Bucs May Have Gotten Lucky With Josh Freeman
January 31st, 2010
Last night Joe was having a few adult beverages at his favorite local watering hole when the discussion of quarterbacks came up.
Joe thought it was odd that last year at this time, the 2010 draft class of quarterbacks looked absolutely loaded. There was Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow and Dan LeFevour, to name a few.
Joe even remembers one of the reasons he was so sick the Bucs drafted Josh Freeman last year is the Bucs had all sorts of quarterbacks to pick from this spring.
Funny thing happened along the way: All the top quarterbacks, with the exception of LeFevour, took massive steps back.
McCoy was banged up and never matched his numbers of 2008, Bradford had to have shoulder surgery. Tebow, well, Joe has never been that high on him as an NFL signal-caller and yesterday he looked dreadful in the Senior Bowl.
The Mad Twitterer of the St. Petersburg Times wrote this morning that given what has happened to this year’s draft-eligible quarterbacks, the Bucs may have been wise to draft Freeman last year.
That’s why GM Mark Dominik talks as if Freeman is just a few receivers away from leading the Bucs back to the playoffs.
Basically, the success of the team is riding on the shoulders of its 22-year-old quarterback.
“That’s okay. That’s what the position is,” Dominik said. “If you don’t take a quarterback this year, you’ve got to take a quarterback next year or the following year. You’ve got to address the position. We addressed it at the beginning, and it was very unpopular at the time because this year’s class was supposed to be the quarterback class of the future. If I remember, a lot of people thought this was going to be the greatest quarterback class of all time. I don’t know if it’s held in that same regard.
“What would you all be saying today? ‘Why didn’t you take one last year when you had the opportunity?’ “
While Joe is on the subject of underwhelming quarterbacks, Joe has to get this off his chest:
In a recent NFC South chat on BSPN.com, Vacation Man had the gall to suggest Penn State’s Daryll Clark will be a better NFL quarterback than Tebow.
If given three or four years to develop, Tebow just might be something. He needs to be deprogrammed of that garbage zone-option offense and reprogrammed to an NFL offense. Joe can write with confidence Clark will be worthless as an NFL quarterback, that is, if he even makes a practice squad. Clark is awful. Joe doesn’t have “A” favorite college football team, he has a few he likes and follows closely and Penn State is one of those.
Joe watches every Penn State game and Joe cannot think of a more overrated quarterback than Clark. This guy just heaves balls up and hopes someone comes down with it. Clark largely benefitted from having the greatest collection of wide receivers and tight ends Penn State may have ever had, three of which are in the NFL today and three more likely this spring.
The next time Daryll Clark wins a big game, someone call Joe. And no, Clark didn’t beat Ohio State in 2008. He was on the bench with a concussion when the Lions came from behind to beat the Buckeyes in Columbus to win the Big Ten.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Is the a new Joe…?
did Joe sell this joint for $10,000,000.00 are jet off to his private island in Belize with Rachel Watson
January 31st, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Ah, Belize with Rachel Watson. (sigh). You know Joe too well RastaMon.
January 31st, 2010 at 6:25 pm
ok here’s a thought……what about just trading freeman now…and using number 3 on a qb….freeman is still such a project…some team will be high on him….trade freebird now…..and grab a qb at number 3….im not saying i would, just a thought that passed through my noggin….adam from ny
i mean come on…….come on……freebird was not all that impressive…..hes like a combination of rothleisberger and doug williams that needs time and major coaching up….
January 31st, 2010 at 6:25 pm
bagels & lox for dinner over here…yum!!
January 31st, 2010 at 6:29 pm
lets do the math…..
doug williams minus rothleisberger equals freeman
just like their numbers:
12 – 7 = 5 adam from ny
January 31st, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Adam, you are a moron, mooron. If Freeman was entering 2010 draft as a senior with better numbers in kansas state than his junior year, he would have been the 1st or 2nd QB to be taken. Stronger arm than Bradford and Clausen, tougher/better physique, experience with pro-style offense from K-state compared to spread style of Bradford….
January 31st, 2010 at 8:02 pm
jonny your a moron too…now gimme a big kiss….as i notice in your last post you are admiring men’s physique’s…fruitcake!!@….oops wait i noticed you are on your knees right now….so gimme that kiss later cakeboy!!
