Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

There is no question whom the starting quarterback of the Buccaneers is this year, unlike last. Going into this season, their quarterback has nine games of pro experience in what would be his rookie year had he decided to finish his college eligibility.

So, with only a single offseason in which the offensive coordinator is properly prepared for the upcoming season with new plays and formations in tow to officially run his offense, it begs the question, how much time does Josh Freeman need under center in the preseason to be ready to go with his new receivers?

The heavy investment in new receiving personnel, and the lack of production from the leftover crew of wideouts, should translate into a significant amount of preseason time together to get the kinks out and their groove on. But as surely as night follows day, now that Freeman is “The Man,” he will follow the well-worn script of all his starting QB predecessors: In Game 1 of preseason game he’ll play the first quarter (and possibly a series of the second, depending on how many offensive plays the team gets), the first half of Game #2, into the 3rd quarter in Game 3 and a brief appearance in the preseason finale.

There is almost no variance from this script when you are deemed the starting QB in the NFL.

If I’m not mistaken, even Joe Flacco two years ago and Matthew Stafford last year followed this system pretty closely even without a down of NFL experience.  Mark Sanchez wasn’t far off, but he had the more experienced Kellen Clemens to fight off. And in football sometimes you have to give the illusion of competition to the veteran, even though everyone knows the outcome of the QB competition.

I expect Sam Bradford’s preseason playing time in St. Louis to look exactly the same as Freeman’s, even though he is a rookie who barely even played football last year.

There is always the talk about building the quarterback’s “chemistry” with the receivers and there is some truth to the concept of familiarity helping somewhere along the line.

There is a great description of just that in the current edition of ESPN The Magazine.  The coverboy, Aaron Rogers, is one of my favorite QBs (he needs to quit trying to make so many big plays, protect the ball and live to play another down), and he explains a big play to Donald Driver last year that was all non-verbal communication and each player just “knowing” what the other would do and how it worked out perfectly.

These things are worked on over time, but Brett Favre really blew the whole “chemistry” concept out of the water after he missed training camp with a brand new team and then made unbelievable play after play throughout the season, while leading them to the NFC Championship game with barely had a handful of practices with the Vikings under his belt. 

Yes, I understand he was almost a 20-year vet, but there was no “chemistry” built at all.

Just don’t go into this preseason expecting the Buccaneers’ coaching staff to veer from the format that everyone has used for so many years. Remember, the NFL is a copycat league.  (Heck, with the Vikings’ success, teams might start bringing in their QBs after training camp and giving that a shot).

By the way, bringing in Jeff Garcia to play back-up to Freeman would be a more red-flagged mistake than making Byron Leftwich the starter last season, and we know how well that experiment went.  Not only is he a year removed from the NFL at 40+ years old, but Garcia breaks down more well-designed plays by scrambling before they even have a chance to form that he looks like a Jack Russell Terrier chasing a field full of rabbits.

“Jiminy Christmas” that sends offensive coordinators out of the league sometimes.

Ex-Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

Late June and early July is always the slowest time of the year in the NFL, and without a question or controversy about the starting QB, interesting news is seriously lacking on the Buccaneers front. This gives us a chance to look at a couple of other issues that we may otherwise skip right by.

It was announced recently that there would only be a few training camp practices open to the public in the first week of camp. Is it good business to limit fan access to training camp?  In a word, I say, ‘Yes.’

Economics 101, the law of supply and demand, says that to increase demand supply must be reduced.

When the Rays signed a TV deal to broadcast almost every one of their 162 games on local TV, did they reduce the demand to see one of the best teams in MLB live?  I think so.  I know for my family, we follow the Rays closely and watch nightly, but we rarely attend games (due to multiple reasons). If the games weren’t on my 60-inch high definition screen, I guarantee we would go to more games.

How many more? I’m not sure, because spare time is probably the biggest hindrance from attending.  My guess is that I’m in the majority on this issue, as watching games with today’s television technology is much more enjoyable than my view at the game usually is and no cowbell in my ears to worry about, either.

