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.

Christian Ponder has seen his stock rise since the Senior Bowl.

We’ll start rolling out the PewterPlank big board by beginning with the quarterbacks. The Bucs aren’t going to be looking for a QB in the draft, if they do select one it will be in late rounds and everyone in Tampa will feel badly for that guy because he’ll be looking at third string as a best-case scenario. Josh Freeman is the Bucs’ QB of the future. Josh Johnson is an intriguing back-up for more than a few reasons. The Bucs aren’t looking quarterback, but we’ll start there anyway.

I’m going on record as saying if I were a team that needed a quarterback in the first 15 picks this would not be the year I want to do it. Nobody is a slam-dunk, anyone who tells you otherwise is buying into the pre-draft hype. As soon as Andrew Luck decided to return to Stanford, this QB class went from top-notch to questionable. Factor in an abysmal senior season from Jake Locker (who looked to be a sure-fire top pick before the season started) and some big concerns over Cam Newton’s character and Blaine Gabbert becomes the de facto top QB prospect. And had anyone outside of Missouri heard of Gabbert before last year?

Top Five Quarterbacks:

1.) Blaine Gabbert, Missouri- Blaine Gabbert has become the consensus surest thing in the NFL draft. His physical ability is that of an NFL quarterback, he won a lot of games, managed the ball well and played in a major conference. I have nothing against Blaine Gabbert but his distinction as the top QB in the draft doesn’t mean he’s amongst the best players. Personally I just don’t see the “wow” factor from Gabbert. He’s a solid quarterback who does a ton of things right and he probably will have a great NFL career. But he was never amongst the best quarterbacks in any of his years in college in terms of either his numbers, wins or the eye test. And he isn’t amongst the most physically gifted of QB’s either. He’s safe. He lacks the injury issues of Christian Ponder, the character concerns of Cam Newton and the inconsistency of Jake Locker. The question is are you drafting Gabbert because of who he is, or because he doesn’t come with the same concerns as the other guys?

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