Charley Casserly on Josh Freeman...

[Madman]

The funny part is Sanchez DEFINITELY stares down receivers.

Freeman is usually running for  his life and has to locate an alternative target on the fly.

Exactly!

[Garv]

Why does it even matter what some "expert" thinks?
Frankly, I can think for myself and know what I see.
Josh Freeman was the best player taken in that draft.

Garv > "expert" Casserly.

[cyberdude558]

He looked good in 2010, but it was only one year. A lot of QBs have one great year. It's the ability to string together winning seasons that seperates the men from the boys.

What if he tosses 15 INTs next year and the Bucs only win 7 games? Would that demonstrate a regression? I think so.

He doesnt seem to have the laser shooting that guys like Brady or Peyton have. He tends to want to a lot of times throw the ball up and let the receiver fight for it instead of trying to fit the ball into a tight space that the greats are able to do.
That doesnt mean he is a bad QB. Most QBs in the league are not elite, they are game managers. And Freeman seems to be a pretty strong game manager. He may turn out to be Roethlisberger-like and that's probably the best comparison. He can avoid a sack, buy time, and make a play. But I don't see a future Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

[lazoran]

Lol....I'd love to hear how you think you know those plays were designed for a specific target.

You have NFL rewind go watch the games and watch Purvis and Gilmores receptions they were usually 5 step drops and right to the TE. The one where Gilmore busted open for a big game you even heard one of the Bucs players saying they were working on that all week and they even tried the exact same play later on in the game.

[JDouble]

I see quite a few lasers and tight windows.

[lazoran]

He got better as the year went on but there was still a lot of times where he was caught staring down 1 receiver or not making it pass the second receiver in his progression.

When were these "lot of times he was caught staring down 1 receiver"?

I gave two examples in the Atlanta game where he did the same curl route to MW twice in the game. Once an INT and the other was almost an INT. Don't have every game but I can remember constantly watching Freeman and noticing him staring down receivers. Bottom line its something he has to work on and he has the mentality where he is going to do so. If you wan't to go and watch all the Bucs games and pay closer attention to his progressions be my guest but the vast majority of his reads didn't make it past the second receiver. Not knocking him but Casserly wasn't wrong on the evaluation but I don't think there is no way that he doesn't go first or atleast second if there is a redraft.

[Biggs3535]

He got better as the year went on but there was still a lot of times where he was caught staring down 1 receiver or not making it pass the second receiver in his progression.

When were these "lot of times he was caught staring down 1 receiver"?

I gave two examples in the Atlanta game where he did the same curl route to MW twice in the game. Once an INT and the other was almost an INT. Don't have every game but I can remember constantly watching Freeman and noticing him staring down receivers. Bottom line its something he has to work on and he has the mentality where he is going to do so. If you wan't to go and watch all the Bucs games and pay closer attention to his progressions be my guest but the vast majority of his reads didn't make it past the second receiver. Not knocking him but Casserly wasn't wrong on the evaluation but I don't think there is no way that he doesn't go first or atleast second if there is a redraft.

I think you're exaggerating a bit with "a lot".  Some?  Sure, he's still a young QB and he has things to work on.  All QB's stare down their receivers during games - even Manning, Brady, and Brees.

[DaRealdeal]

Casserly isn't exactly wrong, but as a standalone sentence his point is stupid.

Freeman does have a tendency to lock onto one read, but yet he's still incredibly efficient. Why? Because more often than not his pre-snap reads are correct. It's a testament to Freeman's maturity as a passer that he's able to dissect a defense before the snap, make one read and let the ball fly. That shouldn't be a negative at all. Progressing through multiple reads will come with time and experience, but his pre-snap recogniation skills are superb. At 22 he is well ahead of the curve.

[Boid Fink]

Cass did pick Mario over Bush...he gets respect for that...ha ha ha!

[JDouble]

The most incredibly stupid part of the whole statement is that he'd still take Stafford #1. The dude has missed 18 of 32 games in his first two years due to multiple injuries to his THROWING SHOULDER......I mean seriously. No wonder this idiot is yapping on TV instead of running a franchise.

[bashear]

He looked good in 2010, but it was only one year. A lot of QBs have one great year. It's the ability to string together winning seasons that seperates the men from the boys.

