Jaguars preseason 2014: Buccaneers having similar issues with pass rush, offensive line

Is there a real quarterback battle going on between Mike Glennon and Josh McCown, or is McCown clearly the starter?

McCown is clearly the starter. The Buccaneers pay some lip service to the concept of there being a competition, but the only way Mike Glennon starts the season is if McCown gets injured or looks absolutely horrifying in preseason. But McCown has looked good in training camp, and there's no real reason to believe that that will change in preseason. Glennon might get some playing time if the playoffs are out of reach (which means McCown probably bombed), but I would be shocked if he starts the season.

The Buccaneers offensive line is a big question, if I remember correctly. How's it looked so far?

It's tough to tell. The two offensive tackles and the center have looked good, but those three were never the problem. The issue is at guard, where the Bucs have been rotating players throughout training camp. And those players consistently get destroyed by Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald to a lesser extent, but that's no surprise -- most NFL guards get destroyed by McCoy.

So, we don't really know, though their talent suggests pessimism is warranted. We'll find out against the Jaguars, I guess.

Like the Jaguars the Buccaneers pass rush has been so-so outside of Gerald McCoy, how are the pass rushers looking?

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The interior pressure looks good, with Clinton McDonald and Akeem Spence both standing out a bit. But the edge rushers haven't stood out that much. It can be a bit tough to tell in training camp, of course, but we haven't seen any pass-rusher really stand out. Michael Johnson has looked like the best defensive end, which is a little reassuring, but he hasn't been blowing up Anthony Collins either -- which is encouraging in a very different way. Overall, I don't think the Bucs' pass rush issues have been fixed, but the move to a more straightforward rush scheme should at least help McCoy and as a consequence everyone else, too.

The Bucs took Mike Evans in the first round; has he made an impact so far?

Not really. There have been some highlights, like a particularly pretty one-handed catch,but he hasn't dominated training camp. We've heard more of Vincent Jackson (obviously), but also Tommy Streeter and Chris Owusu. I'm not overly concerned -- he's a rookie coming from a simple offense into a very complicated one, asked to do things he's never done before -- but to expect an immediate impact may be a bit much at this point.

I know this seems like a dumb question because the Jaguars have two-tone helmets, but what do you think of the Bucs new uniforms?

I really like them, but I'm a sucker for shiny new things. I'm one of those idiots who liked those two-tone helmets, too. But I mostly like the new uniforms because they're no longer the same color as the Falcons' or Cardinals' uniforms. They're much more distinctive, which is kind of the point of wearing a uniform.

Fan reaction has generally been more mixed, though. Most fans seem to have warmed up to the uniforms and especially the helmets, but they still don't like the helmet font. I think that changes when they start seeing those uniforms in games, though.