ESPN's Clayton disses Freeman BIG TIME

[jerseybucsfan]

At first I thought ESPN's John Clayton was stubborn, that he was going along with the line that the Bucs hadn't beaten anyone. But his latest column goes beyond that; he won't give credit where it is due and gets condescending in making his points.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5972554
Freeman finished sixth in QB rating this season. He was first among NFL quarterbacks over the final quarter of the season. And yet .... He ranks him 13th among all NFL QBs. What makes it worse is his bogus 'chance of becoming elite' category.
Freeman 85 percent and Bradford (who was the 25th ranked QB in the NFL) 99 percent?
Why, because Bradford was better as a rookie? Freeman is THERE and Bradford isn't yet.
Freeman threw five TD passes against Seattle one week and Bradford was held to six points against them the next. And they're back-to-back?
Here are the nose, oversized shoes and mini-scooter.

[-ts]

Clayton is a joke anyway, don't know if he has ever said anything with any substance.

[Captain Hindsight]

The Crypt Keeper is good at breaking NEWS, as for analyzing football? Eh. Believe it or not, I think he was a college kicker back in the 18th century.

[lazoran]

I don't dissagree with Freeman not being named an Elite Quarterback on that list but what gets me is chances of being elite. Freeman is at 85% while you got Cutler at 95% and Bradford at 99%? Seriously get off Bradfords **CENSORED**!!!! But on that list I would have Cutler above Freeman right now.

Heres my ranking by tiers


Brady
Manning
Brees
Rivers

Rodgers
Roethlisberger
Romo
Ryan

Vick
Flacco
Cutler
Schaub
Freeman
Manning

Bradford
Palmer
Cassell
McNabb

Anyhting else really don't matter at this point

[BucBalla85]

The Crypt Keeper is good at breaking NEWS, as for analyzing football? Eh. Believe it or not, I think he was a college kicker back in the 18th century.

Was he really a kicker? I was under the impression the dude never picked up a football in his life.

[jerseybucsfan]

Other than having Romo on the second tier, I can agree with that, lazoran. Vick should be up there instead. Freeman should be about 10th or 11th, not 13th.

[BucBalla85]

Yea I put Freeman in the top 10. What he did this season was incredible. Hes starting to look like a man amongst boys out there. Hes got talent and a work ethic. He is elite in my book.

[TBayXXXVII]

Ummm... how is this "He could easily be elite by his third season." DISSING someone?  What because he thinks that in the FUTURE, Bradford will be the next Peyton Manning/Tom Brady and Freeman will be the next Donovan McNabb/Tony Romo?  OMG!!!  Get a grip.

[lazoran]

Other than having Romo on the second tier, I can agree with that, lazoran. Vick should be up there instead. Freeman should be about 10th or 11th, not 13th.

Yea, some people dislike Romo but I like him for some reason maybe its the consistancy you get from him. Your right about Freeman I think he is right outside the top 10 but definitly has promise to be inside that top 10 after next year.

[Captain Hindsight]

The Crypt Keeper is good at breaking NEWS, as for analyzing football? Eh. Believe it or not, I think he was a college kicker back in the 18th century.

Was he really a kicker? I was under the impression the dude never picked up a football in his life.

"Clayton went on to attend Duquesne University, where he played football"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clayton_(sportscaster)#cite_note-KeynoteSpeaker-0

As for being a kicker, I made that up to belittle him. 

[jerseybucsfan]

Could easily be elite? The guy's the sixth-ranked QB in the NFL NOW. Not later. Now. He threw 25 TDs with only six INTs and won 10 games. The other guy threw 18 and 15 and looked purely mediocre against the 7-9 Seahawks.
It's condescending, wait-your-turn garbage. He doesn't have to wait. He's already there. He did the same thing with the team a few weeks ago. They should be happy to have a winning record stuff. Well, 10 games is good enough to make the playoffs 90 percent of the time. They're good enough NOW. It's simply a fluke and luck of the draw that they're not in. They had a plus-56 point differential in the second half this year. That's playoff worthy.
And I love people who bring up the Detroit loss. We played Detroit close. Did Green Bay? Twice actually. Once where Rodgers was having an awful game and got hurt and another at home where they won by two. One bogus PI penalty and they lose that game too. Giants? Beat them by eight. Philly held them off early. Chicago got the lucky call on the Calvin Johnson play.
The Bucs don't have take halfhearted compliments. If you want to sit in the back of the bus, go ahead. Josh Freeman deserved better.

[Garv]

I'll type what I have before. After watching Freeman play and grow into his job as a starting QB
over the course of the past two seasons, I would NOT trade him for ANY QB in the NFL today.
Certainly not Bradford, Stafford or Sanchez. Romo? ROTFL Vick? Yeah, right.

Not Brady, Manning or Brees either. Freeman is that much younger and better physically and certainly has the
skills, work ethic and leadership abilities they do.

Nope, I'm keeping our Josh Freeman and I'm proud to type it. Not   even   close.

[TBayXXXVII]

Could easily be elite? The guy's the sixth-ranked QB in the NFL NOW. Not later. Now. He threw 25 TDs with only six INTs and won 10 games. The other guy threw 18 and 15 and looked purely mediocre against the 7-9 Seahawks.
It's condescending, wait-your-turn garbage. He doesn't have to wait. He's already there. He did the same thing with the team a few weeks ago. They should be happy to have a winning record stuff. Well, 10 games is good enough to make the playoffs 90 percent of the time. They're good enough NOW. It's simply a fluke and luck of the draw that they're not in. They had a plus-56 point differential in the second half this year. That's playoff worthy.
And I love people who bring up the Detroit loss. We played Detroit close. Did Green Bay? Twice actually. Once where Rodgers was having an awful game and got hurt and another at home where they won by two. One bogus PI penalty and they lose that game too. Giants? Beat them by eight. Philly held them off early. Chicago got the lucky call on the Calvin Johnson play.
The Bucs don't have take halfhearted compliments. If you want to sit in the back of the bus, go ahead. Josh Freeman deserved better.

Were you saying the same thing about Michael Clayton after his rookie year?  Bottom line is, you need to do it more than once to get respect.

[lazoran]

I'll type what I have before. After watching Freeman play and grow into his job as a starting QB
over the course of the past two seasons, I would NOT trade him for ANY QB in the NFL today.
Certainly not Bradford, Stafford or Sanchez. Romo? ROTFL Vick? Yeah, right.

Not Brady, Manning or Brees either. Freeman is that much younger and better physically and certainly has the
skills, work ethic and leadership abilities they do.

Nope, I'm keeping our Josh Freeman and I'm proud to type it. Not   even   close.

I agree with you here.. No way I would trade him for anybody in the NFL.

[Biggs3535]

The Crypt Keeper is good at breaking NEWS

He's really not even good at that anymore.  Schefter, Glazer, Lombardi, Mortensen, and even La Canfora out-scoop him pretty regularly.

He's pretty worthless as far as football reporters go.