Numbers Telling On Freeman
November 12th, 2012
Last year the story on Freeman was his regression from his magical season of 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2010. Now Freeman’s turned things around and has jumped into the top-tier quarterback conversation.
Consider some of his 2012 stats:
Interceptions – Tied for 5th fewest
Touchdown passes – Tied for 5th most
TD/Interception ratio – 4th best
Sacks taken – 4th fewest
QB rating – 7th best
Completions of 20 yards or more – 6th best
Completion percentage – 30th
That completion percentage is a black mark, but it’s clear he’s improving and at least some of that issue can be attributed to adjusting to a new offense early in the season. Many reads Freeman made yesterday were flawless.
If Freeman can keep cruising, it’s going to hard to keep the Bucs from a winning record — and keep himself from massive contract.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:09 am
After week 4, Freeman was ranked 28th in NFL (QB rating)……After 9 games, he is ranked 7th <————–
November 12th, 2012 at 11:17 am
1st in Yards Per Attempt. I think that’s more important than most of those stats, also pretty amazing considering his completion percentage.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Completion percentage is misleading. Tampa Bay takes more shots down the field more than anyone which decreases the odds of completion. His yards per completion is off the charts, and I will take that any day. Not saying Freeman is anywhere near Tom Brady’s class, but Brady for example does a TON of dinking and dunking to Welker. Look at Welker’s yards per catch as well. YAWN. Give me VJ’s league leading 21 yards per catch. His completion percentage is low but he’s the 7th rated QB in the league, and he is taking care of the football. I’m freaking tickled.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Glad to see that The Bucs probably won’t have to ” start over” at qb now…
November 12th, 2012 at 11:34 am
I loved when we went for it on 4 n 2 i think it was with a QB sneak. When Free came out of the pile he signalled a first down. I loved that! He is showing so much more confidence now.
I will take the good with the bad. We have some tough games ahead. our team is going to be tested for sure.
I still want to see LG on the filed more. Everytime we have made a play he has been one of the first on the filed congradulating the effort. I hope the coaches work with him more and give him some playing time.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:49 am
To piggyback on Stimpy’s comment:
Has Freeman EVER been stopped on __ and 1? I don’t know why the Bucs aren’t just QB sneaking every single __ and 1. It’s pathetic that they try and mix it up with razzle dazzle and using Blount etc when you have a quarterback that gains 2 yards if he trips on his shoes.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:57 am
I find it funny how some fans were ring up Geno Smith to be the next Buc Ever since teams have adjusted to him, he went from Heisman hopefully to not even on the watch list anymore.
Even though Freeman was frustrating in the beginning I kept saying he just needs time to adjust to a new offensive coordinator. Some fans were complaining about he has been in the league for 4 years and time is up for him. Well patients is one thing when you see flashes like in the Giants game.
The only person that hasn’t shown anything is Myron Lewis. If he flash from time to then maybe fans would consider him. How in the heck can 2 rookies have more career interceptions that a 3 year vet (Leonard Johnson with 3), (Lewis, LeQuan with 1), and (Myron Lewis with 0).
November 12th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Have to agree with Tampa2 , Bucs are taking more shots downfield which I have been hoping for since 1976 . LOL . Free is getting more comfortable in offense and Martin is helping to take pressure off him . Now go to carolina and slap newton around again and get another win .
November 12th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
I’m not gonna lie, I lost hope in Freeman. I am slowly coming around. I admit he is doing well and he looks like he is growing more comfortable every game. I still in a “pinch me I’m dreaming stage” though. If he finishes the season still playing at this level, I will regain my hope for him to be the Franchise QB.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Completion percentage doesn’t mean squat ! I would rather a QB throw the ball away and have another play ….those plays add up but they limit the turnovers …
November 12th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
After the game, Phillip Rivers threw his i-phone down in frustration but it was picked off and returned for a TD!
November 12th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
this is very encouraging! i always thought josh never had proper coaching (qb&offensive). with the arrival of sully (who made eli who he is now imo) i really hope this relationship last a very long time.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Completion % only matters when those other statistics aren’t impressive. If you’re at the bottom of the league in downfield throws you better be completing about 70% of your passes. Freeman having a great year regardless of his low comp. % because he has a high success rate on big-play balls. Also the downfield threat that’s responsible for the low comp. % is also responsible for our running game success, because teams have to alter the depth of their safeties and avoid blitzing in order to avoid giving up the big play. This, in turn, has helped our banged-up offensive line tremendously, giving us great protection.
