Josh Freeman’s Flaws “Too Visible”
December 25th, 2012
Joe is starting to wonder how much if any Josh Freeman has improved over last year after reading a nugget from the numberscrunchers at ProFootballFocus.com.
Joe thought it was interesting earlier this year that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik noted in his first interview with Greg Schiano, the very first words were to Dominik and Team Glazer was that Freeman is forcing the ball “too much to the tight end,” meaning Kellen Winslow, Jr.
Has Freeman broken that habit? Read between the lines of a break down of Freeman by Khaled Elsayed.
Frail Freeman
So how about that 2009 class of quarterbacks? When the Bucs were winning we weren’t among those buying into the Josh Freeman (-3.2) hype. With the running game struggling to get going and the team forced to play catch up, his flaws have been all too visible.
His decision making is at times ponderous, his accuracy erratic and his chemistry with Mike Williams suggesting something of a turbulent relationship. He threw the ball over 10 yards in the air on 22 occasions yet completed just six of these passes. It was as if he came into the game saying he was going to attack two rookie cornerbacks despite what the coverage was like. His 55.6% completion percentage flattered him and he finds himself in a position where next year is a truly massive year for him.
So, adding two-and-two together, is Freeman now forcing balls to Williams? Notice that, per ProFootballFocus, three of Freeman’s picks were targeted for Williams.
Well, Winslow may be gone, but is Freeman still locked in on certain receivers? Notice Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said the Bucs were tipping off plays.
Is there a way teams have figured out when Freeman is targeting Williams, thus accounting for Freeman’s ugly spike in interceptions?
December 25th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
At no point this year, I could honestly say I remember thinking Freeman is forcing the ball to Williams in particular. But there are a lot of times where he makes you think that he’s just throwing a ball up for grabs and hoping one of ours will catch it. His decision making and his accuracy is atrocious most of the time. I cant speak for anyone else but to me his career thus far has been defined by slow starts and an inability to win big games. Has the defense been a problem? Absolutely but there have been a lot of games that we could of won with better QB play as well. It’s not all the Defense, its not all the play calling and it’s not all Freeman… But he is a big problem as of right now.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
A good start is to follow Freeman’s eyes. Going through his progressions is not his strong suit, even after 4 years.
December 25th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
okay Joe, really having a hard time keeping up here… yes , no , against Freeman , with Freeman, sign him, don”t sign him…..wtf ??
and who is this Khaled dude….you sure he knows Football and not Cricket ?
December 25th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
It’s pretty clear what joe thinks
December 25th, 2012 at 9:59 pm
If indeed there is something going on that tips off the Defense where Free is going with the football before it is snapped then Freeman has even more problems than I thought. I hope that is not the case because that is the last thing you would want from ANY QB in this league.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
I was a Freeman supporter now im on the bring in alex smith bandwagon. Try n trade freeman n draft pick(s)to the cards for darnell docket. Last time we traded for a cardinals DE it worked out pretty well haha.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
It is a good question. We may never know.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
Mike Williams has been responsible for many of Freeman’s INT’s over the years #19 is a LAZY route runner (unless he’s going deep), doesn’t fight for the ball on shorter routes, Poor body positioning on shorter routes, always falling down due to poor pregame prep/testing surface at full speed. Often mis-times jumps
December 25th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Mike Martz, doing color, said two of the picks were on Williams;Williams didn’t show great effort coming off the ball, sorta loping. That doesn’t help create separation.
The Bucs need a bona fide underneath target.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
@Joe wrote:
Is there a way teams have figured out when Freeman is targeting Williams, thus accounting for Freeman’s ugly spike in interceptions?
Yes, he’s staring down his receivers. If I’m the opposing defense I’ll just watch his eyes.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Maybe he’s just a bad QB.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
I got it figured out, the evil genius Rockstar is hoping to build the worst team in the NFL next year with Gosh and the Little General. That will give him the #1 over all pick in 2014. Then he gets to pick Jadeveon Clowney, the best football player of this century.
Raphael is going to love Clowney, unless of course, he only dates QB’s.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
@ Miguel,
Dom is going to have the worst team without trying to. It’s a gift…..
December 25th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
lmao ….Freeman is the man in this town brah …
December 25th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Lets compare last five games between Freeman 4 years Brees 12 years and Eli 9 years
W/L Freeman 0-5 Brees 2-3 Eli 2-3
TD’s Freeman 5 Brees 11 Eli 9
Int’s Freeman 9 Brees 9 Eli 4
SO WHATS BREES EXCUSE??? BREES HAS 9 AND ELI 5 YEARS OF PLAY ON FREEMAN, BREES NOR ELI ARE NOT LEARING A NEW OFFENSE NEITHER HAD A COMPLETE COACHING STAFF CHANGE BREES AND ELI ALSO NOT GOING TO PLAYOFFS….. NO ONE IS SCREAMING TO REPLACE THEM. JOSH WILL BE FINE LET HIM LEARN THE NEW SYSTEM….. AGAIN IT TOOK ELI SEVERALYEARS TO LEARN IT!!!!! AGAIN DID ANYONE REALLY EXPECT THE BUCS TO GO TO PLAYOFFS?????
December 25th, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Must be some seriously spiked eggnog around…….
