Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM thinks team can win with Mike Glennon as game manager
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon (8) throws the ball during the first half against the Washington Redskins at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to pull the plug on Josh Freeman today, and they will be starting N.C. State rookie signal-caller Mike Glennon now following the change. Freeman has completed under 50% of his passes this season, and that’s a far cry from the big numbers he posted in 2010 and much worse than what he did last year. I’ve never been highly critical of Freeman as a quarterback, but GM Mark Dominik, head coach Greg Schiano, and the rest of the Buccaneers organization felt that enough was enough.
Mike Glennon was selected out of N.C. State by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the draft, and he has a huge amount of upside. Glennon has terrific arm strength, and the ball just cuts through the air beautifully when he launches a pass. However, Glennon is absolutely horrendous under pressure, and that was a huge knock on him coming out of college. His decision-making could also improve, and the Buccaneers had better hope that their offensive line doesn’t have any lapses with Glennon under center. He is just that untrustworthy behind center when the pocket gets muddied, and there’s a reason why Glennon looked so much better during workouts than in games while with the Wolfpack in college.
Despite his inability to stay composed under pressure, Dominik believes that the strong-armed rookie can be an effective game manager for the team. Dominik said this to the USA Today’s Jim Corbett, “I’m happy with his performance and his approach to the game and he works hard. We think we can with this game with him as a game manager.”
That’s certainly an interesting quote, and Dominik went on to explain the Buccaneers decision to start Glennon before the bye week; they wanted him to actually have regular season tape to watch and evaluate during the bye. Glennon has an awful lot of upside, but I think we’re going to see some major ups-and-downs (there could be a lot of picks, especially when under pressure) from a QB who has more than enough arm talent to be a legitimate starter in this league. Does he give the Bucs a better chance to win now than Josh Freeman, though, even with Freeman’s paltry completion percentage? I guess we’re about to find out. Either way, I highly doubt Schiano wanted to start Freeman, because it seems like Freeman oversleeping team meetings etc. also played into the decision.
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