The experience of attending games live is more about tradition and sharing that experience with my children than anything else. Do the Rays make more money on ticket sales or TV revenue?  I don’t know the answer, but empty seats are dollar bills slipping through the owner’s fingers every game.  Broadcast ad revenue, on the other hand, can be added through more sales, but most of those potential sponsors have made their spending decisions before the season starts. To be sure, teams in every sport (even the Yankees) need both TV and ticket sales revenue to flourish.

The NFL shares certain revenues between teams and the majority of the salary cap is from national television contracts. If you are a fan and don’t have easy access to the Buccaneers, aren’t you more likely to spend real dollars and attend a game?  Not as many of us remember the days of just seeing the Bucs on their away games and not at all in the preseason.  They have already realized sponsor dollars from NewsChannel 8 as a “Pewter Partner,” so the preseason will be “on the air.”  So keeping training camp a little more exclusive is a small way of driving up demand for their product. 

Let’s also not forget that it costs real money to “host” fans at One Buccaneer Place for training camp. While the Bucs can make a few bucks (pun intended) hawking their logo gear, they must employ many people to handle the crowds, so fewer open practices equals fewer expenses, and in this economy everything counts.

Is the public entitled to free training camp? Thousands show up to watch practice for free, but how many would show up for practice if it cost $5?  What about $10?  How many companies give their products away for free? Some do, but usually only to drive demand if the product is good enough.

The Washington Redskins started charging for training camp a few years ago. They ultimately ditched that concept, but just like the Bucs, they are only scheduled for eight open practices, including a “fan appreciation day.”  The New York Giants are charging $5 for parking during their time at the University of Albany.  The New Orleans Saints, fresh off their Super Bowl victory and with interest at an all-time high, will welcome fans to watch practices all the way to the end of August, while the Bucs close access after the first week of camp.

What does the team gain for opening even one practice to the public? There is certainly some goodwill as players sign autographs for fans after practice, but all Bucs fans just got an easy opportunity to do that at “FanFest.”

How much access is too little, too much or just right?  Economists and JoeBucsFan.com followers could spend plenty of hours over that one.  How much real money do the Glazers spend on “FanFest?”  This is another free opportunity for fans to get close to the players, coaches and cheerleaders and is an expensive venture for the owners (underwritten by sponsors I’m know, but those dollars could be put elsewhere if they chose).

I know they try to sell season tickets during the event, but I doubt they are even breaking even on that trade.

So I write all this to say we should be grateful that even some practices are open and free, because it might not be that way forever. … Maybe when the team improves its competitiveness on the field and the demand for tickets goes back up, the supply of free training camp practices will actually increase. 

Hey, can anyone remember when TV used to be free?

Ex-Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages and writes a quarterbacks blog via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

OTA news is usually reserved for disgruntled veteran “no-shows” looking for a new contract, as Barrett Ruud was last year and Donald Penn is currently. Not many revelations come out of these offseason practices, but they are very important for getting the team prepared overall and certainly more than glorified flag football, as I read some believe.

The biggest news of the offseason was revealed by Raheem this week when referring to quarterbacks Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson, “Don’t be surprised if you see them out there playing together.” 

After I suggested this very scenario in early November of last season, detailing how best to use the two QBs at the same time, the conversation on this website got mired in trying to figure out the definition of the “Wildcat” and not debating the merits of Johnson’s athletic ability and affect on the defense, if used as an updated and more effective “slash” player than Kordell Stewart was a decade ago.

The reason this Josh-a-licious concept is so intriguing, and a better option for these Buccaneers, is because the “smash-mouth” style of offense that they had intended to transition into was never a very good idea from the get-go. A more wide-open or spread-out offense can better compete with lesser players than trying to out-physical the other team at the NFL level. 

That can still be done in college and high school with bigger, stronger players than the opponents, but the NFL is a different animal. Over recent years we have even seen in college where more, and more lower-level teams (Boise State, Utah, TCU, USF, Appalachian State), can compete with the “big boys” when they spread out the defense properly.

Having Freeman at QB full-time — both under center and in shotgun — and bringing Johnson behind the formation quickly, will make the defense react just enough to create the blocking angles and holes for the running game. Plus it equally will give Freeman bigger holes to throw into in the regular passing game, and it should also slow the pass rush enough to make the offensive line look like Pro Bowlers.