December 25th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Brent did you really just attempt to compare Freeman to Eli and Brees? I’m not sure how much more of these silly comparisons I can take…. Yes Let’s compare Freeman, who hasent won anything meaningful to 2 proven super bowl winners. Unbelieveable.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
Exactly Silence lol
December 25th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
@silence exactly as of the last 5 games where was Brees and Eli at in their 4th year? I think Freeman needs one more year to learn think back as to what each year for Freeman has been with the bucs each year alot of changes off cords, lockouts and and new systems.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Josh Freeman and Mike Williams are struggling in this offense. Their are many “option” routes that call for The QB and the WR to read the defense and run/throw to the correct spot on the field. There have been many miscomuniations between Freeman and all his receivers while running these “option” routes. Mike Williams has had more bad reads then any other receiver. This offense helped the Giants win several Super Bowls. But it has also caused some problems for Eli Manning and still does even today. I am not certain Josh will ever be able to run this scheme with any real succss. He will have next year to figure it out.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Brent….
Where was Ryan leaf and Jamarcus Russell at during there 4th year? See comparisons go both ways and they really mean nothing. I understand where you are coming from but you cant compare super bowl winners to a guy who hasent won anything and then ask why arent they calling for Brees and Eli’s head.. The answer is pretty straight forward.
Now to the rest of your post, I understand where you are coming from. But in all honesty most of Freemans problems have nothing to do with the coaches or the scheme. He had the same problems last year when he had the same coaches and the same scheme 3 years in a row. You cant just ignore all these negative facts against Freeman and only look at the maybes.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
If you are going to compare Freeman to any quarterback it isn’t Drew Brees.
Try Neil Lomax.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
@Mac thats exaclly what I think let him get another year without crazy changes and if he does not get it then well we neeed to move on meantime we should look at a better second receiver for him too. I think also the Pats trade of Talib maybe a move for us to get Ryan Mallet as Frees backup….. Just a thought…
December 26th, 2012 at 12:56 am
“Let’s give Freeman another year” and if that fails blow it up again and start over. The Glazers have no clue.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:58 am
@Brent@Mac: No way in hell can Williams be responsible for most of the interceptions Freeman has thrown his way. If it wasn’t for Williams, Freeman would have a helluva lot more interceptions or incomplete passes. This cat fights for the ball on most every catch. He’s basically bailing out the QB, as is most of the receivers on this team. I’m not saying Freeman hasn’t made some unbelievable throws because he has. But that throws were great because the receiver did something incredible to make it a completed pass. The pass to Jackson at the end of regulation vs the Panters? I’m more impressed with Jackson’s concentration than I am the throw. If Vincent is an average receiver, that’s an incomplete pass. I’m no “Freeman hater”, but I’m all for a change of the guard or at the very least some competition to push him for the starting position. Bottom line: His play has cost this team far too many wins. Solely? No. The defense has its weaknesses. But the defense has put the ball in his hands far far too many times only to come up empty.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:37 am
I see what we have here a bunch of attack the new guy or run the newbies off the site.
IN THE NAME OF THOMAS 2.0! ITS GONE BE A NEW DAY!
MAGGOTRONS
December 26th, 2012 at 5:22 am
@SacBucs… just seeing how smart these guys think they are…. I’m all good 😉
December 26th, 2012 at 5:59 am
hey sacbucs,
when you’re done typing, and after you roll over in bed to whisper sweet nothings in his ear, can and tell thomas we miss him?
December 26th, 2012 at 6:00 am
second “and” = “you”
December 26th, 2012 at 9:38 am
Good GOD! I hope we are not in for another week of sign him bash him. I hope there is more interesting news coming out of 1 Buc Place.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:41 am
Oh, and this is the third OC and QB coach Freeman has worked with, he had the same head coach for three years leading up to Schiano, but not the same scheme andOC and QB coach. So some number cruncher and the local radio hacks have a bunch of fans in an uproaor. Big deal, he will be here next year and most likley for many years to come. I will say that is qwe all agreed we probably would not visit and post on this site so much.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
If the Bucs go for QB in the 1st round they need to get Geno Smith, if not go CB. They could get good vaule in rounds 3 and 4 for people like Lance Jones, Tajh Boyd, or
Aaron Murray to put behind Freeman. All of them have a way better completion percentage than Freeman. I know the offensive line is banged up, but Freeman has everything any QB could ask for and still isn’t proven to be a good QB just a top 15. I would person like to do better and get a consistent top 10 QB. Freeman plays like a top 10 sometimes then he plays like Blaine Gabbert other times(OHHHHH JAGUAR FREEMAN BURN)
December 26th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
@ Pinnacl3…. Your reading comprehension is not very good today. Please re read my first sentence. The one that states “Both Freeman and Mike Williams are struggling”. Your frustration towards Freeman is clouding your intellect. It is a team sport. Freeman has played bad lately, but this offense is very compilcated and it has made many QBs look very bad. Look at Eli Mannings first four years. He struggled as bad as Freeman until he and his receivers fully grasped the offense. Try not to just hate Freeman. He gets credited with every pick but they are not all on him.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
We might as well just draft tall wide outs because all freeman can do is throw a long bomb hope the guy can jump farther than the other guy…
December 27th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Mike has had one questionable game, i love how now everyone is scampering to the first new option of an excuse for Free Free cause your grip on the other ones is loosening lol