Oklahoma Sooners & NFL Blog

TAMPA — Barely a mile to the east, their long awaited state-of-the-art training complex is being built. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hope to move into the facility before the start of the 2006 regular season.

By that time, an equally ambitious — and overdue — construction project will be nearing completion, also.

Whether the Bucs' blueprints for an upgraded offensive line materialize remains to be seen. The groundbreaking, though, began Friday with the start of Tampa Bay's three-day minicamp for rookies and undrafted free agents.

That meant lots of repetition and information overload for nearly five dozen prospective new players, including the club's top two draft choices — Oklahoma guard Davin Joseph and Boston College tackle Jeremy Trueblood — both of whom loom as key foundation pieces for the offensive line.

"Being the new guy, yeah, I've got to fit in and earn the respect of my coaches and teammates," Joseph said following the first of many sunny and hot afternoons at One Buc Place. "The spotlight is on me now, but eventually it'll be on everybody."

Joseph is right. After splashing onto the scene last season, expectations will be high for quarterback Chris Simms and tailback Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. Both helped the Bucs mature as an offense and chipped in mightily to a NFC South Division title.

The plan in the Tampa Bay front office, though, was to assist in the meeting of those expectations by fortifying the unit in charge of protecting Simms and Williams.

As it stood, the Bucs' offensive line was one of three in the NFL that started every game last season. Maintaining that continuity was key, but so was beefing-up the internal competition.

The Bucs re-signed right tackle Kenyatta Walker and right guard Sean Mahan, securing that all five starters would be back, plus backups Chris Colmer (third-round pick in '05) and Jeb Terry (fifth round in '04). The team also brought in restricted free agent Torrin Tucker, a starter in Dallas last season, and guard Toniu Fononti, by way of Minnesota and a former second-round pick of San Diego.

Now, by throwing potential thoroughbreds in Joseph and Trueblood into the fray, the Bucs believe they'll get the most out of their competition when they report for training camp July 27 at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

"I'm anxious to go to camp because in order to evaluate offensive linemen and to get better you have to put the pads on," said assistant head coach Bill Muir, who oversees the line. "Contact is the separator. I can't wait."

The last few years, injuries during camp have derailed the unit's progress and forced some players to be overworked. With more bodies — more capable ones, at that — injuries may not be such a factor; and might hasten recovery in some cases.

"You can never have enough good players, and you can never underestimate the value of competition. It brings out the best in everybody," Muir said.

Rookie minicamp is just the beginning. For Joseph and Trueblood, the weekend will be about learning the offense, but also about learning each other.

The latter process began for the duo at the Senior Bowl. That's where Trueblood, a left tackle at BC, made the move to the right side and lined up next to Joseph, who started at three positions during his career with the Sooners.

Now they'll grow together as pros — and Bucs — on the right side.

"You have to be willing to learn 100 percent," Trueblood said. "There's no reason to be arrogant because you haven't accomplished anything. You have to be humble and take everything in stride. I think I have the potential."

That much was hard to miss Friday.

Trueblood, a former high school basketball player, goes 6-foot-8 and 316 pounds. Joseph, Florida's two-time state heavyweight wrestling champion while at Hallandale High, goes 6-3 and 311.

That's nearly a third of a ton of potential — and athleticism — standing next to one another.

"You see size and athletic ability," Coach Jon Gruden said. "That's two big, athletic people that have a physical status about them. I think it's going to help us and make things very competitive in there."

BUCS (Through Sunday) Coach Jon Gruden got some new toys to block for last year's new toys, QB Chris Simms and RB Cadillac Williams. DOLPHINS (Through Sunday) Coach Nick Saban looks to keep up the momentum for the six-game winning streak that ended the season. More, C6JAGUARS (Next weekend) They've added more talented young players to augment a team that won 12 games last year, best in the state.