When Rushed, McCown Fared Well
June 18th, 2014
Bucs QB Josh McCown seemed to play well when facing a heavy pass rush.
Before Joe had played high school football, he learned something about the game that is a tried and true football axiom.
Joe grew up in the Midwest watching Jim Hart, who was, at best, erratic as a young quarterback. Suddenly, when Don Coryell took over the Cardinals, Hart became one of the better QBs in the league. Joe’s old man said the transformation was not difficult to decipher: “Simple. It’s hard to complete a pass when you are flat on your back.”
Translation: Even the best of quarterbacks will struggle without protection.
Those words rang in Joe’s head as he looked over the recent statistical gibberish pumped out by the nerds over at Pro Football Focus. In a summer reading series about quarterbacks, they posted stats when quarterbacks had two seconds or less time to unload the ball.
Bucs starter Josh McCown did pretty well in the face of defensive pressure. McCown, again, when given two seconds or less time to unload the ball under “dropback conditions,” completed 70.5 percent of his passes with a 78.9 accuracy rate. Not too shabby.
Glennon fared worse. He completed 63.4 percent of his passes under heavy pressure, again, two seconds or less, with an accuracy rate of 79.4 percent for a miserable 3.9 yards per attempt.
Perhaps this is why the Bucs don’t seem to be sweating (yet) over who is playing guard. Even if the guards can’t stop a cool breeze, McCown, at least last year, didn’t get rattled under a strong rush.
June 18th, 2014 at 7:16 am
Still wish we had gotten Johnny Football
June 18th, 2014 at 7:17 am
Good to know both guys did fairly well under duress since whoever ends up starting at QB probably will have to throw under heavy pressure unless this O-line is far better in real life than it looks in paper.
June 18th, 2014 at 7:19 am
So glad the Bucs don’t have the Cleveland back up QB!
June 18th, 2014 at 7:23 am
Hmmmm Who will start in September???? Does Lovie & Light want to see “The Cannon” continue the chaos performance he had at the end of last year???? It’s a no brainer. RELAX MGM! Preseason is coming.
With an upgrade in the o-line next year Glennon might have a shot at 2015 otherwise look for 2016 for the Quarterback of the Future to start shooting “The Cannon.” No need to complicate things mobsters. The future is not September.
I am looking forward to preseason…
June 18th, 2014 at 7:27 am
These sort of things need the typical mutual fund disclosure:
Past performance is no guarantee of future results……”
June 18th, 2014 at 7:36 am
The Cannon is impervious to heat.
Light the fuse.
June 18th, 2014 at 7:47 am
Comparing apples to oranges…
In the games McCown played for the Bears he had Marshall, Jeffery and Forte
For the better part of Glennon’s games he had VJax,Kid from Kid-n-Play, and either Rainy or James, yeah a real side by side comparison….
June 18th, 2014 at 7:55 am
Ron Mexico didn’t fare too well without protection either
June 18th, 2014 at 7:55 am
When the defense loads the box, it’s often because they don’t respect your ability to adapt to pressure. Part of that’s on the QB, but I think it’s a lot more than just that. It’s the offensive scheme, the adaptability of the WRs, TEs and RBs, and most obviously the adaptability of the OLine to adjust to pressure.
Last year the Bucs were hurting in all 3 of those areas, and I’m surprised that Mike Glennon’s numbers under pressure were even as good as they were.
With Jeff Tedford’s offensive schemes and the potential improvement in our WR/TE/RB talent, Josh McCown should fare pretty well under pressure. Same with Mike Glennon if he ends up being the QB.
The wild-card in all that is the OLine, especially the guards. From what I’ve read in the past, Jeff Tedford likes to use pulling guards quite a bit in his run plays. Still a long ways to go until September, and I fully expect that there’ll be 1-2 new guards on the roster when the season starts.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:02 am
The way the O-line played last year, there is no where to go but up.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:06 am
How many yards per attempt for McCown?
June 18th, 2014 at 8:28 am
I think a point could also be made that Glennon was a rookie. Give him time to learn ALL of the nuances of the pro game and speed at which it played after a FULL year and then lets evaluate him. He was thrust into a tough situation (leaky Freeman’s meltdown and locker room and national media distractions of MRSA) and I dont think that we can truly give him a solid thumbs up or down for at least another year. Just my opinion! I for one thought that MG did a decent job given the situation and at least it was nice to see the ball thrown with some authority all while sitting behind a shaky o-line. I agree with the rest of you that time will tell and I think that this years team will go as the 2014 o-line goes.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:41 am
On that chart it showed:
Glennon PFF grade = -1.2
McCown PFF grade = -2.8
While there were no elite QB’s on that particular graph, Glennon got a better grade than the likes of, Luck, Newton, Cutler, McCown, Foles, Kaep, Dalton, and the immortal Geno Smith.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:41 am
McCown will start in 2014 & 2015 & he will thrive under pressure. His mobility & poise will make plays available that wouldn’t be possible for Glennon. McCown is our guy for the next couple years. Embrace it, MGM. I think we can win it all this year with McCown at the helm & our elite-level supporting cast.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:42 am
#HERMEDWARDSISAGENIUS
June 18th, 2014 at 8:48 am
Too bad that Glennon did not play those 5 teams that McCown played last year.