Since we are a bit over six months since I suggested getting this to happen, if anyone (at One Buc Place) wants to know how to make this work really well, I am easy to find (AmericasBestQB.com) and have just enough time to input my ideas before mid-season.

I have put some real time into this concept, as I am hard at work designing a unique offense with many of these characteristics right now for my son’s youth league team. I know the Bucs are a young team and not a youth team, but that is exactly why they need to make this an integral part of the 2010 offense.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages and writes a quarterbacks blog via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

I did a speaking engagement this past weekend and talked about experiences growing up and getting to the NFL.

As some of the words came out of my mouth, I knew I did not say them exactly as I wanted and may have communicated something other than what I had planned.  So, as I read Greg Olson’s comments about the Bucs’ backup quarterback job on JoeBucsFan.com, and then saw them again in the newspaper a few days later, I could understand if Olson was trying to give his rookie free agent QB Jevan Snead some hope in his effort to make the squad come September.

But Olson defined the lack of difference between Josh Johnson and Snead so clearly:

“The good thing is we have two younger players in Josh Johnson and Rudy Carpenter that aren’t that much older than him and haven’t been in the league that long, so development wise, they shouldn’t be much further along,” Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “He has an opportunity to come in and compete with those guys as opposed to a four-, five-, six-, 10-year vet guy. He should be on equal footing with those guys.”

It was quite disturbing to know that Olson sees so little difference in his third year QB with starting experience and the free agent from Ole Miss. 

We can all relate to walking onto a high school campus as a freshman and how much energy can be used by acclimating yourself to the new campus, teachers, etc.  There is a world of difference between starting your freshman year and your junior year. 

And if there is no difference between Josh Johnson and Snead, then there is certainly no differentiation between Josh FREEMAN and Snead, since their franchise QB is only going into his second year and first offseason as a pro.

Unfortunately, the Bucs expect and need Freeman to take leaps and bounds forward in his play this year, but why not Johnson?

These comments by Olson were ill-worded at best or downright offensive and certainly wrong in all aspects.  There is not a player in the history of any league that would say he was not a better, more polished and prepared player in his third year than his rookie year, except for maybe Ryan Leaf.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

This time a year ago the Bucs were just getting organized with their new coaches, players and draft picks. New philosophies were being put in place under the new head coach and new offensive Coordinator, Jeff Jagodzinski.

Last spring we were told the Bucs’ offense would be run- and play-action heavy with their solid offensive line and strong stable of runners to complement either veteran quarterback Luke McCown or Byron Leftwich. We were also told rookie first round pick Josh Freeman would spend 2009 learning from the sidelines.

We all know those plans changed dramatically when Raheem Morris turned over the coordinating duties to Greg Olson just before the first kickoff. That wasn’t the reason for the horrible start, but it didn’t help. And the best intentions of leaving Freeman on the bench to learn turned out to be a “baptism by fire” after just seven games.

After taking on the task of offensive design and play-calling, Olson turned the team back to his comfort zone and to the previous regime’s influence, but all I could differentiate was a little less of the pre-snap running around that Gruden was so fond of and was mostly show anyway.

That pre-snap motion is hoped to expose the coverage, but as one long-term player under Gruden said to me, “It just made us tired before the play.”

Losing a lot of that nonsense was a step forward for the current offense. A young QB’s head is already swimming with thoughts at the line of scrimmage, trying to figure out what the defense is planning. And the more movement before getting set gives him less time to figure out if he wants to audible and what to audible to before the play clock runs out.

Another thing that needs to change from that offense is the extensive wording. While some of the running plays are called simply enough, the passing game verbiage is ridiculous. 

If you watched  “Gruden’s QB Camp” on ESPN recently, Gruden disparaged Colt McCoy’s southern accent, saying no one would be able to understand the extensive play call with his current accent.

I learned multiple pro offenses, including the 3-digit system that many teams are still regularly winning with (Chargers and Cardinals among others), and none of them sounded anything like Gruden’s — “Flip Right Double X Jet 36 Counter Naked Waggle at 7, X Corner. Heads-up for a 358 Cannon Check on 1.”

