Who's that guy?

It's that time of the year when the local newspapers run their profiles on newly arrived Bucs players, young and old. There are another two weeks until preseason games and the Bucs have to make some cuts. And with nobody holding out, and nothing exciting going on in practice the only stories left to write are player profiles.

Let's start with a Times article about Chris Hovan, a free agent acquisition from Minnesota. Hovan was a first round draft pick in 2000, but he failed to live up the hype around him the last two seasons in Minnesota. Hovan built a reputation as a high energy type of guy, but he failed to be the anchor on the defensive line the Vikings were looking for. Here's hoping that Hovan is a guy like Simeon Rice, he just needs a change of scenery to flourish.

Our next story is a two-for-one deal involving tightends Alex Smith and Anthony Becht. While Becht is the guy you can expect to see starting at the beginning of the season, Smith is the guy everyone is excited to see. While he's no robo-back, Smith looks like he can do a lot of things in the Bucs offense. In the mold of Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez, Smith is a guy too big to be covered by a safety, but too fast to be covered by a linebacker. Plus, he's got a black belt in tae kwan do.

Another new face is someone Gators fans are already familiar with, Ike Hilliard. Hilliard adds depth to a receiving corp that looked like a kiddie pool before he arrived. While Hilliard has spent the last eight season playing for the New York Giants, he will always be remembered in Florida for his catch against FSU in the Sugar Bowl national championship game. Expect Hilliard, if healthy, to play the third reciver position that Joe Jurevicius played last season.

Finally, we have two articles, one by the Times and one by the Tribune, on Joey Galloway, who might as well be a new face considering the number of games he played in last season. Galloway is participating in fewer practices this training camp in an attempt to ward off the groin injuries that kept him out of six games and limited him to 33 receptions last season. Galloway says he tried too hard last training camp to learn Gruden's complex offense, which resulted in his injury. I tried this excuse with my boss yesterday. I told him I was straining my fingers from typing all the time and I could be developing Carnal Tunnel Syndrome. He told me to stop being a pussy and get back to work.

Lucky NFL players.