NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah had a sitdown with Joe.

Last week there were several visitors to One Buc Palace to watch Bucs training camp. Warren Sapp and Peter King were a couple of guests. Another was Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network. Before getting a sweet TV gig, Jeremiah logged time in the NFL as a scout with the Eagles, Browns and Crows, where he studied under one of the game’s best football minds, general manager Ozzie Newsome.

Jeremiah was kind enough to give Joe a sitdown to talk all things Bucs. Among the many subjects Jeremiah discussed, was his feeling that Bucs backup quarterback Mike Glennon was hung out to dry last year.

JoeBucsFan: Regarding Josh McCown, the NFL’s ditches are littered with quarterbacks who had a few good games as backups – Matt Flynn, Rob Johnson, Scott Mitchell – why should McCown be different?

Daniel Jeremiah: Well, I think it wasn’t one or two games like some of those guys have had. This wasn’t preseason football. This was regular season action. It was a good stretch and he was consistent through it. You have a chance to watch him out here and visit with him, he does a good job of explaining why it’s going to be different. He is in that perfect situation where now he has the tools and the experience has come together. And the third thing is opportunity. So, I think he has all of those things married up at the right time. With the weapons [McCown] has around him, very similar to what he had in Chicago, he is set up for success.

Joe: Jeff Tedford’s offense is a big unknown…

Jeremiah: Yeah, I think it’s evolving.

Joe: You know, that’s a good point. Is Tedford, and maybe Lovie Smith, trying to mask [Chicago Bears coach] Marc Trestman’s offense? Because, obviously, that is where McCown had most of his success, in Trestman’s offense.

Jeremiah: I think you are going to see a lot of elements of that. I think when you have a quarterback that is as experienced, though maybe not as much game experience, but as much NFL experience as Josh McCown has, and you have a first-year NFL coordinator after a long time in the college game, I would expect Josh to have more of an imprint or an impact into what they are going to do scheme-wise and what he is comfortable with and work closely together with Tedford. When you look at it from that standpoint, I would say, “Yeah. They are going to do a lot of things that Chicago did,” with some of Jeff Tedford’s own wrinkles. And [Trestman] has been an outstanding offensive coach for a long period of time. But this is a different level, a different game. So I think the important thing is those two guys working together.

Joe: So the Bucs talking about the “Dunkaneers” and wanting to just throw the ball up for the big receivers to go get is an example?

Jeremiah: Exactly. It’s interesting. With some quarterbacks, they have size at receiver but they don’t know how to play with it. McCown does. You look at how he keeps the ball. He knows how to throw the ball high. If you have a 6-5 receiver who can jump and has that kind of wingspan, you don’t need to put the ball on his numbers all of the time. He lets his receivers go get it. He has a real comfort zone. The last two days in practice, down in the red zone, putting that ball up and letting those guys go get it. That’s the type of player [McCown] is comfortable with and they have gone out and got him the same thing.

Joe: Mike Evans, a rookie. What would you consider a good season for him?

Jeremiah: Yeah, rookies and specifically rookie receivers, you don’t want to put expectations on them too high. To me, I would focus less on the catches and more on just having the big play abilities: touchdowns and big plays down the field. If you can have a year where he catches seven touchdowns, which I think is very possible, I think that is a good year. A good start for him. Have some big plays down the field where he can stretch the field. The underrated aspect of his game is what he does after the catch. For a big guy, he is able to create after the catch. So, having impact plays more so than the need to catch 75 balls – I don’t think you want to put that expectation on him.

Joe: To emphasize your point about rookies learning, earlier in training camp Evans went against Alterraun Verner one-on-one and Evans said he tried every move he knew and couldn’t shake him.

Jeremiah: Yeah, he’s more comfortable with, from watching him in college, really quick stuff underneath or stuff where he is running away. You are talking about slants and posts. Stuff where he has vertical takeoffs. Stuff where he is comfortable right now. What he needs to work on now is when he is running deep routes or deep curls, or when he is running deep comebacks, for such a big guy, it is so difficult for them to be going full-speed in and out of their break, efficiently. And that’s what Vincent Jackson does very well for a guy who is the identical size. That’s why [Tampa Bay] is the perfect spot for Mike Evans. He can learn and watch from Vincent Jackson every single day. The areas he needs to improve are also the same areas where Vincent Jackson has made that adjustment.

Joe: It is very early. Only one week into training camp. It’s what the stat geeks would call a “small sample size.” But Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the big athlete he is. What are your impressions?

