You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe also wants you to get to know THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the team goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

In a shocker to no one, the offensive Line must have an improved look over last season. It was by far a disappointment to everyone involved with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We can offer up excuses because we are not on the team, and not subject to the “No Excuses, No Explanations” creed that paints the walls at One Buc Place since the Dungy era. Linemen were told to lose weight then gain weight, learn a zone-blocking scheme, then deal with a new offensive coordinators.

One common theme you hear from One Buc so far this season is that the mood is so much more positive and less hectic than it was a year ago. More organized.

Well, now that the third preseason game is upon us, the starters have been named, and Keydrick Vincent has added himself as the new left guard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and that alone should do wonders for the running game in 2010.

Vincent was a member of the Panthers teams in Carolina that walked all over our Bucs (and other teams to to be fair) over the past two seasons. Before that, he started 16 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they had their best record in franchise history, 15-1 in 2004. A 10-year veteran, Vincent is not a long-term answer for the Bucs to be sure. A left guard will need to either come out of the Jonathan Compases or the Demar Dotsons on the team, or from another source entirely. At the same time, Vincent is no Luke Petitgout either, and he indirectly gives the Buccaneers something else they have not had atoffensive line position in a while.

Depth.

Now Jeremy Zuttah becomes the primary backup at both left and right guard positions, not to mention Center. Zuttah can even play tackle in a pinch, as he did several times at Rutgers.  And he has double digit starts in the NFL for experience, too.

If the rest of the starters can stay healthy, and get a full 16 games out of center Jeff Faine, and more maturity from right tackle Jeremy Trueblood, we could really finally see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers emerge as a running team with a solid offensive line.