What about Bob?

It seems as if Luke McCown is oblivious to the world around him. Either that, or he has an inflated view of himself as an NFL quarterback.

Despite the Bucs trading up two spots in the draft to get Josh Freeman and signing Byron Leftwich to a two-year deal, McCown told the St. Petersburg Times on Tuesday that he still believes the starting quarterback job in Tampa is his to lose.

Said McCown: "This has been a long time coming for me and I'm not letting anybody take it from me. And it's the first legitimate opportunity. Say what you want about getting three starts at the end of a season.

"But this is my first real opportunity to be the starter, to be the guy. And I look at it as mine and you're going to have to shoot me."

The three starts McCown is referring to came in 2007 (he went 1-2), when he racked up 1,009 yards on 94-of-139 passing (67.6 percent), five TDs and three INTs in five games while filling in for Jeff Garcia. He threw just one pass last season.

McCown acknowledged that new head coach Raheem Morris told him that the team may opt for a QB in the draft.

The addition of Freeman gives the Bucs five QBs on their roster (McCown, Leftwich, Josh Johnson and Brian Griese — who is expected to be released or traded before the season — are the others).

The likelihood is that Freeman won't be able to play right away, leaving McCown to battle it out with Leftwich for the job. The 29-year old Leftwich has more experience, with 49 starts for the Jaguars, Falcons and Steelers (including one in the postseason).

Leftwich was productive for the Super Bowl champs last season, most notably in a Monday Night relief appearance in Week 9 at Washington, when he came in for an injured Ben Roethlisberger after halftime with Pittsburgh leading 10-6 and completed 7-of-10 passes for 129 yards and a TD in a 23-6 victory.

McCown's plan is to beat out Leftwich in the preseason and then play as well as he can while keeping the seat warm for Freeman. His goal, though he's not quite saying it this way, is to parlay one good season into a starting job (read: contract) somewhere else, much like Matt Cassel did this past year.

"Nobody knew what New England had in Matt Cassel," McCown told the St. Pete Times. "You just don't know until you get out there and play, and not three games."

-Chris Mascaro

(AP Photo)