Johnson Didn’t Show Much Progress
August 14th, 2010
Coming into tonight’s game, Joe was very eager to watch Josh Johnson.
Josh Freeman got all the offseason glory for his unmatched work ethic, but all reports said Johnson was right there with Freeman, even joining Freeman for an extended tutoring session with Drew Brees.
So what did Johnson bring to the table after getting four starts last year and another offseason in the Bucs’ system? Not much.
Joe was very troubled by Johnson’s fumble and interception, which was beyond ugly. Frankly, the Bucs better hire full-time bodyguards and servants for Freeman. If that guy gets hurt, the Bucs are in a world of trouble.
Yeah, Johnson made one excellent throw and he flashed why the Bucs should find a way to get him the ball in open space, but the turnovers just can’t happen.
Johnson’s just not a good backup QB for this team, and Joe has no confidence in Greg Olson’s ability to build an offense that suits Johnson’s talents.
August 14th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
@Joe
There’s plenty of veteran QB’s out there that we could easily sign right now for a backup role and that would make better options. I mean come on! Just like that, they could upgrade the backup QB position but they don’t do it. And why are we wasting time on Carpenter??? Even though a couple of his passes were dropped, he was pretty bad tonight. I still like Johnson as a running threat and he does have talent, but if Freeman gets hurt I can’t see him winning any games!
August 14th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
we should be looking for a back-up…is Garcia still out there?i like johnson but he hasnt improved at all in the offseason
August 14th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
seems like he self distructs toward the red zone
August 14th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Garcia would make the perfect backup and would be a good veteran mentor for both Freeman and Johnson. But I don’t know. It would be tough seeing Garcia on the sideline knowing that he’d probably currently be the best QB on the roster.
August 14th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
joe calm down, it was a mud bowl out there. there were plenty of fumbles on both sides of the ball due to weather conditions. the pick was in question. but i think he had 8 completions with about 80 something yards against miami’s first team defense with our second string offense. im not ready to throw jj under the bus right now and niether should u ..
August 14th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
I still like your idea of makeing him slash 2.0
August 14th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Johnson is the back up people, face reality. This team has no illusions of playoffs and is rebuilding with youth and cheap payroll.
AKA: a Vet backup QB is not in the cards
That said….. it MIGT happen if all the backups look real bad and a decent QB who is cheap gets cut.
On the other side, I disagree with the article. I think Johnson looked good. Bad int, but the presence in the pocket was MUCH improved from what we saw last year. He was reading progressions instead of being like Garcia: one read and then bolt into a sack.
Overall they looked decent for such a young bunch. The penalties and TOs (partially due to weather I am sure) are what stalled them. Both those things NEED to be cleaned up, but they are what you get with youngsters.
August 15th, 2010 at 12:04 am
@Patrick
You shold have watched the intangibles with Carpenter. Actually watch his progressions, eyes and release. The guy has possibilities.
@Patrick & @goodfellajay
Garcia signed a contract with the UFL a week or so ago.
But you can both forget about the Bucs signing a vet right now at QB. Raheem and Mark will not bring anyone that the fans could scream for if we lose 2-3 games straight…and that’s all it would take in this town.
I say make Carpenter #2 and let him get reps before season starts. Make JJ #2 for the Wild Cat & WR options.
August 15th, 2010 at 1:08 am
Maybe it was just early jitters, but I thought Carpenter was “sailing” passes. Wasn’t getting out on his front foot and the ball was floating over his targets. That’s real dangerous when there’s a safety deep. JJ’s passes were crisp and mostly on target. He did have problems holding on to the ball, and he slipped a couple times too. Yet he turned a bad shotgun snap into a first down with his feet too. There’s gonna be some bad with the good, but I think he’ll be fine as a backup that never really sees the field unless Freeman goes down.
August 15th, 2010 at 2:38 am
I don’t see how you can blame that INT on Johnson! Benn simply didn’t see the ball. That is not Johnson’s fault. That is Benn’s fault. It is the WRs job to track the ball. Benn failed. It was a perfect situation in which Benn(the larger man) was given a chance to go up and get the ball.
There are plenty of receivers that would have caught that ball. Benn was not one of them.
August 15th, 2010 at 8:44 am
The interception was no good obviously but over all he went 8/13 for 72 yards and 2 two rushes for 17 yards. I think fretting over the fumble is pointless and picky. He slipped in the mud, so what it happens. It’s not like he did anything wrong. I think if anyone wants to worry about anything it should be Ward’s play.
August 15th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Joe here,
Rican – Two turnovers and no points while he was in. That’s just not good enough.
August 15th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Wasn’t Brown the receiver on the int?
August 15th, 2010 at 11:01 am
It’s the 1’st Preseason game, and I wouldn’t give up on JJ just yet. Yea he had some mistakes, but the backup O line wasn’t that great either. I also must say how totally unprofessional it was for THE SUCKASS DOLPHINS to allow an NFL Game to be played on dirt turned into mud. They are stupid and luckily no players were hurt because of the differing surfaces. How stupid to leave the field in such a shambles. They had to remove the pitchers mound and could have replaced all that grass in less than an hour. It was a piss poor call by an inept ground crew and the Bucs should refuse to play any more preseason games in that Piece of $hit Stadium.
August 15th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Who cares, he’s the back-up QB.
August 15th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Did anyone see what McCown did with the Jags? 11-15 w/ 3 TD’s. He would’ve been a great #1 let alone backup. That was a waste to trade him away and we will see that. Just wait…
August 16th, 2010 at 12:58 am
@Joe I understand where your coming from. I don’t expect that to be the case for him anymore. I really just wanna give him the benefit of the doubt and mark it up as conditions. But your right Joe.