What more can you say about Joey Galloway?  He’s a brand new receiver ever since receiving a fresh start in Tampa and remains the teams lone big play weapon, well, proven weapon anyways.  At 37 you wonder how many more years he has left but his recent play suggests, for next season anyway, that we should not expect a drop off in his play.  Even though he produced his third straight 1,000-yard season, Galloway saw his catches decline for the third straight season (83, 62, 57) as well as his touchdowns (10, 7, 6) but his average yards per catch has increased (15.5, 17, 17.8) over that same span.  What does that all mean?  Not much in the grand scheme of things.  The numbers don’t show how he routinely has to face 2 or 3 defenders on every play.  Or how opposing teams scheme to shut him down every week.  And mostly, they don’t show how he’s constantly playing with new quarterbacks, and in a few cases, #3 QBs forced into action due to injury or ineffectiveness, or in the case of Chris Simms, both.  He will never get the respect he truly deserves outside of Bucs fans but he’s been pretty dependable the last few years and still has his world class speed and explosiveness.  Someone needs to match his production opposite him though.

Vet Ike Hilliard is savvy and dependable (I know I just used that description on Galloway, but it’s not a bad reputation for an aging receiver who was never real fast to begin with) and makes for a great 3^rd or 4^th option who can masquerade as the second option in spurts.  He played very well last season (62 catches, 722 yards) and at 32 he can factor into the rotation for a few seasons.  He produced his third 60+ catch season of his career but he’s never broken 1,000 yards and managed only 1 TD last season.  Whatever big play ability he had as a Giant early in his career is just about gone now, leaving a possession receiver that lacks the size to be an effective red zone target at 5’11” 210lbs.  He will move the chains, but next to Galloway, better size and a bit more speed are needed.  Hilliard is not going to make defenses pay for concentrating on Galloway and the offense will end up stodgy, slow and inconsistent like years past if forced to again rely on the running game as the main offensive weapon.

After Galloway and Hilliard there are 10 guys battling for roster spots and the competition could be fierce in training camp.  The question on everyone’s mind is: can Antonio Bryant, Michael Clayton, Paris Warren, Maurice Stovall, Dexter Jackson or one of the practice squad guys step up and play consistently enough to bump Hilliard out of a starter’s role?  Bryant and Clayton are the most experienced of the bunch, with proven track records of inconsistency and general malaise, and subsequently, all eyes are on them as the ones most expected to contribute.  Both have had productive seasons not all that long ago but have seen their stocks drop very far, very fast.  A lot of hope is resting on their shoulders for this season and it appears that Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen are putting a lot of faith in them to overcome their problems and reach their potential.  Bryant hasn’t played since 2006 with San Fran while Clayton has produced 1 TD in three seasons, warms the heart doesn’t it?  Gruden loves veterans and more so loves veterans looking to capitalize on second chances, so maybe he can get something from Bryant and can finally motivate Clayton but it remains to be seen how much patience he will have with either of them.  Misstep and they may be shown the door, Clayton especially.  Bryant is on his 4^th team, but Clayton has been a Buc for 4 years and hasn’t shown up for three of those and a change of scenery may be what he needs to get his career back on track.  I think that’s been obvious for sometime, but he’s still here so we can only hope he figures things out sooner rather than later.  He’s playing for a second contract no matter how you look at it.  He needs to decide if it’s going to be a decent pay day or a minimum contract to be camp fodder somewhere like Oakland or Detroit.

My belief is that the best of the bunch will prove to be Warren and Jackson and possibly Stovall if he can find the field this year.  My money is on Warren, the star of last years pre-season before breaking a leg (horrifically so if you watched that game) in the final exhibition game.  The Utah product has good size at 6’0” 215lbs and didn’t lose a step after the injury.  He showed brief flashes in 2006 of being a playmaker and appeared primed to explode last year. 

He is perfectly suited to the offense because he can make plays after the catch and he knows the offense after three years in it.  The 4^th season of a receivers career is generally when they put it all together and I would not be surprised in the least to see Warren have a breakout performance.  I don’t care if he was a 7^th round pick from a small school, of everyone on the roster, he has the most potential to become a #1 target.  Yeah, seriously.  Jackson is the perfect compliment to him too.  He’s small, fast and explosive with the ball in his hands.  Sounds a lot like Galloway.  Jackson is one of my favorite players from the draft and someone I have high hopes for.  His size will not hinder him because he’s already a very good route runner and I see more Steve Smith in him than Santana Moss.  Both Warren and Jackson will have their hands full trying to take playing time away from Hilliard, Clayton and Bryant but I bet if either shows anything you can wave bye-bye to one of those three.  Galloway is safe but those guys will be looking over their shoulder at the young pups trying to take their jobs.