This is the domino effect of having an OC with a vision and plan for an offense. Everything builds off everything else and as long as the players execute the result is the league’s hottest offense.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
@Adam. The announcers yesterday said that since Freeman has come into the league, he is 28 for 28 on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1.
Freeman is showing the kind of qb that he will be for the rest of his career. He’s big armed, semi mobile, with avg to above avg accuracy, and good poise in crunch time
November 12th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Rivers has a good completion percentage doesn’t he? Bucs don’t run a West Coast Style offense so it doesn’t matter. Also he throws the ball away more rather than try to force it. Hey didn’t the accurate throwing Rivers do one of those? It was nonetheless a completion just to the wrong team.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Completion percentage says it all. The only reason his other numbers are better is that he has better weapons that are bailing him out. How about Lorig (I think it was) wide open by the end zone and Freeman zips the ball 10 feet above his head?? There were a number of other really bad throws, too. If we had an accurate QB we would have an incredible offense. Can’t win it all with a guy that’s never been accurate. Happy to be 5-4 right now though!
November 12th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Ink Freeman longterm as soon as Bucs clinch a playoff spot.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
@ St Augustine,
You have to wonder how much Eli Manning has been affected by the loss of Sully, he’s playing like s#$t right now (not that I mind that at all). I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants try to bring him back next year to be their offensive coordinator, but gut feeling is that someone will pounce on Sully to be a head coach next year.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Greg Olson is a BAD quarterbacks coach. I think he might of screwed with Freemans mind a bit and confused him at times. I think getting rid of Winslow is one of the biggest reasons Free is having an excellent season, he doesn’t have a loud mouth of a TE telling him to throw him the ball all time, I hated watching Josh last year force balls to WinSLOW that got intercepted so many times.. Dallas Clark over Winslow any day. That, added with the addictions of V-Jack and D-rex and Tiquan. All solid football players that aren’t selfish. Free is able to do his thing now.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
What Joe should’ve mentioned was completions OVER 40 yards, nobody is even close to Freeman, all of those that ragged on Josh at the beginning of the year cannot say anything about his play up to date, he has made some beautiful throws with the receiver in stride, no QB here has never done that consistently, none! Boomer, you can go take a hike with your Josh is a party animal and not committed to the game BS, this guy has ate, drank and slept everything NFL QB can endure and then some!
November 12th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
NFL-types look at two stats (besides wins): yards per attempt, & TD to interception ratio. Completion percentage doesn’t mean squat.
BTW–anybody know how many passes Josh has thrown now without a pic??
November 12th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Completion percentage over 40 yards “with Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams racing down his overthrown balls and out jumping the DBs to whom the balls where thrown”. Big caveats if you are rating a QB. Vincent Jackson should change his number to 500.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Completion percentage means very little compared to yards per pass (not per completion). Terry Bradshaw had a career completion percentage of 51%, but he ended his career with four super bowl rings and he’s in the Hall of Fame. Just win baby!
November 12th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
@Mike J At least 120+. Depends on when he threw the pick in the KC game.
November 12th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
@SeasonTixSinceOldSombrero
What you are stating on completion percentage goes along with working with receivers for a period of time. Almost all good QB has a really good receiver. Matthew Staford – Calvin Johnson, Matt Ryan – Joilo Jones and Roddy White, Drew Brees his whole receiving group, and the list goes on.
If you check your stats Freeman has improved as the season went on. Yes there are a few bad passes, but name a QB that doesn’t have bad passes. You comments sounds more bias than fact fill.
November 12th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Had a lot of fun at the game yesterday. They seem to be getting better every week just as Schiano preaches. It was a good crowd after all and saw a lot of smiling faces. What’s more was that even after the Chargers scored out of the gate, none of the fans around seemed bothered too much. It was as if we all knew Freeman would lead a scoring drive, and sho-nuff he did.
Resilient is the best word i can think of for this team right now, and tuff enough.
I don’t think this Buc team takes anything lightly or underestimates any opponent.
Great job by Coach Schiano this week. He too is getting better.
Hardly any penalties and what a great job by the O line.
Go Bucs!!!
November 12th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
I’m not a Fantasy guy, but I heard Eli manning had 2 points yesterday, LOL
November 12th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
@seasontix
i don’t get what you mean by “racing down balls”. If a ball if overthrown you cannot somehow run faster than your ability to go get it.
If the ball is overthrow and the receiver runs faster to catch it then they weren’t running as fast as they could in the first place.
Case and Point: If the receiver catches a deep ball it is not overthrown
November 12th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Since throwaways are included in completion percentages, I don’t really think they mean a lot…not when the other stats are good. I would rather him be low there than high in the other spots.
A lot of elite QBs over the years have had poor completion percentages.