The Bucs could see Christian Ponder in week two.

We’re officially beginning to bang the doldrums here now that the draft is winding down and the NFL is going back into lockout-induced hibernation. Earlier today on PFT Mike Florio pointed out that the Bucs may be the beneficiaries of some inexperienced QB play next season. The Bucs could play up to six games against first-year signal callers.

Starting in week two when the Bucs face the Vikings (Christian Ponder) and continuing in week five against San Francisco (Colin Kaepernick) before facing Jake Locker and the Titans in week 12, Cam Newton and the Panters in weeks 13 and 16 and Blaine Gabbert of the Jaguars in week 14. That’s potentially six games against rookie QB’s.

That sounds pretty nice, especially with an improved defensive line and an offense that can score points. Pressuring a rookie all afternoon while he strives to keep pace with Josh Freeman and company sounds oh-so-appealing and it’s a dish the Bucs may be able to serve up six times in 2011. Now, the flip side is the Falcons and Saints get five of those six teams as well, meaning that all three teams should be looking at plenty of inexperienced passers next year.

The Falcons gave up a lot for Julio Jones.

We’ve spent plenty of time dissecting what the Buccaneers did in the NFL draft over the weekend and while we’re still not entirely done with the coverage, it’s also time to look around the rest of the division and take stock of what the competition was looking to do as well. The NFL is as much about what you’re doing to improve your own team as what you’re doing to compete with your division, and the Bucs division got considerably better in this year’s draft.

In fact, I’d go out on a limb and say the NFC South may be the NFL’s toughest division at this point, and if it’s not it’s top two. The Saints and Falcons were already playoff teams, in fact Super Bowl contenders. The Bucs finished last year 10-6 and just improved their biggest area of need and dramatically, and even the Panthers may not be in as bad of a position as it looks like. Let’s scout the NFC South:

Atlanta Falcons

Notable Players: Julio Jones, Akeem Dent, Jacquizz Rodgers

Grade: B, I give Thomas Dimitroff a ton of credit for making a bold move that he feels will help get the Falcons over the top. Atlanta traded a boat-load of picks to move up to 6th and get, in my opinion, the draft’s best receiver. Atlanta now has a mean tandem of receivers in Jones and Roddy White to compliment Michael Turner and Tony Gonzalez, that offense is even more balanced and potent. The Falcons also picked up a solid linebacker and the very speedy Jacquizz Rodgers. They didn’t have a ton of needs entering the draft but still managed to get more dangerous. They do lose points for drafting a punter (Matt Bosher) in round six.

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Adrian Clayborn leads a great 2011 Bucs Class.

There comes a time around 5:30 on Saturday afternoon when Herm Edwards and Ron Jaworski start demonstrating types of hugs players use on the commissioner after being picked in the first round, and you look outside and see it’s absolutely beautiful out and you wonder, why am I still sitting in front of the television? I have to be honest, rounds 6 and 7 of the NFL draft aren’t all that different from watching HGTV with your spouse. You like watching someone else pick out lamp-shades and throw pillows? That’s round six and seven.

Now before someone tosses out the inevitable, “the best teams win in the late rounds” spiel, I’m aware there’s value there. Everyone is. But two points, a.) the likelihood that you do find those kinds of players late is statistically still extremely low and b.) the players being picked are largely unknown due to lack of exposure. All I’m saying is that the average NFL fan can not even name a single player or coach ASSOCIATED with Idaho and FIU, let alone who the Bucs just drafted from them.

The other problem with NFL draft coverage is it’s obviously very ratings driven. They are going to go with the best story-lines and in lieu of those, revert back to the teams with the biggest fan-bases. That’s why the 6-10 Cowboys drafted a tackle and you saw Jason Garrett fifteen times over the next few days yet the Bucs had arguably the best first two rounds of anyone and the Bucs (though not in any way ignored) didn’t get face-time until Suzy Kolber talked to Raheem Morris on day three.

So with that in mind, let’s talk some Bucs draft…

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