Luke McCown 24th Best… Backup
August 21st, 2009
Wow, how the mighty, and not so mighty, have fallen.
Just a few short weeks ago, Luke McCown was a potential starter for the Bucs at quarterback, now in some circles, he’s one of the worst backup quarterbacks in the league.
At least, that’s what former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com columnist Don Banks infers. Banks ranks all the backup QBs in the NFL and he lists McCown as No. 24.
Joe isn’t so sure which was more surprising: that McCown was No. 24 or that dog-loving jailbird Michael Vick, who hasn’t played in two years, is ranked by Banks as the second-best backup in the league!
24. Luke McCown, Tampa Bay — No team’s quarterback depth chart appears as fluid as the Bucs’ right now, but we’re operating on the belief that Byron Leftwich will eventually beat out McCown for the starting job. The tricky part is, with youngsters Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson thought safe, McCown could go from No. 1 to gone if Tampa Bay doesn’t opt to carry four quarterbacks.
Geez. It’s hard to believe that McCown has sunk so quickly. Some of the names that are ranked better than McCown are such superstars as Sage Rosenfels, Chris Sims, Dan Orlovsky (who has no clue whether he is inbounds or not) and Matt Flynn.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:59 pm
VIck has been overrated for years. He has had a good defense and rushing attack while with the Falcons, but he couldn’t win against the top competition. He is fun to watch. He makes some amazing plays, but he also makes terrible boneheaded plays too. He may be better in some specialized role with the Eagles, but if McNabb gets hurt, and Vick has to play all the snaps, lookout for more boneheaded plays to finish off the Eagles season. Matt Ryan will show you what an NFL QB should be with Vick’s old team.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Ya know Joe,
I hope that McCown visits this site, and this ranking gives him a swift kick in the seat of his pants. Yeah I know he never has had any real success in the NFL, but this is his time to step up and do what he believes he can do and DO IT.
I have nothing against Leftwhich i have seen him play at Dexter Jackson’s KIDD BREWER stadium in Boone. His wind up to throw makes him a target but he sure can whip it. Will he last doing this as father time creeps up, time will tell with this situation.
I do recall the handful of games that McCown has played in for the Bucs and i dont remember him doing that bad. A safety and a few minor sack mistakes but FEW INTs I also recall McCown hitting several pass completions in a row to start some of those handful of games.. am i wrong? I just hope Mr. McCown READS that he is the 56th best QB in the NFL according to Mr. Don Banks, and it flips his switch. I wonder what Mr. Banks thought of another Buc QB back when he had just a handful of games to “show” what he could do…
Oh yeah, He went on to win a Super Bowl i believe. I saw one of his Buc games as well it did not look very flashy there and then Mr. Young… but then yesterday always looks beter in the mirror than tomorrow through the windshield..
Keep up your fine web site Joe i will keep on reading.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
It really sucks not having a decent QB or at least one that could be in the top 25 in the league. To think that possibly the 49ers and the Browns may have better QB’s than us is an outrage. I am outraged that Gruden being the supposed Offensive Guru he was supposed to be never developed us a QB and the new regime seems to make knee-jerk reactions to not having a QB. IE: Signing Leftwich, telling us that McCown could be a starter and then the Icing on the cake of drafting a QB that in no real football circles was a top tier 1rst round QB, ever. Hopefully Freeman proves us all wrong, I’m willing to eat crow to see my team excel as I’m sure Joe is as well. Go BUCS!
August 21st, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Sgt. Mike, I am glad you said Gruden was a “supposed” Offensive Guru. I never saw any reason to believe he was. Just because he had a thick playbook I guess. I would love nothing more than to see Freeman excel, and make Morris look like the genius. I’m just not confident that will happen.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:52 pm
McCown had one real opportunity to shine, and it was last weekend. Unfortunately he didn’t. He is a very likeable guy, but he will never be THE guy. I suspect this week won’t be much better for him, but hopefully the 2 kids will do their thing and light up the field. I think Banks should get credit for just knowing all 32 backups to rank them at all.
August 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
At least we’re off the “Punch a Cabbie for Sabby” story and back focused on the QB at hand.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:31 pm
SI stopped being a credible sports news source years ago. If Banks truly thinks the dog killer is the 2nd best b.u. QB, he is an idiot and works for the right magazine. While I am beginning to believe Luke is not a starting quality QB, using Banks’ way of thinking, Caddy is a better backup QB.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Luke is the kind of guy I would love to have at my back yard BBQ and share a few beers with and swap some stories…aside from that I dont think he has what it takes to be a starting QB in the NFL.
Not for a winning team anyway…
Byron Leftwich, however you spell his name correctly, was let go by another team because they obviously felt he was not suited well enough even for a backup position.
In my humble opinion, Josh Johnson and Josh Freeman should be battling it out for the starter position!
Johnson took a blown play and took it down the field running for a touchdown, even though he admits he is not a running quarterback, it demonstrates the ability to make something of nothing.
Freeman is a big man, and after watching some of the footage of his play in college, he looks like he could be groomed to be a solid performer.
With all of the off season purging of solid veterans, I think the Bucs sent a strong message that they want to focus on building (or re-building) a strong team for the future with young talent.
That being said, lets do it right and develope the young talent for the future of the franchise and ditch the habit of trying to recruit older guys who have already been discarded by other teams.
That’s just my humble opinion…
August 22nd, 2009 at 3:41 am
Derrick Brooks FA Campaign Slogan: Dog Killer: No, DUI Man Slaughter: No, Gun shot wound No. Capable linebacker: Yes, Better than younger linebackers: Yes, Still capable of 80 tackles and a couple of picks: Yes. Better than all of your back ups along with most of your starting ROLB’s: Yes. Sign me!
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:32 am
Neither McCown brother has made it as a starting QB in this league. And Josh has been with 4 teams in 4 years too, just like Leftwich. Might be a reason for that. They may simply be nothing more than servicable back-up QB’s for their respective careers.
Nothing wrong with that, some great names were servicable back-ups who occasionally got a chance. Don Strock was never starter material but is remembered for the 1982 comeback vs SD. Frank Reich – the Buffalo comeback vs Houston.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:16 am
Well all I can say is this – we Bucs fans got what we asked for…
Cutler was out there
Cassell was out there
Vick was out there
Farve was out there
Ryan Fitzpatrick was out there
Matt Leinert could have been had
Shortly Tarvaris Jackson/Sage Rosenfeld will be available
Josh Freeman isn’t ready. Sure he has POTENTIAL but he’s young and immature. He didn’t really play in a good college prep division. Big 12 isn’t NFL caliber like SEC – If there were the case why is it that no one signed Graham Harrell?
Let’s be honest with ourselves – Leftwich/McCown are just temporary QB’s until Management feels Josh Freeman is ready to start.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:24 am
Can any of those guys play corner or safety?
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
hey don’t forget that Ochostinko plays WR and K…so maybe…
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 am
If this has any truth to it then Leftwich MUST be ranked 32nd best backup because he doesn’t even deserve to be in the NFL. Way to many problems and flaws in his QB style.