We know that football teams aren’t overflowing with rocket scientists in the first place, and players also haven’t spent years and years in the same system, nor do they spend the same amount of time in their dark “laboratories” studying film like their coaching staffs.  In fact, players are much more likely to be coming in for the night at 4:17 AM, not firing up the video reel of third-down blitzes like Gruden does.

Although relatively good things should be expected from the Bucs’ running back contingent in 2010, last year’s run-oriented plan didn’t work out as well as hoped and this group still lacks a homerun threat.

This team is now squarely on the big, young shoulders and arm of Josh Freeman and the focus should shift to where the biggest plays will come next year and that is through the air. 

To maximize that effort, Olson would do well to simplify the verbiage and pre-snap movement of whatever his offense morphs into. That will benifit his star QB and his potential star rookie wideouts.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

 Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as an analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

Today, Carlson shares his draft day story from 1989, and explains why the NFL Draft is an uneasy time for most players.

“Draft Day” and Mel Kiper, Jr. will hit prime-time television for the very first time this year, and every team and fan is looking forward to what could happen to make their team better. The extravaganza in New York has grown so big it has been extended to three days.

At this point, the draft eligible players have done all they can do at the NFL combine, their school’s “pro days” and/or individual workouts, and now are anxiously waiting to find out how their life’s dream and destiny will play out.

Some will have their dreams come true; others will be disappointed and embarrassed that they didn’t get drafted where they thought they should.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there will be two specific groups watching the draft: Group 1 will be the wide-eyed rookies waiting to be drafted, making their families proud and fulfilling personal dreams. Group 2 will be current players. This group will be watching their teams draft with a wary eye on their own positions and hoping the team doesn’t draft anyone that could take their careers away. 

In 1989, I was in “Group 1” (excited) and was a first-day pick, back when only the first part of the first round was on television. Out of Division I-AA Weber State, I was projected anywhere from the 3rd to the 7th round, so the phone call was going to be later on that Saturday, after Troy Aikman was the first pick and got an $11 million deal (Tony Mandarich was 2nd, Barry Sanders, 3rd , Derrick Thomas, 4th and Deion Sanders was 5th). This year, Sam Bradford, or whoever turns out to be No. 1 is looking at nearly $70 million. The money will be much, much bigger than in ’89, but I don’t think the careers of this year’s top players will match up with those four out of five Hall-of-Famers.

The Phone Call

Knowing I could be waiting until Sunday for a call didn’t stop the nerves from flowing whenever the phone rang in my college apartment. That was before cell phones and I didn’t even have call-waiting, so any call tied up the line and might have meant a missed call from a team.

The rumor was that if a team couldn’t get a hold of you, they would pass you right up and leave you on the draft board.  It probably wasn’t true, but it made me quite snippy when friends kept calling to find out if anything had happened yet. 

Waiting all day with my parents and girlfriend was definitely long. And following a late afternoon nap, the Los Angeles Rams called. I asked the personnel guy on the phone where they were in the draft. He said, “The fourth round, and if the Seahawks don’t take you with the next pick, we are going to draft you.”

Within seconds, he said something like, “Congratulations, you are now a Los Angeles Ram, hold on to speak with Coach Robinson (John Robinson).” 

After finishing up a courteous call with my new coach, I punched the ceiling of my apartment, my biggest dream just come true and it was with my hometown team to boot.  It was an awesome feeling, justifying all of the work that I had put in for many years, and it stuck it to the former girlfriend that had told me a few years back to give up dreaming. 

Outside of family issues like a wedding and babies, this will probably remain the biggest day of my life, because there was such a long focus to be the best in high school, college and hopefully just get a chance to touch the NFL had now been accomplished. And it wasn’t just a free agent try-out, like most opportunities that guys from Weber State had always gotten, but as a legitimate pick, the highest in over 20 years from the school.

On the other side of the coin, USC quarterback Rodney Peete, the Heisman Trophy runner-up was hosting a draft party at a ritzy hotel in Los Angeles and wasn’t too happy to see me get drafted a couple of rounds ahead of him.  The dichotomy of draft day makes one QB the happiest guy in the world, while at the very same moment, absolutely ruins another’s day.

Majority Of Players In “Group 2″

Remember back just a few years when Alex Smith went No. 1 to the 49ers and that caused a national television free-fall for Aaron Rogers, probably the most uncomfortable hours of his life, until the Packers finally picked him up late in the first round.

