Bucs quarterback Josh Johnson has looked better with every snap he’s taken, but he may not have much longer to impress the team.
According to NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora, “people in the organization expect a move to be made” to first-round pick Josh Freeman after Tampa’s Week Eight bye if the Bucs don’t win the next two games. (Thanks to JoeBucsFan for the tip.)
The news isn’t a huge surprise; Bucs coach Raheem Morris admitted that he almost gave Freeman some playing time at the end of last week’s loss to the Eagles.
Morris also made this curious statement about Freeman this week:
“Freeman’s opportunity will come if Josh Johnson fails. I don’t like to
talk about Josh Johnson failing because right now he’s our quarterback,” Morris said.
(But, uh, Morris did just talk about him failing. He also oddly said he was grooming Johnson to be a “career backup” last month. Should someone be coaching Morris up for his press conferences?)
Tampa faces the Panthers at home this week, which is a winnable game. Then they head to London to face the Patriots before the bye week.
“He understand how to reads blocks.”
when is the end of the raheem morris era going to be here already?
This might be a little off topic, but I haven’t seen this discussed anywhere on this site or through the media. Coach Morris made a gutless, pitiful, and otherwise piss-porr decision to kick a field goal on fourth and goal from the 3 yard line, down by six, with 5 minutes left. Let’s look at the three scenarios:
If you kick a field goal there (which they did), you must hold the Redskins without a first down on their subsequent possesion or else they would run out the clock (which the Bucs could not do).
If you go for it on fourth down and don’t get it, you must hold the Redskins without a first down on their subsequent possesion or else they would run out the clock. You also gain approximately 20-30 yards of field position (the Redskins would have it on the 3 for a failed attempt, a kickoff return would have them at around the 30). The 20-30 yards of field position almost makes up for the fact that you will now need a touchdown instead of a field goal.
If you get the touchdown, you are in the lead.
The guy is an idiot and doesn’t understand these basic concepts. Get rid of him ASAP.
Everyone said that in drafting Freeman, Tampa Bay was getting a big talent, but a very raw one who was going to have to sit, learn and develop at least a year before he could be trusted to start.
Panic makes you do ugly things. Freeman could be the next JaMarcus Russell if Tampa doesn’t handle this right.
Raheem “Radio” Morris is the biggest idiot to ever coach in the NFL. This bozo has got to go.
Here’s the problem with the Bucs. Just b/c you picked Freeman in the 1st round and paid him big money doesn’t mean he’s going to be THAT guy. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. But for now you have Josh Freeman who looks really good.
Josh Johnson has IT. There really is something there now if he loses the next two games which is pretty likely he’s out. That’s BS. He is the only thing that has potential right now on that entire roster. Sorry BucFan, it’s going to be a long season.
Freeman should have been starting from day 1. Unless your team has a legitimate #1 for your rookie to sit behind, just start em and see what they can do. Winslow is there, thats as good a security blanket as a young QB can ask for. I was shocked they didn’t start him week 1, and I was even more baffled they let Josh Joshson play before him too. Let Freeman get in there and get some playtime under his belt. Obviously cant hurt, being 0-5.
K-State fan here… Freeman’s gonna wing it, and he’s gonna make alot of bad throws. Once he gets his head on straight, he has alot of potential. But if he plays this year, opposing Ds should have good fantasy weeks.
Does this mean TB is a one Josh town?
Josh Freeman is nothing more than the next Ryan Leaf, except 16 draft choices lower in the first round. If the Bucs lose this weekend and Freeman starts after the bye, 0-16 baby, 0-16. Show Junior Morris the way out of town. What a wasted season. I would have liked to see what Gruden would have done with the three backs and two TE’s the Bucs have especially with his love of the Wildcat offense on MNF.
