The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to a 2-1 start, and are currently tied with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons atop the NFC South division.

The game of football is a team oriented game, but individual statistics are an important aspect of separating the best players from the rest.

Tampa Bay has plenty of individual talent on their roster, including an overwhelming mass of potential from all the young Bucs on the team, such as rookies Gerald McCoy and Mike Williams.

However, Josh Freeman is arguably their most important player on the roster, and has been a very efficient passer up to this point. Where does he rank compared to some of the elite quarterbacks around the league?

The newest segment on "Bucs Nation", Where They Stand Statistically, will provide our readers with the players' current statistics and how they rank among some of the league leaders in that particular category. I have also incorporated the advanced stats of Football Outsiders to further display where each player ranks.

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With the Cleveland Browns out of the way, Tampa Bay will have all hands on deck in preparation for their NFC South rival, the Carolina Panthers.

The joy of being 1-0 following a long, agonizing season in 2008 can’t last forever. When week two rolls around, the Bucs will enter the game with a better record compared to the Panthers, but that necessarily doesn’t mean they are the better team.

Carolina played hard the entire first half against the New York Giants, and even managed to hold onto the lead for some time. Despite the loss, the Panthers look to be a pretty good ball club, except for one problem that ended up costing them the game in the second half.

The quarterback position, which is currently owned by Matt Moore, appears to be the team’s Achilles heel.

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Former Carolina Panthers quarterback and NFC South rival, Jake Delhomme, will be starting his first game as a member of the Cleveland Browns against a familiar foe.

With a career rating of 82.1, Delhomme isn’t a feared quarterback by any means, and he has recently lost his efficiency, proving to be more of a negative factor to his team, which eventually led to his dismissal from Carolina.

If you take a look at the numbers, Delhomme’s interception total has risen in recent seasons. In 2008, the Louisiana native threw 12 interceptions, and then followed that up with 18 picks last season. Throwing 30 picks in the past two seasons, and 96 interceptions in his career, the former undrafted free agent needs to figure out how to avoid the costly turnovers in Cleveland, or he could be one-and-done with the Browns, considering that they drafted former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy in the 2010 Draft.

Being a former NFC South rival to Tampa, Delhomme has seen a lot of the pewter and red in his career.

So how successful has Delhomme been against the Buccaneers in the 12 games that they have squared off?

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When the Bucs took then-Syracuse wide receiver, Mike Williams, with the 101st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the idea that he would end up being the team’s #1 starter come Week One had not even entered the minds of the Bucs’ organization. They did hope he would compete for the a starting spot, but did they honestly believe he would lock up the #1 spot, especially this quickly?

Over the course of mini camps, training camps, and through the halfway point of preseason, Williams has done everything right, and has outperformed fellow rookie wideout, Arrelious Benn (who was selected two rounds higher then him).

With Williams expected to be a huge part of the Bucs offense, I decided to take a look at past draft classes, specifically the decade’s past 101st pick, and see how that particular draft spot ends up performing in the NFL. Though he hasn’t played a snap in the regular season, Williams may already be the best player taken 101st overall in the decade. See for yourself.

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Though the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t exactly a serious contender for the upcoming season, and they probably won’t be competing in the playoffs anytime soon, but they do have a newly revamped running game that should be a good test for Tampa Bay’s long defense, especially up front.

We all witnessed Gerald McCoy battle through double teams throughout most of the team’s first preseason game, and because of that, we didn’t get to see him make too many plays. But unlike the Miami Dolphins, who have one of the best run-blocking units in the league, Kansas City’s offensive line is near the bottom when it comes to overall rankings. In a recent story on Yahoo! Sports written by Jason Cole, all 32 NFL teams were ranked according to their offensive lines. Miami received the fifth overall spot, while Kansas City nearly came in last at 31st overall. So what does this mean for Tampa Bay come Saturday’s contest against the Chiefs?

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We’ve all seen how second year players can suffer from the infamous "sophomore slump", and with three starting quarterbacks entering their second season, the questions that remains is which one will falter in 2010?

Last season, we witnessed two sophomore quarterbacks (Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco) avoid the devastation of the sophomore slump, although Ryan was unable to guide the Falcons into the playoffs. But in terms of numbers, both Ryan and Flacco had solid seasons.

Now with the 2010 season nearly upon us, the 2009 rookies will all be embarking on their second season, but even though Stafford, Sanchez, and Freeman all arguably had good seasons for the situations that they were placed in, it’s time for them to take the "next" step in the competitive world of the NFL.

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With the NFL preseason just around the corner, and with that, the regular season right behind it, the early stages of the month of August are a bit boring, to say the least. Sure, training camps are underway around the league, but it’s still just practice, and no real competition begins until the preseason takes flight. So what better to do in this boring time frame then take a look back at past draft classes. First up, the 2006 Draft.

With our first two picks in 2006, the Bucs did quite good, selecting guard Davin Joseph and tackle Jeremy Trueblood. Both of these guys ended up becoming fairly good starters in Tampa, but the Bucs missed a big opportunity with their third round pick. Ultimately, the Bucs chose Notre Dame’s Maurice Stovall, who at the time was a highly touted prospect, but never lived up to it in the pros.

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When the 2010 NFL Draft concluded, almost everyone would give Tampa a good grade considering they drafted the top defensive tackle prospect in Gerald McCoy, one of the biggest second round steals in Brian Price, and addressed a handful of other needs with their remaining picks. But when it was all said and done, I bet no one noticed their sixth round pick, who, perhaps, could be one of their key players in 2010. Anybody recognize the name of Brent Bowden? Anyboy? Bueller…? Well, you soon will know his name as he will be the starting punter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on opening day. Don’t let the sixth round image fool you, Bowden was a very successful punter in college at Virgina Tech, and hopefully will bring that to the Bay this season.

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