Mike Glennon Is In the Right Situation with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Leading up to the NFL Draft, most experts felt that there would be a run on quarterbacks at the end of the first round, as teams in need of a franchise QB would trade into the bottom of the first day of picks and select a quarterback to sign to a team-friendly five-year contract. Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkley, Geno Smith, E.J. Manuel, and even Mike Glennon were all tabbed as potential first rounders, with teams like the Browns, Cardinals, Jets, Jaguars, Chiefs and others possibly looking to select a quarterback for the future.

Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Greg Cosell, one of the most well-respected NFL analysts, said before the draft that he thought Mike Glennon was one of the best quarterbacks in the draft, and was worthy of a first round pick. Other various draft experts went back and forth on their rankings for Glennon, but usually focusing on bigger names like Smith and Barkley. But Glennon caught the eye of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because they offered him a situation unlike the one he faced in Raleigh with NC State: talent to surround him.

In the same article linked above, Cosell said that Glennon needed to be put in the right situation, and not asked to be the lead dog from day one. He’s not Andrew Luck or Russell Wilson, so he’s not going to have the precision or creativity to take an awful team and make them successful on offense like last year’s rookie stars did. But Cossel said of Glennon “I think he has, probably, more of the attributes you look for than, maybe, anyone else in this class,’’ and that having a team around him would put him in a position to be successful.

Luckily for the young NC State product, he’s been drafted into a situation where he has an excellent team around him, and he doesn’t have to step in and start on day one (if ever). Looking back at his college game film, we see a young man put into a very dire situation talent-wise and able to still produce at a fairly high level.

Take a look at this video (it should start at the 2:26 mark, otherwise scroll there yourself) and you’ll see the main problem with Glennon’s NC State teammates. You’ll see two straight passes where Glennon is patient and waits for his receivers to come into open space in the middle of the field. He stands tall despite a bit of pressure, and delivers a perfect strike each time. Both passes result in drops bouncing off of his intended receivers’ hands. Watch each play, and then the replay for each that shows on the video, and you’ll realize just how great of a throw Glennon made, and just how bad his receivers are.

Taking a look through the rest of his film, you see a QB that had poor blocking and inconsistent receivers. Even with these shortcomings, Glennon was able to create moments like this one. Watch that video, and think about how it looks like Josh throwing a deep ball to Vincent Jackson or Mike Williams (and might look even better than those throws).

Mike Glennon was drafted into the perfect situation in Tampa Bay, where he’ll be afforded all the help and talent he needs should he ever be pressed into duty. Glennon is a talented quarterback who can make every single throw asked of him by an NFL offense, and he fits the Buccaneers’ system beautifully.  So while many fans of the Buccaneers felt like selecting Glennon in the third round was a waste of a pick, they may find that he’s the perfect fit should something happen to Josh Freeman in 2013.