The QB Blast: Why Low Expections For Johnson?
May 21st, 2010
Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson
By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst
Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages and writes a quarterbacks blog via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.
I did a speaking engagement this past weekend and talked about experiences growing up and getting to the NFL.
As some of the words came out of my mouth, I knew I did not say them exactly as I wanted and may have communicated something other than what I had planned. So, as I read Greg Olson’s comments about the Bucs’ backup quarterback job on JoeBucsFan.com, and then saw them again in the newspaper a few days later, I could understand if Olson was trying to give his rookie free agent QB Jevan Snead some hope in his effort to make the squad come September.
But Olson defined the lack of difference between Josh Johnson and Snead so clearly:
“The good thing is we have two younger players in Josh Johnson and Rudy Carpenter that aren’t that much older than him and haven’t been in the league that long, so development wise, they shouldn’t be much further along,” Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “He has an opportunity to come in and compete with those guys as opposed to a four-, five-, six-, 10-year vet guy. He should be on equal footing with those guys.”
It was quite disturbing to know that Olson sees so little difference in his third year QB with starting experience and the free agent from Ole Miss.
We can all relate to walking onto a high school campus as a freshman and how much energy can be used by acclimating yourself to the new campus, teachers, etc. There is a world of difference between starting your freshman year and your junior year.
And if there is no difference between Josh Johnson and Snead, then there is certainly no differentiation between Josh FREEMAN and Snead, since their franchise QB is only going into his second year and first offseason as a pro.
Unfortunately, the Bucs expect and need Freeman to take leaps and bounds forward in his play this year, but why not Johnson?
These comments by Olson were ill-worded at best or downright offensive and certainly wrong in all aspects. There is not a player in the history of any league that would say he was not a better, more polished and prepared player in his third year than his rookie year, except for maybe Ryan Leaf.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:29 am
Grella should duct tape Olson’s mouth shut…
May 21st, 2010 at 4:57 am
JOE
“And if there is no difference between Josh Johnson and Snead, then there is certainly no differentiation between Josh FREEMAN and Snead”
Who said Johnson was ANY better than Freeman?!?!?!?!?! Im pretty sure Freeman has played more games (10 with 9 starts) than Johnson too(6 with 4 starts), so dont tell me Johnson is more expirenced either.
Maybe i missed something?
May 21st, 2010 at 8:13 am
MVP, I think the point Carlson is making is Josh Johnson has been learning/studying under Olsen(QB coach and now off coord) for a longer period than Freeman. So I think what Carlson said is justified. Relax, he wasn’t taking a swipe at your “MVP” boy Freeman.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:16 am
Johnson played just about as well as Freeman, minus the hoopla.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:49 am
..yeah but he did not play BETTER than Freeman
May 21st, 2010 at 8:52 am
Oar
Yeah I guess your right. But when if he campared Jevon Snead to your favorite player you would proably get uspet too.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:53 am
Eric
..and I gues by “hoopla” you mean WINNING GAMES.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:57 am
It’s pretty clear what Carlson is illustrating, that Freeman has barely no more experience than Johnson, so where does that leave him. …Olson’s comment was moronic, and then it gets around that Snead wasn’t even really getting any reps in OTAs. Fooloish Olson.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:08 am
@MVPFreeman
I just mean Freeman is the “chosen one” so to speak and its not like there is or was any possibility for Josh Johnson being the starter, long term.
Johnson and Freeman both played pretty well, IMO given the circumstances. Freeman a little better and he did win the three games.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:55 am
Next to Clayton, Olson is the top detriment to the team. He should have been replaced at the end of last season. I think he will get fired by Week 7. He is an idiot. He passes when he should run. He runs when he should pass, with the wrong guy. The best use for Greg Olson would be to stick his big fat head in that oil pipe to try to plug it up. When it comes to coaching the Bucs, everybody has an excuse. I hope I’m wrong and they get things going in the right direction, but if this is another piss poor season, you have to look at the coaches, because there is enough talented players to win at at least 8 games, IMO.
I loved the Styles White interview, but when it got around to Todd Wash, all he said was how hard he makes them work and nothing about what he actually teaches the players. Nothing about how they can improve their game and idiosyncrasies that define great players from good ones. Working hard is great, but working smart is better. I don’t like Todd Wash and I think he sucks too. Blame Bates, he deserves it, but Wash was one of the line coaches, and after reading SGW’s breakdowns of the D line after the games, it sounds like Wash was borderline CLUELESS! I think Raheem has done a decent job evaluating the players, but as far as his coaches go, I don’t think so. A$$hole buddies can cost you your job and Olson and Wash are couple of prime examples.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:57 am
I agree with that.
I just dont know why anyone thinks Snead should be getting any reps. As Eric said, Johnson and Freeman played pretty well, given the circumstances. Snead will not contribute to our offense, maybe hell see some snaps in the re-season, MAYBE, but thats all. So why should we devote practice time to him? Freeman and Johnson need all the snaps they can get.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:57 am
Eric, I can agree with that***
May 21st, 2010 at 11:04 am
I agree with BigMacAttack too.
Morris has a good eye for players, but he wouldnt be able to grab a talented assistant coach if his life depended on it.
Im sure Warren Sapp would have been more than happy to come back to Tampa and Caoch our 2 new young D-lineman. As for Olsen, he should have been fired Jan 4 2010 if our offense slips up this seaosn it will be his fault. Also, I personally would have liked to have Hilliard come back to tampa to coach our young WRs although I hear Yarber is pretty good too (hes coached a few pro-bowl recivers).
May 21st, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I agree with the criticism of Olson but I don’t understand any love given to JJ. In going to the games, he really didn’t show any urgency or drive or anything on the field like the QB should have. He’s really quick to pull the ball down and runs into a bunch of sacks. Saying there was no difference between Johnson and Freeman is not close to true. The team really rallied around Freeman. He had a way better sense of pace on the field. Considering the non-existent snaps he received inthe preseason, Freeman’s progress was extraordinary. Snead was on a fast track until Nutt went Oxford and sidelined his college career. Remember Nutt ran off Tavarius Jackson and Mitch Mustain and developed Matt Jones into an epic signal caller. Snead might be a diamond in the rough. Let him develop. Hopefully all this is mute and Freeman stays healthy this year.
May 21st, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I do believe Freeman had Faine at center, where as Josh Johnson’s center was a sign that read “C’mon in boys”, or no center at all. He should have changed his name to Ben Gazzara. When you count to 1 and the defense is on you, run for life. Pretty simple math there.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Johnson got no reps last year, but when leftwich didn’t pan out who was the first guy under the fire, johnson. A decision based on the fact the o-line was not available, and the fact freeman would of been killed, so bad mouthing the guy that just might turn out to be our starting QB, only seems like an attempt to keep ur job (olsen)
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Johnson was very impressive for a Junior college player who got zero reps in training camp , thanks to our battle of the bum QB’s- Leftwich vs. McCown.
I think he has great upside , and I’m comfortable with him as our back-up. More comfortable than if the back-up was Sluggo , that’s for sure.
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Johnson has great upside, but Snead has a better upside than JJ. JJ’s arm strength sucks and he will be a game manager at best. Arm as weak as 40 yr old Jeff Garcia.
May 22nd, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I don’t see him as a weak armed guy…his arm looked plenty strong to me.