Leftwich “Has No Upside”
August 27th, 2009
BSPN.com writer Pat Yasinskas is way down on Byron Leftwich
Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, of BSPN.com, pulls no punches in his assessment of Byron Leftwich and the Bucs quarterback competition.
It’s one of the strongest opinions to date among the slew of beat writers and commentators. Vacation Man basically says Leftwich is a waste of space yet Raheem The Dream prefers him.
Verdict: I strongly suspect Morris will take the cautious approach and go with Leftwich. But I’d go with McCown or maybe even throw Freeman in from the start. It was established in Leftwich’s Jacksonville days that he’s not a franchise quarterback. Morris likes to say he’s not preparing for failure. But going with Leftwich, who has no upside, sure sounds like the Bucs are aiming for mediocrity.
Joe, too, prefers McCown. But it’s growing obvious Raheem The Dream prefers Leftwich as the place-holder before Josh Freeman grabs the reins.
Joe hopes either McCown or Leftwich make this an easy decision with their play tonight.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:12 am
I partially agree with Pat. I’d start Freeman now too, and let JJ back him up. I’d get rid of the other two, or keep McCown as #3 if no one else is available. The Bucs had a young QB tryout for the team in the spring as a WR. He was very athletic and I think played QB for a small school. I know they liked him and maybe he could be a #3. Joe, do you know that kid’s name?
August 27th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Sorry, Rodney Landers from James Madison. QB
August 27th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I whole heartedly agree with Pat. I’ve never saw at all what the point was ever signing Leftwich to begin with, Not after his 4 years as a starter for Jacksonville. Poor QB attributes and inconsistancy is the reason that the Jaguars cut him from the way I understood it. Oh well! Maybe, and with the way Raheem and Mark’s decisions have seemed so far it is a BIG MAYBE, Freeman will work out.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Everyday, every practice and every game that Freeman does not start is a wasted moment and is a moment lost forever.
Leftwich has no upside, with the exception that he has a winning record as a starter, (24-22 is that good?) I agree with Pat 100%. Leftwich and McCown really don’t have much to offer Freeman as role models either.
I know many of the Junior GM’s out in Bucsland will say…no way, Freeman isn’t ready to start, needs to ride the pine and “learn” for a year (or more), his psyche will be destroyed, etc.
Perhaps they are correct, maybe not but Leftwich is not the answer, and if he is, what is the question?
August 27th, 2009 at 10:05 am
@ Joe –> Why the infatuation with McCown? I began the offseason absolutely in man love with McCown’s athleticism and potential but now…not so much. This was McCown’s job to lose (2.6 mil signing bonus and he’s been with the team for 5 years) from the very beginning and he let the new guy come in and take it from him. Luke got beat out throughout training camp and Game 1 in the QB Derby. Don’t let Game 2 erase the memory of a few very uneven months from Luke Skywalker.
@ Pete –> C’mon bro, Freeman is NOT ready. He was OK in OTAs, he was inconsistent in Training Camp, he was terrible in Game 1 (he had a radar LOCK on his #1 read and threw 3-4 interceptible balls), and he showed flashes in Game 2 (Loved that clock draining drive!). The totality of the situation shows me that he is NOT ready. Furthermore, starting Freeman now would fly in the face of everything Raheem is trying to build (Playing the player who wins the competition at each position) and somewhat undercut his credibility with the locker room.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Sensible fan -> Do you really want Leftwich starting for your team? Better 2-14 with Freeman than 6-10 with Leftwich. But clearly the 10 year plan will have to wait.
Byron Leftwich would be hard pressed to start almost anywhere else in football, even at Marshall this year. Only the Bucs are willing to give him that chance. Unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Frankly is Leftwich ready? He’s been doing something for 6 years in this league.
I sure hope he proves me wrong but our best QB is Leftwich. Blech
August 27th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Sensi, Freeman probably isn’t quite ready but he will get better with playing time and Gameday experience. McCown and Leftwich are both one bad play away from disaster every time they take the field. They both may be slightly better than Freeman, but not much. It is worth the gamble to play the Rookie if he is the future guy. If I was the Coach, which I’m not, thank goodness (can only give my loudmouth opinion from the 3’rd level , 40 yd line, tonight, finally) I’d start Josh Johnson tonight and see if can handle it with the starting units. I believe that right now JJ is our best chance to win. I think Freeman may be soon, but I’d take Freeman over the other two vets any day. I also believe that although no one at the palace will admit it, that the final decision will be made by the Glazers.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
@ Pete –> Absolutely! And I’ll tell you why (excuse me for reposting what I wrote on another site):
He’s slow. He’s got a long release. But he’s my guy…for now. Throughout training camp I’ve slowly sided with L’wich due to him consistently beating out McCown in practice in both accuracy and pushing the deep ball (which is essential in Jags’ offense). If the offense truly revolves around the run (ideally the QB gets 20-25 passes/game), Lefty looks even better. Unlike Luke, who dinks and dunks, Lefty has the tools, the experience, and the proclivity to make three to four splash plays a game via the deep pass. Lastly, I hate to say this (because it’s really hard to qualify) the Bucs offense just has more swagger when Leftwich comes into the game. He’s a team leader now and he’ll start the first half of the year.
There’s no question that Freeman has ALL the physical tools necessary to succeed in this league. His weakness right now is from the neck up. Like BigMac said his problems are experience, knowledge of the game and, to a lesser extent, decision making ability. Where Big Mac and I disagree is how to get there. I say give him some time to get in the film room to look at NFL defenses, to at practice against NFL caliber coverage (he’ll go against 1st team D), to go through game planning and prep, etc. Him getting picked off 26 times is not going to make him a better QB. Think of this situation as being analogous to a Med Student: They don’t just throw him straight into brain surgery, he get little nibbles here and there and eventually he’ll be prepared to practice as a surgeon. Give him more time.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Well I hope your right, I really do, if lefty is the guy I will be cheering him on but I just can’t help but feel this won’t have a quasi-happy ending. I could be wrong, I’ve been wrong before.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Shitwich isn’t the answer, and neither is McCown. Great, Shitwich can throw deep passes, but he showed tonight that he can’t get those passes anywhere close to a receiver. This guy has a winning record because he had Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith in Jax to help bail him out, and a defense that could shut down people–he just happened to be the QB that was starting, thus he got the win on his record. Garrard is the same way, neither of these guys are worth a shit! Raheem has already decided Shitwich is his bridge to Freeman, but I think there are enough others in the organization that wants McCown to have the reins. Neither one of them deserves it, but Freeman showed tonight he’s not even close to being ready, and truth be told, he’ll never be ready and will show that he is the second coming of Ryan Leaf over the next 3-4 yrs. Too bad we’re going to miss out on the Sam Bradfords and Colt McCoys because we have our “QB of the future”!!