Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune suggested return specialist Clifton Smith could be the Bucs MVP this season.

Yep, Joe’s been listening to sports radio, something it seems most of our local friends in the MSM don’t do.

Joe tuned into Bobby Fenton’s weekly Monday evening Bucs show last night on WQYK-AM 1010. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune made an appearance and had an interesting comment.

Cummings suggested that if he had to pick a Bucs MVP today, he would give serious consideration to return man Clifton Smith. Cummings had sound reasoning.

In two games where the outcome was in doubt, Smith gave the Bucs a jolt returning touchdowns in each game to propel the Bucs to victory.

It’s an interesting thought: While Joe is hesitant to crown a special teams player — a part-time player — as team MVP, the Bucs lose a game at Kansas City if not for Smith, and Smith helped the Bucs overcome a 17-point Detroit cushion by returning a punt for a TD Sunday.

Take away those two wins and the Bucs likely are out of the playoff picture.

Cummings did admit Smith needs to learn how to take care of the ball, currently a glaring weakness.

And as Joe suggested Sunday, Cummings also predicted, barring an injury to Smith, Bucs fans have likely seen the last of Dexter Jackson returning kicks.