NFL Off-Season: Top QB Competitions

Jun 10, 2014; Tampa Bay, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown (12) and quarterback Mike Glennon (8) during mini camp at One Buccaneer Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Glennon vs. Josh McCown

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Prediction:
About 4 months ago, everything seemed to be in working order in Tampa Bay, Doug Martin was healthy, Josh Freeman was playing well and the defense had no problems. Flash forward about 3 months to the end of the season, after Doug Martin tore his ACL, Josh Freeman’s season imploded and he was released, the Bucs defense have allowed 24.3 points per game to opposing offenses, and Mike Glennon out of NC State is now the starter along with ex-Brown and Raven, RB Bobbey Rainey. Mike Glennon could simply not get it done lass season. They have the weapons in Vincent Jackson, sophomore Timothy Wright and Mike Williams. But most importantly, they have rookie weapons TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins and WR Mike Evans out of Texas A&M.

As part of Johnny Manziel’s high octane offense at Texas A&M University, Mike Evans and his elite receiving ability helped Manziel win the Heisman Memorial Trophy in his freshman season and helped A&M to go to and win two bowl games (41-13 win over Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl and a miraculous 52-48 win over Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl). In Evans two seasons as in College Station, the Aggies attained an overall record of 20-6 in A&M’s first two seasons in the newly organized Southeastern Conference (SEC). Out of Galveston, Texas, Evans was an elite athlete in both basketball (he averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game) and football (catching 25 passes for 648 yards and 7 touchdowns), showing himself to be a perfect example of a growing trend of basketball players turned football players. After playing receiver in his senior year at Ball High School in Galveston, Evans continued his dominance his freshman season as he set freshman records for A&M, catching 82 Manziel passes for 1,105 yards and 5 touchdowns, including his best game against Louisiana Tech where he went on to catch 4 passes for a monstrous 137 yards and one touchdown in a wild 59-57 win over the Bulldogs. In his sophomore season, Evans played even better, recording 69 receptions to go along with his 1,394 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2013 Evans showed his big play potential especially against tough competition such as Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt, where Evans caught 7 catches for 279 yards and one touchdown, 11 catches 287 yards and an unheard of 4 touchdowns and 5 catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns, respectively. Along with being named to the First-Team All-SEC 2013, Evans was also in consideration for the Biletnikoff Award which is given out every year to the best receiver in the nation. Where Evans game is so dominating is in his size and his ability to control his body with his full range of motion. What’s amazing about Evan’s play is that despite being 6’5″, 225 pounds, he can still leap, run and have complete control of his body and hangs throughout the process of a catch. He’s long and lanky which doesn’t necessarily make him a speed demon, however when he gets up to top speed, all he needs is a nicely thrown ball and he can easily make a play. His size and strength is unmatched among the draft picks this year which makes him one of the best WR draft choices in 2014. What he has yet to prove though is if he can use his size to his advantage against the experienced corners of the NFL. Where he could prove deadly would be in red zone situations and on fade routes (hopefully not against Richard Sherman) seeing as though he is so tall, he can easily jump over the corners in the NFL and pull down some key catches.

I’ll admit they do have some concerns on their offensive line (they allowed 47 sacks this season, 6th most in the NFL). In my estimation I don’t think Glennon is the future of the franchise. This season he averaged only 176.5 yards per game (among lowest in the league) and threw nine interceptions and fumbled the ball seven times. He wasn’t necessarily terrible, but at the same time he wasn’t even average either. With Doug Martin most likely coming back healthy next season and assuredly every other part of this Tampa Bay offense being back, the Bucs (and their new Head Coach) can now get down to business on the passing game. This off-season the Bucs went out and got Bear’s back-up Josh McCown. McCown in six games with the Bears played amazing football, throwing for 291.2 passing yards per game started along with 12 touchdowns and only one interception. I believe that even though McCown is old and hasn’t been accustomed to the starting role, 2014 could be the season of his career. After a brilliant three week stretch where McCown went for 351.6 yards, 2.6 touchdowns and a 71.8 completion percentage, the Bucs took a chance on McCown, signing him for two year-$10 million contract.

In 2014 I see McCown emerging as the sure-fire starter not only because of his pure playing ability on the field, but for leadership ability on-the-field and in the locker room. McCown nearly saved the Bears’ 2013 season had their pass defense not blown it in the last second against the Green Bay Packers. The pieces are there in Tampa, it is just a matter of how hard Glennon and McCown are going to work to be the starting quarterbacks of this ball club. I think that McCown will be the starter week one, week two, week three and so on, until the the Bucs make it to the playoffs. If their offensive line can protect and if Doug Martin doesn’t get injured again, we could be seeing January football in the Bucs’ future.