Anointing And Stockpiling Quarterbacks
February 21st, 2014
Bucs GM Jason Licht said Thursday he will not “anoint’ quarterback Mike Glennon as the Bucs starter.
After spending 20+ minutes listening to Bucs general manager Jason Licht Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine held inside (thankfully) toasty Lucas Oil Stadium in temporarily warm Indianapolis (not warm today), Joe is sure Mike Glennon is going to get some company.
Licht spoke at length about Glennon and quarterbacks in general.
Licht likes a lot of things Glennon did last year but won’t “anoint” him as the Bucs’ franchise quarterback because, in short, a team cannot or should not fully judge a quarterback with that small of a sample size.
“There are a lot of positions where we don’t want to anoint as a starter,” Licht said. “We want competition for Mike. When you evaluate him off of last year, we had injuries at receiver. We had injuries at running back. We had an offensive line that didn’t play as well as they would have liked. I mean, we were 4-12 last year.
“You throw in the fact that he was a backup at the beginning of the season and getting thrown out there in the fire, there is a lot to still evaluate. You don’t get a fair picture of him like just off the tape. He will get every chance to be a starter.”
Then, Licht began to talk about what a reporter deemed “stockpiling” of quarterbacks and Licht seemed to believe in the Seahawks way, one that embraces having an arsenal of potential starting quarterbacks and letting the best man win.
“Yes, I think so,” Licht said. “I think you can’t have too many good quarterbacks. I have been fortunate to be with the Patriots where we took Tom Brady in the sixth round. It worked in Arizona with Kurt Warner. I wasn’t with the team (then) but you can get quarterbacks at all levels of the draft.
“It is not just to draft a quarterback just to draft them. If there is a player you believe in that you think has a legitimate chance to be a starter, a developmental starter, you can’t have too many of them. You are not just picking five quarterbacks to be on your roster. If you believe in them, then you should never pass.”
Later when asked about his preferred features of a quarterback, Licht noted that if a quarterback does not have some form of elusiveness, then that quarterback better have some special talents in other forms.
“It’s a big, big bonus. It’s a big, big bonus,” Licht said of a mobile quarterback. “You know, [Tom] Brady he isn’t the most athletic but he has tremendous poise. So you have to make up for [lack of mobility] with something else if you don’t have that athleticism. It’s a big, big bonus.”
After listening to Licht and just reading the tea leaves, two works spring to mind when the third day of the draft begins in May: Jimmy Garoppolo.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:05 am
Let’s throw a handful of granola at Jake Plummer and try to lure him out of retirement….
February 21st, 2014 at 9:11 am
Absolutely GREAT article Joe. I am really beginning to like this Licht cat.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:12 am
Thanks Scotty.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:14 am
Vick and Jimmy will make an interesting August. I’m all for it!
February 21st, 2014 at 9:24 am
I’m cool with Jimmy Garoppolo. Competition is good. .
February 21st, 2014 at 9:25 am
Jimmy Garoppolo, COMPLETELY agree.
I would draft him no later than our 2rd pick.
He’s fairly mobile, QUICK release…AND ACCURATE.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:26 am
A great point by our new GM…Tom Brady was a 6th round choice. 1st round QB’s might be flashier but there are no guarantees even then! Bring in a vet and draft a rookie in the later rounds to compete with MG8! If we started the season with MG8, Matt Schaub/Josh McCown, and Aaron Murray as our signal callers….and used our early draft picks to add a few more weapons and upgrade our lines ( Ebron, Watkins, Matthews, Barr, Mack etc…) I would feel great about our chances in 2014!
February 21st, 2014 at 9:42 am
I hope my first new logo jersey is a Jimmy Garrapolo !!!!!
February 21st, 2014 at 9:46 am
Call Brett!!!
February 21st, 2014 at 9:50 am
MG8 does not care who all the backup QB’s will be!
February 21st, 2014 at 9:50 am
We only have 5 draft picks this year. If we don’t take a QB with our first, using a draft pick on a QB after that is nothing short of a gamble and a waste of a draft pick IMO. Do this in the future when we happen to have extra picks to gamble with.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:53 am
Might be a helluva reach at No. 38.
