Sports Illustrated's Peter King was at Buccaneers training camp last week, and he wrote about it. That's what writers do, after all. Especially Peter King. Who likes to write. A lot.
There's a lot he talks about in not much depth: the size of the receiving corps, the chances the Bucs make the playoffs, Lovie Smith being optimistic, Michael Johnson's importance to the scheme, the issues at guard. But what really stands out is Peter King's conviction on Josh McCown.
Josh McCown will be better than everyone thinks (except Marc Trestman). Not Pro Bowl-better, but middle-of-the-pack-of-NFL-starters better.
He makes repeated statements to that effect, and we've consistently heard good things about McCown's performance in camp, too. The coaches love him, Lovie Smith loves him and even the national media who come into town are consistently impressed with his performance and leadership.
We all know McCown's performance last year is unsustainable. He faced an easy schedule, had monstrous receivers and a significant amount of luck. But the Bucs don't need him to be last year's McCown. They need him to be a quality game manager. Someone who can distribute the ball, take care of the offense and not turn the ball over too much. Someone who will throw it up to his big targets without being overly risky. That he can do.
Peter King being optimistic about this team may be a bigger problem than McCown. That hasn't worked all that well, historically.