Josh Freeman Saved Raheem The Dream
January 10th, 2010
Fans of the Bucs have speculated on this site why Raheem the Dream was saved. There were a myriad of premises, reasons and/or theories hatched.
From the looming labor strife to the lack of income from shrinking ticket sales to a rebuilding process the Bucs are in the middle of, Joe thought he had read them all.
That is until he came across an article by Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Balog writes that center Jeff Faine is convinced that rookie quarterback Josh Freeman saved Raheem the Dream’s job.
If the Glazers had replaced Morris, it would be another setback for the organization, just like when Tampa Bay lost part of its identity with the departure of players Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn and Ike Hilliard, who were among a core of aging veterans jettisoned by general manager Mark Dominik.
“I have faith in Raheem Morris and I have faith in Coach (Greg) Olson (offensive coordinator). I think these guys can get it done,” said Faine.
“You let a good nucleus of the team go last year. It’s a situation where you draft a quarterback to build around. If you’re going to build around somebody, you have to be able to stick with it a little bit. You just can’t expect something overnight.”
There may be something to that. Joe has suggested one reason to keep Olson was to give Freeman stability. Otherwise, he could easily turn into Jason Campbell with a revolving door of offensive coordinators.
Seems as if Bryan and Joel felt the say way about Raheem the Dream.
January 10th, 2010 at 10:26 am
You can certainly change head coaches and still keep the offensive coordinator and QB coach, so I doubt Freeman was a significant reason Morris was retained.
The primarily reason Morris as not fired was because he was the cheapest option for the Glaserhouses. Most major moves by the team in recent years can be linked to money.
January 10th, 2010 at 11:58 am
The question is, does he really know Olson’s Offense, We ran Jags Offense thru training camp and merged into Olson’s thru the season. So Begining in the Ota’s Will Freeman be learning Olson’s Offense?
January 10th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Who cares. The offense was a joke this year. It looked like Chucky ball all over again. Run sporadically and then when it doesn’t work early abandon it and start to dink and dunk. This team is horrible. What’s even worse is that the Glazers know it and still won’t do anything to change it. I know we are “building through the draft” but we need a team with veterans as well. Not just old guys but experienced solid players and proven leaders. We can’t expect next year’s rookies to change this team to a winning product. Especially with our draft history.
Sad really. Nothing to be excited about anymore. Damn the Glazers for ruining my favorite team.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
While I’m haven’t been the biggest Olson backer this year, I do agree that he should be given a year to implement his system so he can be judged fairly. I DON’T agree with the thought that he should be brought back just for the sake of continuity for Josh though. If his offense fails to get results next year, is the same argument going to be made again?
One thing I noticed while watching the Jets game yesterday was how fortunate Sanchez was in that he has a very innovative OC AND he has a designated QB coach in Matt Cavanaugh who spoke with him every time he stepped off the field to discuss what he saw, etc. They’re doing everything they can to make sure he has all the support needed to mature as an NFL QB. IMO, having Olson perform the dual role again this season would be a mistake. While I understand the situation this season was handle out of necessity, I think it’s something that should be addressed this off-season.
I’m hoping that Olson can develop a innovative and successful system, but I do have my doubts. The fact that it took obvious prodding from various angles for him to finally call for a QB sneak on 4th and inches and it took him over 3/4’s of the season to realize that a screen play may be an answer to the constant blitzing his young QB’s were seeing game-in and game-out, gives me pause. I guess we’ll see the results this fall/winter.