February 21st, 2014 at 9:59 am
Draft:
1st rd: Mack
2nd rd: WR (draft is deep with WR this yr)
4th rd: OT (groom Penn’s replacement)
5, 6 & 7: Best player available for depth for DE, G, LB or DB
FA:
DE: Allen?
Guard
Nickel Back: Spillman?
Misc
February 21st, 2014 at 9:59 am
bring in as many as possible. I would be happy with two solid veteran FA QB’s and a rookie on the practice squad. let the best man win.
February 21st, 2014 at 10:01 am
MG8 for President
February 21st, 2014 at 10:07 am
Hey! …Wait ..a $#@% minute!!
The Glennon Mob welcomes the competition.
We never said we didn’t…
But we’re not idiots to know that if they select a QB in the 1st round, Glennon will be backup.
So since that’s probably not going to happen, it is safe to say that whoever the staff brings in, Glennon will be given a fair shot to win the job.
That’s all we have asked for and it sounds like the Bucs agree.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it!
I also mentioned the other day we should draft Jimmy Garoppolo with our 2nd pick. Finally I think that Joe has turned the corner and realizes the J.Manziel dream is becoming distant memory. Lets get real!
February 21st, 2014 at 10:11 am
garopolo will be gone in round 2. whichever qb hungry team passes on a qb in round 1 (e.g. cleveland, oakland) will draft one in the 2nd.
February 21st, 2014 at 10:13 am
mg8 for president of the Geoffrey fan club.
February 21st, 2014 at 10:33 am
Joe Says:
February 21st, 2014 at 9:53 am
I would draft him no later than our 2rd pick.
Might be a helluva reach at No. 38.
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haha ….and you’re ready to give up the farm for Manziel but call Garoppolo a reach in the second. I don’t get it. JG is one of the best of five QBs in this draft and you’re worried about where he gets picked. We don’t have a 3rd rounder and even if we did, I guarantee he’ll be gone by then. What? Is it now, Manziel, or nothing for you?
February 21st, 2014 at 10:45 am
Question is….will Garropolo be available at 38? A lot of teams feel the same way, and I think there will be a rush to grab these QB’s while they’re available, we will see. Great article joe!
February 21st, 2014 at 10:56 am
I am all in on Garrapollo – even if its not to start right now. By then we can also sign M. Vick and there is continuity because Vick isn’t getting any younger.
February 21st, 2014 at 11:01 am
@Samcro
Don’t you know the only way for the haters to spew there stupidity in an intelligent way is to make up stuff that us “MGMers” have said?
February 21st, 2014 at 11:38 am
NO TO VICK!!!!
I get stressed every time someone suggests we bring in that crappy quarterback, lol. Architek, you now know one of my peeve buttons. 😉
On topic, I really don’t see how the MGM can believe Glennon has what the new coach, GM and OC want in a quarterback. They have to say they will give him a chance, but everything they say otherwise make it clear.
They do not feel they have a franchise QB in Glennon.
Like I’ve said all along, they want an elusive QB. Doesn’t have to be a completely mobile guy, but they want one that can buy time in the pocket at least and Glennon’s pocket presence sucks. He doesn’t panic, I’ll give him that. But he does the opposite. He is too calm. He doesn’t move around to buy time.
His pocket moves consist of 1-2 steps forward. That’s it.
February 21st, 2014 at 12:01 pm
Garrapollo should last to the 3rd and maybe 4th. McCarron, Murray and Carr will be in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
February 21st, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Soooo, even the Glennon mob realizes that Glennon has no elusiveness… and what is it he brings to offset that? He doesn’t have a big arm, not particularly accurate, doesn’t have great poise… does height count? Because I see nothing else to make up for his complete lack of special abilities.
February 21st, 2014 at 12:24 pm
They have to say they will give him a chance, but everything they say otherwise make it clear.
