Comments on: “Four Games Are Not Going To Change Anything”

By: Sneedy16

Sneedy16 — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:36:02 +0000

All this chatter over Freeman not making the playoffs, but with the crappy defense he has had since he has been in the league I understand why. It’s like saying Mark Sanchez is a franchise QB because he has been to the NFC Championship game twice.

I will give Freeman another year with this this offense before I make any suggestion on if he has the ability to lead this team to a championship. I want to see progression with the same offensive coordinator and a better defense.

I’m not hometown bias towards Freeman. I will admit his pisses me off with some of his passes, but it all comes down to timing, and not everyone gets it right away. If we had a decent defense we would be 8-4 now and not 6-6.

By: SeanyMac in SC

SeanyMac in SC — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:35:33 +0000

I for one love Freeman. I think he is growing more and more into Sully’s schemes and Sully is learning what Josh’s talents are and playing more towards those strength’s. I would like to see Freeman gather the troups a little more on the side lines. It appears he sits on the bench by himself looking at defensive formation pictures. Maybe he is just not a rah, rah sort of guy. I still like what the future holds for the Bucs with Free playing QB. Pay the man.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:33:53 +0000

@ Joe… “Bobby, this is ridiculous. That’s not any kind of dig in any possible way, merely a reminder after McFarland’s comments that the Bucs may not want to engage, ala the Flacco detailed reference above.”

Fair enough. It just seems like you’ve gone sour on Freeman after this loss like it was all his fault so I guess I just took it as “why would the Bucs want to look at a contract extension with this guy??” I understand the frustration with Freeman. Before the bye week I was saying I didn’t think he was the guy but since the bye week he has really been balling. I think a lot of it has to do with the coaching staff taking the restraints off and opening up the offense. It was just a bad game. Putting it all on Freeman is like blaming Doug Martin for a poor day rushing. Their defense just outplayed our offense.

Now, next year when Nicks and Joseph are back and we can rotate in players that have gotten all this experience this year….our offense should be a machine. Right now it’s just a patchwork line that really is doing an amazing job of being competitive. On the other hand….we need a new defensive secondary coach or some new corners. I still think Gaitor has potential and I even think Leonard Johnson is going to grow into a decent corner. Sometimes the only way to get better is to get burned enough to learn how NOT to get burned. He makes rookie mistakes but he shows potential too.

Can Freeman take us to the super bowl? I predict within 3 years we’ll be playing in one so my answer is YES.

By: ramdog

ramdog — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:33:32 +0000

Has anyone looked at the stats for Freeman ?? He has a good QB rating (10th in the league) is 6th in the league in TD’s and only has 8 INT. You can heep blame everywhere in a loss but come on we have a defense that couldn’t hold a lead if their life depended on it. After all they are last in the league is Pass Defense which is if I remember correctly is the preferred means of attack when performing a comeback. Let’s look at the losses you could pin on the defense.
1. Giants – our D held them to 41 points with 25 yes 25 4th quarter points. How can you blame Freeman for that one.
2. Redskins – Freeman moved us down the field for a Field Goal but I guess he should’ve realized how much our D sucked and ran more time off the clock.
3. New Orleans – we are up 2 Touchdowns at home with a “decent defense” middle of the pack mind you you. It is probably over. Not with our D – they score 28 Straight Points to take the lead. Despite that we still almost tie it up at the end of regulation on a Questionable call.

Add those three wins which we he would’ve gotten with a middle of the pack defense and we are 9 and 3 and in really good shape for a Wild Card spot.

By: Capt. Jean Lafitte

Capt. Jean Lafitte — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:23:06 +0000

Another year under Mike Sullivan’s and Ron Turner’s tutelage will put Freeman in the top ten next year. The Bucs would have to be fools to let a 24 y/o QB with 3 years of experience go, just to start all over again. Freeman will get better as he gets older and matures. The people who want to compare him to the Brees, Manning, Brady, Rogers, Ryan, Schaub, Big Ben of the league, forget to realize that they are older and seasoned veterans. With Matt Ryan being the youngest mentioned, he is still 3 years older than Josh.

