Yes, that includes Doug Williams who set the standard for franchise Quarterback from 1978 through 1982. Williams took over a team that team that was 2-26 with a very good defense and an improving offensive line. His strong arm gave the offense life, you never knew when he was going to fire the ball deep and find a wide receiver down there running behind the secondary. Williams often had a 35% completion percentage, sometimes would only complete 12 passes, but have 220 yards! Similar to our current QB, Williams was hard to sack; he too was big and strong- Williams was only brought down 7 times in 1979. The next lowest sack total was double that for anyone. Since Doug Williams, the Bucs tried on several occasions to draft a franchise QB. In 1987, Vinny Testeverde was the University of Miami Heisman winning QB. But the Bucs weren’t a winning organization; they had no one around Vinny, and basically told him “Take over and win kid”. In 1994, the Bucs weren’t totally happy with Craig Erickson, so they drafted Trent Dilfer, a ‘Can’t Miss’ prospect. The Bucs were building a team around Dilfer, but after making the probowl in 1997, Dilfer regressed each year before finally being let go for rookie Shawn King. Raheem Morris coached with the Buc’s selection in the 2009 NFL draft when he was the defensive coordinator at Kansas State. His familiarity with the kid was impressed upon the Bucs brass, on how Freeman single handedly brought his team back into games. Still, new GM Mark Dominik nor the Glazers were going to go by the word of one person alone. Turns out with a little homework Freeman came up as a potential franchise QB; a chance for the Bucs to draft a player that could be the cornerstone to which to build around. Fast Forward to today, and Josh Freeman is going to share the talk of the bay area this morning with LeGarrett Blount, who is a story all in his own. Josh Freeman tied a Bucs record last night for most touchdown passes in a game by a quarterback with 5. He tied two others, Steve DeBerg who threw 5 TD passes in a dismantling of the Atlanta Falcons on opening day 48-10, and Brad Johnson who three 5 during the 2002 Super Bowl season. DeBerg was in his 9th year, and Brad Johnson was demoted as Bucs QB 2 seasons later due to age. Josh Freeman is 22 years old, in his second season as signal caller. Brad Johnson threw for 3,811 yards in 2003, the only year under head coach Jon Gruden that a Bucs QB finished the year playing in all 16 games. In 2004, Brian Griese finished with the highest QB passer rating in Bucs history with 97.5 QB Rating. Freeman currently has 3197, and a rating of 93.6, one tenth higher rating than his offseason mentor Drew Brees. But again, Josh Freeman was drafted last year, he just played in his 24th game. What does the future hold for this young phenom? He is a lock for Bucs team MVP when voting, but one has to ask, how long will it be before he is considered for the same award league wide? Pro Bowl? LeGarrett Blount and Mike Williams make up the Bucs rookies that are the first pair on one team to lead the league in their respective positions since the Bengals of 1968 expansion fame. 8 years later the league expanded to Tampa Bay, and they made Doug Williams their QB of the future a couple seasons later. But Williams tenure was cut short due to greed and some say race. The Bucs have a chance to change all of that with Josh Freeman effectively locking him in long term with a contract extension early in his career once the CBA is worked out. Guys like Josh Freeman come once in a lifetime; Bucs fans, we have another decade at least to enjoy Freeman attempt to throw 6 against some other team; because then stats wont be for losers anymore. NOTE: HD videos will be available this PM.
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