January 31st, 2010 at 8:11 pm
johnny cakes…..lol……with extra syrup
January 31st, 2010 at 8:12 pm
So you admit you are a moron by saying I am a moron “too”. Idiot, when you are talking about drafting a franchise QB, physique is one of the most important traits, Freeman is 6’6′ and is tough SOB, did you see any Bucs games this year? Did you see how tough it was to get a sack on Freeman. You say trade Freeman and get another QB at #3, who do you want there? Clausen with mediocre arm and questionable leadership skills or Bradford with a delicate body and a noodle arm ? Also look at the regular season stats for both Stafford and Sanchez, Freeman has stats as good as theirs, still why the fuck would you want to trade Freeman for some pick and get Bradford?
January 31st, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Adam from NY = douchebag
Joe, block this guy from posting comments. He makes little sense and when called out he gets juvenile.
January 31st, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Malloy likes the Freeman pick from day one,
and he also snickers at the above meltdown.
January 31st, 2010 at 8:56 pm
didn’t both rothleisberger and williams win super bowls with solid Def??? 3 rings combined… so we grab a top notch defender with the 3rd pick and start building that D back to what it use to be and who knows????
January 31st, 2010 at 9:21 pm
“This guy just heaves balls up and hopes someone comes down with it.”
Sounds like Clark would be a perfect fit for Carolina! I have always felt the same way about Delhomme…the luckiest QB alive…that is until the playoffs last year.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I still like this year’s crop of QB’s. There are a lot of choices and I’m sure some of these players will end being stars. It would have been nice to have (most likely) the first choice of QB’s instead of the 3rd choice. If Freeman works out, then he was the right choice. If not, one of the 2010’s would have been the way to go. Only time will tell.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:14 am
@Louie: By having the first choice at QB if you mean Stafford, there is no reason to be disappointed. Freeman and Stafford have similar stats.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:20 am
yes johnny i dont take myself that seriously…i can joke about myself you fool….and i never said trade freeman you complete idiot…..i basically said heres a thought….what do people think….so you decidede to attack me and put me down….in fact i actually like freeman…he has flaws but im hoping they are correctable with time…if we trade him we are at square one again…of course we shouldnt do that imbasil…it takes about 3-4 years to judge a qb….i just said heres a thought to get feedback…not to be lambasted…i wouldnt trade him for any of those crap qb’s, i just put it out there as a viable option to see what people thought…but your sorry ass saw it as a reason to attack and abuse me…i live in ny and am a season ticket holder, so im down there for about half the games every year, if you have an issue with me just follow it up when the season starts and i can meet you in tampa during the season and we can go into a park or something and act like hockey players because i never did anything to you…you need to read posts clearly before responding and trying to strong arm people over the computer ….you are an internet tough guy who curses and talks crap over the net….a lame duck computer bumba clod……..i actually like freeman………adam from ny
February 1st, 2010 at 10:36 am
Joe here,
Adam and the rest of you. – The comments board here is not for fans to beat each other up with insults. There’s no point. And frankly, Joe doesn’t need the Web traffic that much to have such annoying garbage going on.
Joe is not above deleting comments that serve no purpose other than to have some anonymous folks beat their chests and hurl insults. . That’s about to happen soon.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:10 am
@Jonny, no we didn’t have first choice last year. I’m talking about this year (assuming the Rams go w/Suh and not a QB).
February 1st, 2010 at 2:51 pm
hi joe…thanks for saying something because jonny was flexing on me and getting tommy boy on me as well…..its like they want the board all to themselves…they even were putting words in my mouth and accusing me of anti-semetism….or that might have been the other guy on the tebow blog….im just a nice jewish boy trying to give and get insight into football….i will ignore jonny out of respect for you joe as you have a wonderful site…and i will never stoop to cursing at someone again because even though jonny did it first, i should have been bigger than that….. thanks joe…adam from ny
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Freeman was the right choice, and it really does not matter now anyway. I have always liked Freeman. You can say he did not have great numbers, and you would be right, but remember he did not get starter reps and only had K2 to throw the ball too. He had a suspect line, and a sub par running game. When this O works together in the off season and gels as one, you will see his stats as well as wins go up in 2010.