When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Joe Hawley at the start of last season, it only took him a couple of games (and an injury to Evan Smith) to take over as starting center — much to the delight of many Bucs fans, for whom Smith had become a lightning rod. Hawley wasn’t that much better than Smith, but he did manage to hold him off even when the latter got healthy again.
So far this offseason, Hawley has been the starting center as well — but it seems Evan Smith is mounting a bit of a challenge.