The “Mad Dog” talks Bucs.

It is always a treat to talk Bucs with the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, of SiriusXM Radio fame.

When Joe was in San Francisco for the Super Bowl, Joe got a chance to chew the fat with the “Mad Dog” just after he wrapped up his weekday radio show heard on the channel that bears his name, “Mad Dog Radio,” part of the family of SiriusXM Radio sports offerings.

Russo touched on popular Bucs subjects like the coaching change, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, and Gerald McCoy.

JoeBucsFan: The Lovie Smith firing, did that shock you at all?

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo: Yeah, it did, it really surprised me. I’m not surprised by it in hindsight because obviously they wanted to make sure they kept Dirk Koetter. But it surprises you, two years, won six games, I didn’t think there would be an issue with the quarterback. So, somewhat surprised about that, no question.

Joe: With Jameis Winston, he came in with what a lot of folks thought were all sorts of question marks. Do you think he answered all of them this past year?

Russo: Not all of them, but he’s going to be good, though. He’s a good competitor. You can tell how much he wants to win. He competes. I think the Bucs, finally – they’ve never had a quarterback outside of once in a while with Steve Young and once in a while Doug Williams – they never really had a big time quarterback – Brad Johnson that one year – this is a big step for them.

Joe: What questions are those you have that Jameis hasn’t answered? Was it the off-field stuff?

Russo: That, well, a little bit but I’m not so much worried about that. It seems like that it will probably be taken care of eventually, go away, it’s a little bit of a distraction. I haven’t ever seen him play in a big game. I have to see him [play in a big game]. He’s a good runner. He’s underrated. I have never seen him play in a big game. He’s had a couple of moments, the Dallas game where he made some plays, the Atlanta game he made some plays. We’ve really never seen him play a big game from start to finish. Now he did in college, obviously, and he played well. He didn’t play great against Auburn but he played well enough. I haven’t seen him make a big play in a big game yet.

Joe: You have been on record saying Gerald McCoy is — your word — overrated. How so?

Russo: Well, I’ve never see that defense do anything in a big spot. And they never make a stand. I know it is not all his fault, the team stinks, you have to have a quarterback but boy, oh boy, at least you see J.J. Watt in the playoffs once in a while. I never seen [the Bucs defense] do anything. Ira [Kaufman] always tells me how great McCoy is. I have to see him in a big spot.