The Josh Freeman Era is going to be like 4 games.
ryan leaf… really? jamarcus russell… really? and on what basis do you two make these comparisons?
not only does freeman have all the physical tools, he is by all accounts of extremely HIGH CHARACTER. he had a excellent work ethic at K-State, and this was evidenced by his progressive improvements from freshman to junior year.
dont be so quick to throw around ridiculous labels without being educated – just because a kid has physical tools but “isnt ready to step into” a terrible situation like tampa bay “on day one” doesnt mean he is “the next ryan leaf.”
It doesn’t matter if you go out and trade for Peyton Manning if you don’t have the coaches to call the plays. The Bucs are a better team this year than they were last year but the coaching is terrible. Give up on this new defensive scheme until you have the players to play a “man coverage” defense. Too much pride to admit it’s not working. If they lose to Carolina I don’t know where on the schedule they get their win.
A O-Co. that is a QB coach. A D-Co. that coached the defense of the swiss cheese Broncos for all those bad defensive years. A HC that is a DB coach. None of them have a clue. I feel sorry for Freeman when he does have to play. That poor kid is going to get demolished.
Josh Johnson cannot take the blame if the Bucs lose to Carolina this week. Mark my words, the Bucs will have many more reasons for losing the game other than rookie QB Johnson. Anyone who thinks otherwise has not been watching QB Johnson at the helm.
Start the rookie you have nothing else to lose you’ve already lost them all!!!
At the least we will have an idea of what Freeman is able to do and whether expectations of him should be higher or lower in the seasons to come.
As far as Johnson, he has been the league 2 seasons and so far he looks to be a fairly decent backup at best. Rooky QBs are coming in, starting right away, and showing more talent and promise so he seems to be falling behind or a slow learner.
Get Freeman in their and either prove to many of us he was worth moving up in the first round for or whether that was one of the most dumbest moves ever in the history of the draft!
Raheem screwed the pooch by not giving Josh & Josh many reps when he was concentrating on McCown & Leftwich during preseason. Now he’s relying on JJ who has a year under his belt working with Greg Olson. Freeman is out of his element right now and if he goes in – its David Carr syndrome all over again.
jliskiew,
According to reports from the horrible coach and GM of the Bucs currently, Josh Freeman showed up to camp overweight and unmotivated and that is the reason he hasn’t cracked the starting lineup yet. Junior Morris is going to anything he can to save his job, and will most likely retreat to his K-State days, (see the recent signing of Yamon Figurs) to save his azz. Neither Freeman nor Figurs will save his job. Freeman, was never a 1st round pick in the draft, will end up being a career backup, floating from team to team just like Russell and Vince Young will be. Josh Johnson is the quarterback which should be given an entire season to develop.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to have a really good draft pick next year. They are in a race with the Raiders for the number one spot.
bucco bruce:
do you have a link to morris saying this? i would be interested to read about this…
first off Josh Freeman was compared to Campbell when he was drafted, personally i dont know much about him, but in my view, he shouldnt play this year, he has potential, but so does Josh Johnson, see what he can do all year then have a competition and if Freeman is better than Johnson it will show in camp, Johnson could be a find.
i believe the decision to play johnson is two-fold…
one – see if he can be the long term backup solution to freeman.
two – if he performs well enough, maybe they can get decent trade value for him, say a 4th rounder – excellent considering that is where they originally drafted him at.
Ok, so lets take a step back and think…….We know that the Bucs consider Josh J. a career back up and Josh F. a career franchise QB. We also know now that Josh J. is a descent QB with potential and we dont know anything about Freeman. So put the kid in and see what hes got, this season is a wash. I f he cant handle the pressure than we know a little more about what we have as our future franchise. Luckily theres alot of good college QB’s coming out next year so I say let the kid play, see what kinda moxy he has if he plays like crap maybe we can trade him to Chicago for a 2nd round pick ( ahahahahahahhhhhhhaaaaaahhaaa cant believe they gave us a high pick for Gaines .) PS I think people are being a bit harsh on Raheem, have you seen the lack of talent the Glaziers are giving him to work with.