Evaluating The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterbacks: Part II

It’s always interesting to see how excited fans are about their teams before the season starts. Even the most cynical of fans will give life to their favorite team, even if that team finished 0-16 the previous season.

Well, Tampa Bay Bucs fans have reason to have genuine excitement about their beloved pirates. Brand new coach and quarterback could equal many years of success and enjoyment at One Buc Place .

But before we get to that point we have to asses the current state of this franchise, starting with the quarterbacks.

Currently on the roster are a plethora of possible second stringers. Byron Leftwich was dumped for Garrard in J-Ville, Luke McCown is well…Luke McCown, and Brian Griese can’t seem to hang on to anything tangible.

The team’s hope for future success hinges on the maturation and development of first round pick, quarterback Josh Freeman.

Josh Freeman

Before the Bucs decided to choose Freeman with the 17^th pick in this year’s draft, there wasn’t much expected out of the team’s core of quarterbacks. Leftwich was just recently signed and Luke McCown has claimed a job that he has no right to.

Looking at Josh Freeman’s college stats, they aren’t half bad. He improved on a continuous basis every single season he attended Kansas State University. To start his senior year, he threw at least two touchdowns in a run of four games.

However against tougher opponents Josh either didn’t show or his team decided not to get off of the bus with him. In their game against Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma, Freeman completed 56% of his pass attempts and threw three interceptions. He did have over 450 passing yards, three touchdowns to go along with a 143 quarterback rating. Judging by his statistics he did ok, but KSU lost the game 35-58.

Freeman’s frame leads one to believe that he’ll become the prototypical NFL quarterback. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches and weighing in at 250 pounds, Josh has all the potential in the world to go along with a strong arm. If Freeman works well under quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, the sky is the limit for him. I just hope the Bucs are slow to pull the trigger with Freeman.

Brian Griese

The team’s solid veteran option at quarterback is journeyman Brian Griese. This is Brian’s second stint with the Bucs as he has played with 3 other NFL Clubs. Griese played in five games last season, completing almost 60% of his pass attempts and throwing 7 interceptions. Griese’s rating was a paltry 69.4 before he was pulled for former Buc “great” Jeff Garcia.

While Griese’s stats suggest that he’s on the downside of his career, he did perform well against the NFC South last year. His rating shoots up to 64.7, his quarterback rating is 86.7 and he has 2 touchdowns.

Griese also performs traditionally well in the month of December, completing 70% of his throws last season. Of course, that’s if Griese actually makes it as the starter to the last month of the year.

If Coach Morris really wants to start fresh in Tampa, he would cut bait with Griese. Understandably he wants a veteran on the roster if some of his qb’s under-perform or there is a rash of injuries. But there are number of veteran quarterbacks to choose from instead of Griese.

 Overall, I would say that the Bucs receive a grade of “C” for the quarterbacking crew. Leftwich has a history of injuries, Griese is on the backend of his career, McCown is un-proven, and Freeman is a rookie.

 Here’s hoping that Cadillac and Earnest can carry the load for the team this season because at quarterback, there isn’t much to be hopeful for.

 -JH