They do not feel they have a franchise QB in Glennon.
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Oh please, please tell me wise one. Just what is it they have done/said that makes it sooooooooo clear to you that they dont believe in Glennon.
February 21st, 2014 at 12:41 pm
I will lmao if we draft a QB to start. Starting any of these rookie QB’s would mean….rebuild. The new regime get’s a pass with Glennon. If he fail’s…no biggy. He’s not their guy so then they can move on. If they bring in a rookie to start. Chances are very slim that ANY of these rookies can match Glennon’s 19-9 TD/Int. I could see it know. 1-3 going into week 4. With a rook playing OK. A fumble and 4 Int’s in week 4. The season is a wash. Glennon mobster’s rioting before games. The kiss of death for the new regime if this rook fail’s. Bringing in a vet to compeat with Glennon is a safer bet. For everyone
February 21st, 2014 at 2:01 pm
Bucs GM Jason Licht said Thursday he will not “anoint’ quarterback Mike Glennon as the Bucs starter.
i think i just heard a toilet flush with that comment because he didnt show enough to beat out any kind of veteran, great that he threw for over 60%, its great that he threw 19 td’s to only 9 int’s…exactly what you want out of a quarterback? nope because those are the stats you are supposed to have if everything seems like a checkdown, it’s not like we were running j gruden’s west coast offense
February 21st, 2014 at 3:09 pm
I think the problem in Tampa Bay is that we have really never had a true franchise quarterback. There has been such a long ongoing list of mediocre QBs that people have become just willing to “settle.” If a guy is just halfway decent – mediocre – people have come to feel that it’s about the best they can expect, so they’re willing to anoint him. Sensibilities have been numbed. But like the John Belushi speech at the end of Animal House, “Not me, I’m not gonna take this.” Like the newscaster in Network, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Not being argumentative, but I’d really like to know from ALL the people who think Glennon is great: With all the QB starved teams around the league, what do you honestly think he’s worth on the open market? A 1st round pick? A 2nd? A 3rd? A 4th? What? Because surely with the premium on a great QB and the # of teams out there who need one, there would be a demand for Glennon, wouldn’t there? So I sincerely would love to read the well reasoned thoughts regarding what you think his true value is around the league.
February 21st, 2014 at 4:03 pm
SAMMY WATKINS
February 21st, 2014 at 4:32 pm
“It’s a big, big bonus. It’s a big, big bonus,” Licht said of a mobile quarterback. “You know, [Tom] Brady he isn’t the most athletic but he has tremendous poise. So you have to make up for [lack of mobility] with something else if you don’t have that athleticism. It’s a big, big bonus.”
I’ve been saying this all offseason lol
If Glennon does not compensate for his lack of elussiveness/mobility by providing other elevated traits he will not be our guy.
February 21st, 2014 at 4:39 pm
“It’s a big, big bonus. It’s a big, big bonus,” Licht said of a mobile quarterback. “You know, Bra dy he isn’t the most athletic but he has tremendous poise. So you have to make up for [lack of mobility] with something else if you don’t have that athleticism. It’s a big, big bonus.”
I’ve been saying this all offseason lol
If Glennon does not compensate for his lack of elussiveness/mobility by providing other elevated traits he will not be our guy.
February 21st, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Jeagan1999 Says:
February 21st, 2014 at 9:26 am
If we started the season with MG8, Matt Schaub/Josh McCown, and Aaron Murray as our signal callers….and used our early draft picks to add a few more weapons and upgrade our lines ( Ebron, Watkins, Matthews, Barr, Mack etc…) I would feel great about our chances in 2014!
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Schaub was a 6 pick waiting to happen; McCown is more closer to retirement. A QB is an essential need. It won’t do any good to get a deep threat like Watkins if the QB throwing to him is Capt Checkdown.
February 21st, 2014 at 5:09 pm
I like Garoppolo with the 38th pick, don’t think it’s a reach at all.
If the QB is the face of the team, this kid has Tom Cruise type good looks.
I think Glennon could be the face of Toys’R’Us.