June 18th, 2014 at 8:56 am
I going to laugh when the bucs shoot the cannons not for MGM but for Jameis Winston. Lmao glennon doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell against Winston and whoever says he does is crazier then those special bucs fans who believes MGM he’s the next tom Brady. Lol good luck. Sh*t I can even be as accurate as glennon throwing for an average of 3.9 yards and I am literally half his height and a disabled veteran. Lol and yes I did play college ball.
June 18th, 2014 at 9:13 am
Glennon has the perfect support this year with our coaching staff. I think he will show progress this year. Add to that more weapons than last year and I could see Glennon releasing the ball quicker avoiding the repeat of the end of last year. Remember he does not have Schiano around his neck this season. Look for a record preseason for “The Cannon” earning him the No.1 spot to start in September. Glennon will learn to use his CANNON to avoid sacks. Who needs mobility???
THE CANNON LIVES!
June 18th, 2014 at 9:18 am
I understand all the worry over the OL. But I’m not panicked yet. Remember the line that helped Doug Martin to that incredible rookie year?
I don’t. OK I remember Donald Penn and Jeremy Zuttah…what other no names were on that line. On paper we certainly have more talent than that line did. But give those no names credit they helped Martin to an amazing season. No reason to believe we can’t get lucky again and at least achieve mediocrity on the OL. That’s all it will take with the rest of the offensive tools.
Our OL doesn’t need to be great, but they can’t suck.
June 18th, 2014 at 9:28 am
Tedford and Arroyo had to approved not trading Glennon. I think they have him ready to unload the ball like never before. He will run this up tempo offense better than he ran the no huddle offense against SF last year.
Glennon is loaded and ready!
June 18th, 2014 at 9:47 am
Mike ‘the 16th strongest cannon in the league’ Glennon (aka avg nfl arm strength) will have a couple years to learn & grow behind our great leader McCown… Maybe by 2016 he’ll be ready to take over, but we might have 2 more championships by then.
June 18th, 2014 at 9:58 am
I just read that 49ers Guard Alex Boone is refusing to show up at training camp without a new contract and the Niners brass is refusing to give him one/can’t afford to give him one. Given the state of the Bucs O-line I wonder if there is a trade to be made? Boone played really well last year, and God knows the Bucs could use another quality offensive lineman…whether Nicks comes back or not…to give McCown/Glennon more protection and open some holes for Martin/James/Sims/Rainey. Maybe Jason Licht needs to call San Francisco and plant a bug in their ear!
June 18th, 2014 at 10:46 am
Ginger kid or Geezer discussions. Must be the dog days of the offseason.
June 18th, 2014 at 12:12 pm
Jameis Winston can sure bring the hea…..er..crab legs!
June 18th, 2014 at 12:26 pm
The reason I’m not sweating yet over the guard position has nothing to do with McCown’s success against a rush. I’m not perturbed because I think you have to let young players develop by having them play. If the coaching staff feels like Omameh and Edwards have upside and want to go with them as the starters, then I’m on board. I’d be unenthusiastic about some lame, broken down journeyman free agent former starter pulled off the street to be a stopgap. Developing young players, late round draftees and UDFAs into starters is one part of the game that I like to see, even if they have to take their lumps early on.
June 18th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
It certainly will be entertaining if Glennon does end up winning the starting QB gig this year. Quite a few will be begging Joe to wipe the archives of all their definitive Glennon will not start this year posts. Sit back folks and let’s see how actual camp and preseason plays out before possibly looking foolish if ‘the Cannon’ earns the starting QB role. It’s not like he’s competing against Rogers, Brees, Manning, or that GQ cat up in New England whose mere name mentioning delays your post 🙂
June 18th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
@ Tom Edrington – These sort of things need the typical mutual fund disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results……”
or the other side of the coin that “The past does not equal the future”. As we have been saying for months now time alone will tell.
June 18th, 2014 at 11:35 pm
Here is the simple truth–Glennn wilts under pressure, which is why he could not win from behind and he did the same thing on third downs with one of the lowest completion rates on third downs in the NFL last year. Josh, on the other hand, doesn’t wilt under pressure, and can escape from it with his mobility. If you were wanting to retire as a Buc Coach and win now, which would you choose? It is a no brainer. Josh will start this new Bucs Season!!!
June 19th, 2014 at 5:30 am
It isn’t an “accuracy rating”, Joe. That’s called a Quarterback Rating. It’s very confusing when you use the wrong terms. Accuracy is completion percentage, period. Rating is QB Rating or BSPN’s QVR or whatever crap they came up with.
June 21st, 2014 at 11:30 am
ARealBucsFan Said:
“I going to laugh when the bucs shoot the cannons not for MGM but for Jameis Winston. Lmao glennon doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell against Winston and whoever says he does is crazier then those special bucs fans who believes MGM he’s the next tom Brady. Lol good luck. Sh*t I can even be as accurate as glennon throwing for an average of 3.9 yards and I am literally half his height and a disabled veteran. Lol and yes I did play college ball.”
No way we are getting Winston. We’re going to draft too low next year. BTW. What position did you play? We’re you one of the guys running on the field during timeouts with a water bottle?