Bucs rookie offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah could be a solid find in the third round. But fans should be cautious of preseaon rookie hype.

It seems the Bucs may have found a gem in the third round, if Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times is to be believed. Bucs rookie offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah apparently is playing well in practice. Part of the reason is that he takes a scholarly approach to practice, always carrying notebooks so he can grasp Chucky’s football version of E = mc2.

“Honestly, there would be disappointment if he didn’t do as well,” Bucs offensive line coach Bill Muir said. “We scouted him well. Some guys are robotic. He just gets it. Don’t send him to Canton yet. But for right now, the arrow is pointing in the right direction.”

I know it’s the preseason, and I know Stroud and other beat writers have a lot of copy to pound out when there’s really no news to speak of. Fans certainly should be wary of the constant streams of feel-good stories out of One Buc Palace this time of year. Every player feature of a rookie in the preseason suggests the player is easily going to win a roster spot.

How refreshing would it be if, just once, an MSM outlet would run a story about how much of a dog a fourth round draft pick is and how the guys who scouted him were so wrong they’ve been banished from the NFL and are now working in the AF2, or that the fourth-rounder stiff is such a dog he would be lucky to be a walk-on at Sam Houston State.