By: Deminion

Deminion — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:52:17 +0000

I dnt blame Josh for his record I just look at what he has had to wrk with when he was drafted absolutely Nthn, he didn’t get drafted into a good situation he got drafted into uncertainty. other QBs Like Flacco and Ryan came into a good situation. We finally give him some legitamate weapons and he plays like a stud… Sign the man

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:46:45 +0000

Give the man an extension. He’s good enough to build around even if he doesn’t develop into a hall of famer. These last four games shouldn’t mean much in regards to that decision.

We really want to use a high draft pick on a QB, not using it to shore up the pass defense, and live through the growing pains of an unknown commodity?

Please don’t do that!

By: admin

admin — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:35:03 +0000

JOE here,

@Bobby: You wrote: “@Stick….Joe has gone all negative on Freeman. He got his little dig in on this post too: “Of course, this assumes the Bucs even want to talk extension before the final season of Freeman’s rookie contract in 2013.”

Bobby, this is ridiculous. That’s not any kind of dig in any possible way, merely a reminder after McFarland’s comments that the Bucs may not want to engage, ala the Flacco detailed reference above.

By: buccanay

buccanay — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:36:00 +0000

Freeman has alot of “baby” in him IMO. He’s been coddled forever, it seems, with no real competition. He get his “bitter beer face” goin every time he air mails a ball, like the reciever is supposed to jump 20ft up in the air and snag another errant laser. Freeman is a servicable QB, but NO WAY is he a Franchise QB. He needs outstanding talent around him, via a run game, top-notch recievers, a great o-line, to be the modestly successful. This, by definition, is NOT a “Franchise QB”.

By: Pete Dutcher

Pete Dutcher — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:35:29 +0000

Mr Lucky, wasn’t Ryan taken the year before Freeman? And didn’t Ryan have a down year as well?

I agree Freeman is not top 8 QBs yet, but I also believe he WILL be in a year or two…probably next year. Remember, he didn’t have an entire off season to work with Sully. And obviously what time he has had has caused a large amount of improvement.

By: Pete Dutcher

Pete Dutcher — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:31:20 +0000

“It seems to be a common these” = “It seems to be a common theme”

By: Pete Dutcher

Pete Dutcher — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:30:12 +0000

Bobby, I don’t think Joe was being negative at all. In fact, he has a solid point. The Bucs may wish to wait to renegotiate. It seems to be a common these where QBs are concerned these days. I could see Dominick having Freeman play next season, slapping a franchise tag on him, and then negotiating.

That isn’t negative on Freeman. If that happens he would likely get a really good-sized deal in the end.

I’m with you on Freeman’s potential. I think the Bucs would be idiots if they let him slip away. I have no doubt that if he were trade bait, the Bucs would get 2 first rounders for him, and he would go on to win Superbowls in the coming years.

But there is no way I want him gone.

grif4foozball, yet another new name for someone without the ballz to show their true identity (sure are a lot of “new” names lately), has no idea how to evaluate QB talent. Josh Freeman is doing a great job. Yes, he is still making some mistakes. But considering the injuries to the offensive line and the facts that he has three new members to the offense, all starters (Jackson, Clark & Martin) and the entire offense is in the first year of a NEWLY DEVELOPED playbook, Freeman is progressing well.

Make no mistake. Josh Freeman is not Alex Smith. While it is true he has had questionable coaching until this year, he has remained positive and is learning quickly. Alex Smith was not as young as Freeman. At 24, Josh is the age of a second year QB at most. So he still has a couple years of maturing ahead of him. Yes, he has 3 years in the league. But honestly, the Reheem/Olson years did more damage than good.

Not that I think Gruden would have done well either. In fact I thing Jon Gruden would have destroyed Freeman by year 2. Jon is not a developmental coach. Neither was Morris. Schiano and dominick have assembled the perfect blend of teachers for the whole team, offense included.