the rest of our picks the next 2 of Barrett Ruud and Alex Smith stand out. Ruud simply for his football savvy, and Smith who looks like a physical freak with hands like buckets. Ruud appears to be the sort of player who scouts knock because he isn’t 6-4 and 240, but all he does do is make tackles all over the place. His pedigree in a Nebraska defense will serve him well learning Mr Kiffins system and he does remind of Chris Spielman who had similar knocks a decade ago, but became an elite Middle backer for the Lions for a number of years. The “other” Alex Smith as he is known, fills another of the glaring needs we have and one which I again have whinged on about over the past year, that being a tight end who is a downfield threat. Smiths height (6ft 5) and size (250lbs plus) makes him a match-up nightmare for a shorter, slower linebacker or under-sized safety to cover and he could be the steal of our draft. The only knock on Smith appears to be his blocking ability, but with Anthony Becht’s arrival we have this covered elsewhere so I am hopeful he can find a nice niche in our gameplans, and create room underneath for the Cadillac to go a cruising (sorry about that). Of all the other picks I would suggest Larry Brackins stands out as a potential player for us. Generally fourth rounders and onwards are longer shotes to succeed, but 6ft 4 receivers with speed are at a premium in the NFL, and Brackins has the tools and the small college “chip on his shoulder” type background to make it go. Lets hope so anyway. Now that the selections are in we have some help on offense and some speed at Receiver, Tight End and Running Back at last. This should make us a different proposition from the last two years and The Chuckster might at last be able to unveil some of his playbook trickery to get these guys the ball and give them the opportunity to have some fun on offense, something that we have gone too long without in Tampa. Nod of Acknowledgement to….. The Glazers for bringing the Superbowl back to Tampa Bay in 2009. Wouldn’t it be nice if we broke the mould and were the first home team in the game? After last Wednesday night in Istanbul I now believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy, so no longer can such dreams be considered unrealistic. Get in the Real World Award – (Tie) Kellen Winslow Jnr/Onterrio Smith – Winslow, having missed most of last season and pi$$ing off most of the Browns organisation, decides to go joy riding on his new Motorcycle, despite his contract forbidding him to do so – obviously he hadn’t heard about the Chicago Bulls Jay Williams – and thus disabling himself for another year. Are you for real Mr Winslow Mr Smith deserves a whole award category to himself for being caught with the false urine sample submitting “Whizzinater” device. Having already failed dope tests, he can’t even get the cheating thing right either. Mr Smith you would pass any DOPE test I can think of.