Jeremiah: Well, you know, first of all, he has the frame of an NFL body at that position. So, that stands out. In some of the run stuff I saw him in I thought he competed really well. He did a solid job there. I didn’t get to see a lot of stuff vertically down the field. But I have studied him enough to know that is part of his game. He’s got that ability. But the tricky part for him will be navigating through that depth chart [with the Bucs] which is pretty loaded at that position. Tim Wright is a pretty good player and I don’t know how many people on a national scale know who he is. He is a good football player. So they have some depth there. He will find his role, but you know, look: I think the expectations for him is he will be an in-line guy, someone that is going to help you in the red zone. He’s going to be part of “Dunkaneers” group we talked about, to give them more size across the board. With what [the Bucs] already have at that position, I don’t know that you need a lot from him.

Joe: On guard play, Warren Sapp said this the other day when he was here, essentially, guard play is so down now in the NFL that the Seahawks converted a defensive end who never blocked in his life into a guard and won a Super Bowl. Has the mentality in the NFL changed where it is like, “Hey, if we can have a guy like Carl Nicks, OK, but it’s not a necessity?”

Jeremiah: Well, we have seen guards over the past few years get paid, handsomely. Andy Levitre, for example. Obviously, you know about Carl Nicks getting a ton of money. There have been a few others I am leaving out right now that over the last five or six years, I think guards have become a little more valuable. Start with Drew Brees. You have some shorter quarterbacks – the college game is creating more undersized quarterbacks – so where tackle play used to be the premium, for a while there, OK, if you are stout upfront in your interior three, your quarterback has a clean pocket to move up and navigate and to be able to see. If he gets edge pressure, then it is up to the quarterback to be able to step up and be able to take care of himself. As a quarterback, if you can’t take care of pressure, you will have it right in your lap. I know what Warren is saying, especially with Seattle. Those guards are not very inspiring. But I still think they are important with that interior play. And I think [guard play] is a key thing for [the Bucs] offense. They have to get that shored up. If you are going to have a hole on your team, if your guards are the only area you have to worry about, you are going to feel really, really good about your team. And usually in the draft, you can find good guards in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. [Bucs fifth round pick] Kadeem Edwards is very athletic. He can play tackle and you can kick him inside to guard. To me, it is just getting used to things happening quicker when you move inside. But he is quick and athletic and has good feet. He has a strong base. It’s a big jump up from Tennessee State. I think [the Bucs] hope he can step up and be that guy. Another thing is, you can’t fill up all the holes in the boat in one year. The Bucs were aggressive in pursuing defensive ends and cornerback position and tight end position. They addressed a lot of positions and didn’t really get to the guard play except for Kadeem Edwards. He can pass block. During my training camp tour I am able to talk to offensive line coaches and one I spoke with, we talked about how important it is for a guard to move people off of the line in pass blocking and said, “Hey, I am going to be in short-yardage, third-and-one or fourth-and-one, maybe 25 times during the season. We are going to throw the ball 600 times. I want a guard that can pass protect. That is the most important thing. And Kadeem Edwards can do that. He has good feet. He will develop a little more power.

Joe: Maybe that’s why the Bucs are not panicking with the Carl Nicks issue, because they think Edwards can fill the void and develop into a decent pass blocker?

Jeremiah: Yep. They can make it work. That is absolutely true.

Joe: Mike Glennon. There are some people [at One Buc Palace] that said once the new regime got to know him, once they saw his practice habits and his intangibles, that some here believe Glennon’s ceiling may be Joe Flacco. When I was told this, the same source said, “If you need a quarterback, who would pass on Joe Flacco?” What is your take on that?

Jeremiah: I studied both coming out of college. I liked Flacco better. I think arm-strength wise, Glennon has a pretty good arm; Flacco has a special arm. So, I don’t think they are the same when you talk about that. Obviously, they are both 6-6 big, long-armed guys so I get the comparison. For me, just watching the past couple of days, I think [Glennon] throws the ball well. He throws a beautiful ball. I like that. To me, I want to see him make and go through his progressions a little bit quicker. That is the difference between McCown and Glennon, being able to process information and things and that will come with experience. He is only 25-years old. He is still a young kid. We are talking toughness and an arm enough to do anything you need to do, that’s a pretty good place to start from and if you talk to people in the organization, they love him. I don’t know if he has the same ceiling as Joe because Joe has that rare arm strength.

Joe: How much of a bad situation was Glennon in last year? I’ve been told that it was a terrible offense for Glennon, that it was a bad dink-and-dunk offense and that any quarterback would have struggled and it was a bad fit and probably a bad situation. Here it was the fourth game and you are a starter and he probably wasn’t ready. Is there some logic in that it was a bad fit and a bad situation overall?

Jeremiah: I don’t know that they even let him play the position. I thought it was, “Don’t turn the ball over. Don’t screw it up. If it is third-and-seven and you can get me three yards and we punt, that’s a good thing.” I’m all for not turning the ball over. But eventually, you have to let a guy go and let go of the reigns. Especially when [the Bucs] were out of it, I would have liked to have seen if he can do it. I don’t think he ever had a chance to do that.