I made no bones on this website about my worries of taking an unpolished junior Quarterback who performed awfully against all the good competition he faced in college. I wasn’t sold before the draft, and after attending practices, attending one preseason game, and watching another two on TV, I’m still not sold on Josh Freeman. My question though, is if the coaching staff is “married” to him as they say, and he truly represents the future face of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, how are fans truly supposed to get excited about the naming of Byron Leftwich as the QB.
When we signed Byron Leftwich, I thought it was a solid pickup. It was actually a move that I openly pined for on this website, even before FA started and the Bucs showed interest in him. His career numbers are better than a number of starting QB’s in this league, and if you take out the Bobby Petrino, Atlanta Falcons debacle year, his wins and numbers look even better. In my mind, there was no plausible way, even after drafting Josh Freeman, that Leftwich or Jon Gruden’s pet project Luke McCown wouldn’t both have nice camps, and make for a nice QB competition. Well they both battled, and I guess they made for good competition amongst themselves, but to be perfectly honest, both have looked quite pedestrian at best to me all offseason. Granted, I was not at any OTA or minicamps. I also haven’t been at practice since Training Camp ended, but the play of both of these guys leaves a lot to be desired in my eyes.
My thoughts were that if Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown performed on a scale of 1-10 at around a level 7 in camp and preseason, and Josh Freeman performed at a 5.5, that Freeman should start. Well to me, Leftwich has been a 5, McCown a 4, and Freeman a 3. So why not just start Freeman? Does he look ready, no. Does Leftwich look like he is going to lead us to 10 wins, definitely not. Could Luke lead us to 10 wins, not from what I have seen. If we are destined for a 4-12 season, and the only saving grace from that kind of season is going to be the play of our somehow underated defensive unit, than why not let Freeman learn on the job. If you are already married, might as well put on the ring.
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FanSided
McCown got very little support in the 3 pre-season games. The 1st pass he threw v. Mia. was a thing of beauty,bobbled by Stevens, worthy of any NFL QB who has come down the pike–& I have been watching QBs since Van Brocklin was in Philly.Leftwich was just the opposite, but his lack of accuracy & the 2 blunders he made 2 games in a row were scary.
Freeman, I may have pointed out, came out as a true junior; last year, Flacco & Ryan were OTOH 5th year seniors; makes a big diff. Josh isn’t ready to play in 2009 but I think will be forced into the line-up this season. It could do lasting harm, or temper him like Aikman was his 1st year. We shall see.
Thing is, the team looked good in the 3 games, other than s couple blown (vanilla) coverages, but the keystone spot will likely hold them back this year.
Agreed Mike, the team has solid written all over it, except at the spot that may matter the most.
Very nice post…and i agree. The only QB who truly provides no upside for the future in my opinion is Leftwich. I would have liked either McCown or Freeman in there to at least showcase what they have and get a little OTJ training.
On a side note, for how bad our QBs have looked…maybe we really did HAVE TO draft a qb there in the first round. I hated the pick and still dont think he’ll be very good (hopefully im wrong) but maybe now is as good a time as any to start grooming