After that first experience in the NFL, every year after that I fell into Group 2 on draft day.

Outside of the few superstars in the league, whose positions are virtually guaranteed, the vast majority of players will be hoping their position doesn’t get upgraded with a top pick.

As far as the Bucs are concerned, I just heard a radio commercial promoting current players that will be at the stadium for the team’s draft party.  Those players that are pressured into showing up for the gig will probably be sporting smiles on their faces, but inside they will secretly take sighs of relief every time the Bucs’ pick goes by and there isn’t a new player at their position. Or they may have some very uncomfortable moments with fans, trying to chuckle about the great potential of the new guy on the team. 

All players know that professional sports is about competition, but the business side of the game says the higher the investment in the new guy, the more opportunity he will get — or simply be given the position.

The draft was an incredible experience as a rookie coming out of college, but every year after that, it wasn’t something to get too excited about, since it could mean so much to the future of your career.  So the draft may be exciting for some, like the GM, coaches and fans, but for most of the current players around the league, there isn’t all that much to look forward to this week.

No misprint in the headline.

Former Bucs quarterback and JoeBucsFan.com analyst Jeff Carlson is offering up a cool million on his Web site.

Call it the Tim Tebow challenge. Carlson, a private quarterbacks coach in the Tampa Bay area after leaving the NFL in the 1990s, is in near disbelief at the way Tebow is being coached by his various handlers and advisors.

Click on the football to read the story on Carlson’s blog and see of you can score the million.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as an analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

I applaud the Bucs’ move this week to get a proven entity at safety in the former Eagle Sean Jones. It downgrades their need to improve at safety through the draft and that is good for the team.

I’m not wrong very often, but I must admit that Ronde Barber outplayed my expectations for him last year (and most other’s expectations, I assume). 

Most lengthy careers of even the greatest players end in much the same way Derrick Brooks’ did.  The end usually comes as a gradual decline in performance that coined the phrase “He’s lost a step.”  But in Barber’s case, he played much better in ’09 than in ’08.

That said, this is the season that a regular replacement for Barber that complements Aqib Talib’s all-star abilities must be found, and the Bucs should plan on Barber to be a situational specialist. He has been playing on a gimpy knee for more than one season and expecting high level execution as an every-down player is probably a bit too much. Being able to go hard on a lesser workload would be much more realistic for the future Hall-of Fame candidate.

As a general statement, defense is a “6 one way, half-dozen the other” proposition. Pressure on the quarterback makes an average secondary look good. And a strong secondary makes an average,  defensive line look better and helps them put up some prettier stats, if they get an extra second to get in the passer’s face. The concept is the epitome of the word TEAM.

And while a standout player added to the defensive line is always wanted and needed, finding a long-term answer to the right cornerback position is of the highest priority.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson has TV gigs in the Bay area and trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback

I have a 12 year old son stepping up in competition next season. He is moving from the tackle football program at Idlewild Baptist Church to the South Pasco Predators in Land O Lakes. I have volunteered and have been accepted as the head coach of the 11, 12 and 13 year old Junior Midget team.

Of course, I want to be a role model and example for the young men that I will be in charge of and give them a positive experience…..yada, yada, yada. Do I want to win every game we play? Oh yeah! 

I train quarterbacks all year long on the proper fundamentals and techniques of throwing the football, and we talk about both offensive and defensive strategies, but I don’t need to worry about all the aspects of what it takes to actually win a football game.

Now, as a head coach, I will be drawing up my ideas of the best way to win a football game and realize more than ever, no matter what I draw up on paper, it won’t matter much unless the horses show up.

This is especially true on defense, because if we can’t stop the other team, our offense must be perfect and that’s a tall order for any team.

Offensively, there is still room for imagination, even at the pro level. The Wildcat, Run-and-Shoot, shovel passes and empty packages are all relatively young concepts. Some have already gone away, some are yet to be designed, but more will come.

I will bring a few new concepts to the little league level to try and win games no matter what players show up the first day. The Bucs, on the other hand, have a roster and know what players are going to show up. They are busy now and for another six months designing up offensive and defensive strategies that they think will be successful for them next season.

