TAMPA, Fla. -- Here are five observations from the Buccaneers' training camp.

Camp Classic Moment

When a franchise begins its existence with a 26-game losing streak, you figure there have been plenty of training camp high jinks, and that's exactly the case with Tampa Bay, a club that has practiced through sprinklers that went off prematurely, thunderstorms that resembled monsoons and lightning strikes within a few hundred yards of the fields. Oh, yeah, there was also John McKay, the first coach in franchise history, the late father of current general manager Rich McKay. "Those first few years, there was always something (crazy) going on at camp," said Ken Herock, one of the Bucs' first personnel directors. "You'd cut the wrong guy or not have enough players at a certain position. Lots of times it seemed we were flying by the seat of our pants. And we usually were." To help drum up local support, one of the Bucs' first-ever personnel moves was to trade for local hero and former Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier, more famous here now as a coach than a player. On the first series of the first practice, Spurrier tripped over the foot of a guard who was backing into pass protection. He was on the seat of his pants, not flying by it. People forget that, for all their early ineptitude, the Bucs advanced to the NFC title game in just the fourth season of their existence. Camp commenced that 1979 season with what most recall as an impassioned speech by star defensive end Lee Roy Selmon on how the club needed to set its sights on a Super Bowl championship. Witnesses insist most players, despite their high regard for Selmon, giggled at the mere mention of a Super Bowl. Yet that team came up just one victory short. There wasn't any fiery oratory this year at the start of camp, but everyone here knows the Bucs really are expected to contend for their first Super Bowl crown. — Len Pasquarelli

1. I'm not wishing ill on anyone, but the folks out there who want to wager a buck or two on when quarterback Brad Johnson goes down with his latest serious injury, drop me an e-mail. And, of course, follow up with a cashier's check or money order. Maybe Johnson is the final piece of the Super Bowl puzzle for a Bucs team that should vie for a title if its offense does anything at all. Or maybe his season will end up in pieces again. Hey, the guy missed the first week of camp because he lacerated his knee in an accident at home. What's going to happen when rookie left tackle Kenyatta Walker whiffs for the first time on a block and a pass-rushing end gets a free hit on Johnson? There's no question that Johnson is one of the NFL's good guys, but he is also a player with incredible bad luck. Which helps explain why he has started the entire 16-game schedule just once during a 10-year career. Let's just say durability has never been a strong suit. Johnson owns a sparkling 32-18 record as a starter, the eighth-best winning percentage among active quarterbacks. But even if you just take the last five seasons, dating back to when he became a starter, that averages only 6.4 victories per year. It's not because Johnson doesn't play well. It's because he often doesn't play, period. Somehow, despite the assorted injuries, Johnson has risen to the No. 8 spot, all-time, in passer rating. That's an indictment of how meaningless the passer efficiency statistic can be at times, but it also represents hope for a Tampa Bay team with championship aspirations. If the Bucs can keep Johnson perpendicular for most of the season, they could be the class of the NFC. But based on Johnson's track record, that's a big "if."

2. I would pay money (although don't ask how much) to see defensive end Simeon Rice wander into a boxing gym, begin smacking a punching bag, and compare the quickness of his hands to that of the guys who train every day on the tricky and elusive speed bag. Everybody talks about Rice's quick feet and explosive upfield speed, and rightly so, but we're betting that maybe 40 percent of his 51½ sacks in five NFL seasons have come from his hand speed. The truly great weakside pass rushers all have the innate ability to use their hands, latching onto the offensive tackle and twisting him just enough to create an opening and occasionally toss the blocker aside. Watching Rice in some drills here Friday afternoon -- knocking aside blocking dummies with subtle swats -- you can an appreciation for how complete a pass rusher he has been. It isn't that Rice, signed as a free agent, has strong hands. After all, the guy is built long and lean, and looks more like a linebacker. But people don't often realize that the old NFL adage -- he who wins the battle of hands usually wins the battle, period -- is as true now as ever. I once asked an NFC offensive coordinator to offer a one-word assessment of Rice as a pass rusher, and he didn't even blink before quickly suggesting "creative" as the appropriate response. It's a good one, too. You watch Rice on tape and he has a natural sense for creating pressure. Granted, most personnel guys think Rice is an absolute canine when it comes to playing the run, but Bucs general manager Rich McKay insisted the work level of the former Arizona Cardinals standout has improved every practice. Being around guys like Warren Sapp, who isn't above calling out a teammate for lack of effort, can do that to a guy. Plus, Sapp is going to benefit big-time from the presence of Rice on his right flank. With such a pure rusher outside of him, Sapp won't have to worry about being double-teamed by the left tackle. So the Rice-Sapp pairing on the right side could be terrifying for opponents.