In the NFL, the salary cap is supposed to act as the ultimate equalizer, giving everyone the equal chance to spend the same amount of money on the available talent. It has worked to give more teams opportunities to compete on the field and give more teams hope later in the season.

The draft is designed to give the bottom finishers a chance to gain better talent to more successfully compete. The draft system didn’t help teams like the Bucs, Bengals, Bills, Cardinals, Lions, Falcons or Saints for many years, but is being pointed to as the model for success, based on teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bucs’ one successful run to the title came with significant contributions from free agents Brad Johnson, Joe Jurevicius, Michael Pittman, Keenan McCardell, as well as others and even Keyshawn Johnson’s expensive trade.

The growing labor dispute is throwing a bit of a chink in the system that has been with us since I retired from the game, more than 15 years now.

But, the Bucs are telling us that the model for success on the field is through the acquisition of kids out of college, not the players that have found success at the NFL level and are on the open market. 

I’m not saying there aren’t teams that have done better jobs building their own talent than filling holes with veterans than other teams. But with the holes that I would think most of us would agree the Bucs have on both sides of the ball, finding guys that can immediately contribute, would seem to be of pretty high importance. Especially since there are fewer paying folks showing up on Sundays and fewer discretionary dollars for most of us.

It will take some real signs of hope for immediate improvement for those dollars of “joe bucs fan” types (not a stereotype, just a good descriptive name) to be gambled on only the Bucs’ draft picks.

I will have to hope for the best and wait to see who shows up for my little league team in July.  The Bucs will have to wait to see who is available before each pick during April’s draft, which is a much bigger gamble than paying players that have already competed at the top level, when improving next season is of top priority.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson has TV gigs in the Bay area and trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

The Buccaneer brass will evaluate a ton of potential NFL talent at the combine this week as they make their plans for the April draft.

They got their man to lead the offense last year and now they must put more pieces of the puzzle together to make that engine rev higher this season.

While I’m not all that excited about Cadillac Williams or Derrick Ward, the guy that needs to be their starting fullback is Earnest Graham.

I don’t care that he is undersized. He is the kind of football player that I want to go to “war” with. Not only is he a selfless player, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team, he has multi-purpose abilities that can help make Greg Olson a better play-caller.

There was great expectation for Jon Gruden to implement his “rocket” backfield, putting two tailbacks on the field at the same time and trying to give the defense more speed to defend. Earnest Graham may not put much fear into too many defensive coordinators based on speed, he is the perfect guy to help create specific mismatches that can give the Bucs an offensive advantage.

That was Gruden’s best attribute as a coordinator and Olson would do well to follow his lead with regards to who they choose to be their lead blocker.

Or, if they are smart enough to move their offense into the 21st century, they would choose instead to be a more diversified offense, focused on giving their “franchise” quarterback more opportunities than handing the ball to “journeyman” running backs.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson has TV gigs in the Bay area and trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

A cold Brees blew through the NFL’s biggest game Sunday, as Drew’s Saints topped the league MVP for the title. This game took two dome teams with great passers and made it the QB Bowl. 

The team model to win in January has been to have a run-dominated team, matched with a stellar defense (Ravens 2000, Bucs 2002, Steelers 2005 & 2008), but I think the NFL has officially shifted to a pass-dominated league. Sure, there will always be teams dominated by the run and tough defense, but wide-open, attacking offenses are going to be the most common model moving forward. 

If you model your team to be a running team, then you must have one of the best defenses in the league, because these offenses are built to score plenty of points and also to come back from deficits, as the Saints did after falling behind by 10 in the first quarter. Yes, they held Peyton Manning to 17 total points, with a total team effort that took in special teams, defense and sustained offense.

The Bucs gave the Saints a 17-point cushion to start their late season game and overcame it for the win, but let’s not argue about where each team was in the season and their motivations.

Let’s agree that if the Buccaneers don’t become a better defensive team week in and week out, the current offensive model will not keep up with the Saints, Cardinals, Vikings or Cowboys in the NFC playoffs. The Jets and Ravens weren’t bad on the AFC side, but even with top rated defenses they were underdogs throughout. 

So, the Bucs would do well to invest in their receiving corps immediately.

Even with the acquisition of K2 last year and Antonio Bryant’s franchise tag, there is a gaping talent difference in playmaking ability. I’m not a big fan of either of the aforementioned receiver’s body language, which I think is important for team morale.  And if I were choosing, I would go in search of hungrier talent and let A.B. go find greener pastures elsewhere. 

One thing I am pretty happy about for the Bucs, as the NFL officially turns its eyes to 2010, is their starting quarterback in this QB-driven league. He got some experience, which puts him light-years ahead for all off-season activities and I like the hire of position coaches Alex Van Pelt and Eric Yarber.

Young players, like the Bucs roster is full of, appreciate coaches that have “been there” when being told to work harder and fix this or that. 

Now with the head coach and general manager getting the kinks out of their first year in their respective jobs and a QB with oodles of potential, it’s full steam ahead to finding some guys that can turn a short throw into an 80 yard TD. That’s something Yarber actually knows something about (he is a couple years older, but he was a very good threat at Idaho, while I was at Weber State in the same conference).

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson has TV gigs in the Bay area and trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

Greg Olson wants Josh Freeman to improve his accuracy and get his completion percentage to 60 percent like all the other “playoff quarterbacks,” (except he forgot the rookie taken with the fifth pick, who just played in the AFC Championship following a 53.8 completion rate in the regular season).

I was glad to read in the St. Pete Times story about Olson and Freeman on Monday that the playcaller has something to do with Freeman’s improvement, not just the accuracy of the QB.

“…We can help him out certainly with the routes we’re calling as well.”

Olson, who took over the offense from fired coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski 10 days before the season opener, said he will tailor the 2010 scheme toward his strong-armed quarterback.

“We’re going to try and build on his strengths,” Olson said. “Number one, you’ve got to build it around your quarterback and around what he does best and what he feels more comfortable with.

The Bucs, and other teams it turns out as well, are self-handcuffed to finding less than stellar coaching talent because of the potential NFL labor issues coming in 2011. They only want to offer new assistants one-year deals in case there is a strike/lockout situation, so they’re not on the hook for coaches pay if there is no season.

The Bucs already were in this tenuous spot because of the lack of job security of its head coach and management team, as well.

I mean, what well-respected, successful assistant coach would consider Tampa Bay as a spot to bring his family, knowing his tenure could be over like a spring break vacation if things don’t go well immediately? Or, considering Bucs’ recent history with coordinators, even over before the season starts?

Last season’s hot Bucs topics were, ‘When will Josh Freeman take over as the starter?’ and ‘Will Raheem Morris keep his job? That doesn’t lend itself to hiring top coaching talent, even if some accomplished quarterbacks coach was still sniffing around for a job this week at the Senior Bowl.

But back to the QB and the need for Josh Freeman to improve his mechanics and fundamentals. It scares me to think that the No. 1 pick of your draft and the future of your team (especially with Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich as your alternatives) was an afterthought in 2009. But that is what Olson told the Tampa Tribune on Monday.

“He didn’t have what Sanchez had or what (Falcons QB Matt) Ryan had last year. Those guys were the guys right from the start. But this guy (Freeman), he was more like an afterthought. That’s why I’m so excited about him.” 

I told you here on JoeBucsFan.com in June that Freeman should have been fast-tracked no matter what the initial intention was for him.

He, like any other player, needed to be ready as soon as possible, even if he didn’t play. And as I wrote here recently, the Bucs will go looking for a guy to work on keeping Freeman’s left hand on the ball longer, so as to reduce fumbles. As for becoming more accurate, he’ll just keep practicing getting rid of the “pro” routes that are different from the college routes he was so used to he couldn’t get them out of his system this year (read the full newspaper quotes for yourselves).

It’s not surprising Freeman wasn’t used to the pro routes. His QB coach through the offseason, who became his offensive coordinator just before the first kickoff, says “He knows he can play a lot better, but to come in and do what he was able to do with no practice was phenomenal,” Olson said of Freeman. 

So a multi-million dollar, first-round pick was thrown into a NFL game with no practice? How’s that for protecting your biggest investment and making sure it is successful.

Wow. This kid really is good, or something was overlooked on the practice field, because he should have been getting prepared by the coaches long before his debut.