3. Let's make this clear: The Bucs absolutely stole Kenyatta Walker in the first round of this year's draft. No way the talented offensive tackle from the University of Florida should have been available with the 14th overall choice, where Tampa Bay traded up to grab him. For a team that found it hard to cope with the 2000 retirement of Paul Gruber, and had to roll out the tandem of journeyman types Pete Pierson and George Hegamin to take his place, Walker represents a tremendous upgrade. But for any team so publicly resolute about improving its passing game, it's always dangerous to send out a rookie left tackle to protect the quarterback's blind side. Walker will struggle with the inconsistencies that every young tackle has to overcome, and that was obvious in a Friday practice with the Miami Dolphins' defensive line. There were a couple times when Dolphins speedy end Jason Taylor, who has made even veteran tackles look bad, went past Walker as though he were a statue. There were other occasions when Walker more than held his own. The highlight of Walker's day came when he body-slammed Miami end Adewale Ogunleye, absolutely tossing him to the ground like a ragdoll. The play drew gasps even from some of the media on hand. It also merited the approval of Taylor, who walked across the line to shake Walker's hand. The other first-time starter on the Tampa Bay offensive line, right guard Cosey Coleman, has been very good so far in camp. A second-round draft choice in 2000, Coleman played sparingly as a rookie. But he was a first-round talent coming out of Tennessee and is flashing that kind of skill in camp. Coleman has quick feet and, while not a great weightlifter, possesses good enough natural in-line strength.

4. Keyshawn Johnson is wearing a big smile these days, we can only guess that can be attributed to the presence of Brad Johnson, an accurate quarterback who should get the loquacious wide receiver back over the 1,000-yard mark again. But what Keyshawn seems to ignore is that the Bucs still have not established a No. 2 receiver, someone who can help take some of the pressure off him. There are a dozen other wide receivers on the roster and nine of them are rookies or first-year players. Of the others -- Jacquez Green, Reidel Anthony and Karl Williams -- none has ever caught more than 56 passes in a year. And none of the three has ever been very durable. Keyshawn wouldn't want to hear this, but what he needs as much as a quarterback with Brad's credentials is a wide receiver like former New York Jets teammate Wayne Chrebet, the one-time easy target of Keyshawn's small-man barbs. Another season of seeing double-team coverage every year, and maybe Keyshawn will appreciate Chrebet a little more.

5. The Bucs are deep at a lot of positions, but none more so than in the front office. You start at the top with general manager Rich McKay, who has become one of the best in the entire NFL, and who is co-chairman of the league's powerful competition committee. But then the impressive roster grows from there. Not many teams could have stayed in-house, for instance, to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former personnel chief Jerry Angelo to Chicago, where he's now the Bears' general manager. But the Bucs could do it because they had a veteran talent scout like Tim Ruskell to bump up into Angelo's spot. Mark Dominik, the director of pro personnel, is another potential general manager some day and assistant general manager John Idzik is a solid salary cap manager. It never hurts to have one of the game's premier coaches in Tony Dungy, but possessing an office staff that knows and understands the modern game is essential. The Tampa Bay owners realize that.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.