What if he tosses 15 INTs next year and the Bucs only win 7 games? Would that demonstrate a regression? I think so.

He doesnt seem to have the laser shooting that guys like Brady or Peyton have. He tends to want to a lot of times throw the ball up and let the receiver fight for it instead of trying to fit the ball into a tight space that the greats are able to do.
That doesnt mean he is a bad QB. Most QBs in the league are not elite, they are game managers. And Freeman seems to be a pretty strong game manager. He may turn out to be Roethlisberger-like and that's probably the best comparison. He can avoid a sack, buy time, and make a play. But I don't see a future Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

I think there is a bit of truth in what you wrote, although it is unfair to compare Freeman at this time with Manning and Brady. Chances are, he'll never reach that plateau, as both Manning and Brady are in the conversation for the best QB ever. I hope his career goal are to be in that conversation as well.

What will Freeman be like when he hits his prime? I'm not sure. I know he improved greatly from his first year to his second year, and his mobility and poise in the pocket were key to doing so well behind a suspect line with a good mix of young receivers running routes. He still has room to improve, and his work ethic will help him achieve that. Can you imagine if Free takes two steps forward in 2011, as he did this season?

The original post compared Free to Stafford and Sanchez, not Free to Manning and Brady. Keeping with that topic, there's no way I'd take Sanchez over Freeman. I've not watched a lot of Stafford, so I can't say too much on that comparison. Will Stafford be hampered by injuries during his career? Scary thought at this point. In the end, I like the fact we have Free as a QB, and he has made me a fan.

[lazoran]

He got better as the year went on but there was still a lot of times where he was caught staring down 1 receiver or not making it pass the second receiver in his progression.

When were these "lot of times he was caught staring down 1 receiver"?

I gave two examples in the Atlanta game where he did the same curl route to MW twice in the game. Once an INT and the other was almost an INT. Don't have every game but I can remember constantly watching Freeman and noticing him staring down receivers. Bottom line its something he has to work on and he has the mentality where he is going to do so. If you wan't to go and watch all the Bucs games and pay closer attention to his progressions be my guest but the vast majority of his reads didn't make it past the second receiver. Not knocking him but Casserly wasn't wrong on the evaluation but I don't think there is no way that he doesn't go first or atleast second if there is a redraft.

I think you're exaggerating a bit with "a lot".  Some?  Sure, he's still a young QB and he has things to work on.  All QB's stare down their receivers during games - even Manning, Brady, and Brees.

It was more then some if I notice it more often then not. Its just something he needs to work out and it got better as the season went on. There is probably no other quarterback in the NFL I would trade Freeman for though and he is the type of player he will work on those things. With the type of work ethic he has the cieling with him isn't even close to being reached. I just know I am excited for the future of this team and excited to see Freeman cotinue to develope. Like I said his two biggest weaknesses right now to me or the most obvious is reading through progressions and his touch passes short to mid range.

[BuccinTex]

I'd take Freeman over Sanchez now and then.  I always thought he was a better pick then him.  Stafford though behind a very good oline can/could be awesome but he'll never give you that threat to run for the first down like Freeman does.  The way Josh has worked hard and cut down on his turnovers which makes me think he'll be the best of all three if he's not already.

[nubcake]

He looked good in 2010, but it was only one year. A lot of QBs have one great year. It's the ability to string together winning seasons that seperates the men from the boys.

What if he tosses 15 INTs next year and the Bucs only win 7 games? Would that demonstrate a regression? I think so.

He doesnt seem to have the laser shooting that guys like Brady or Peyton have. He tends to want to a lot of times throw the ball up and let the receiver fight for it instead of trying to fit the ball into a tight space that the greats are able to do.
That doesnt mean he is a bad QB. Most QBs in the league are not elite, they are game managers. And Freeman seems to be a pretty strong game manager. He may turn out to be Roethlisberger-like and that's probably the best comparison. He can avoid a sack, buy time, and make a play. But I don't see a future Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

Neither Brady nor Manning have laser shooting. In fact, Freeman probably has a slightly stronger arm than both. Their strength largely comes from an incredible knowledge of NFL defenses as well as being extremely accurate. I'm not sure Freeman can ever be on the level of Manning or Brady, but it would be due to lacking the accuracy that those two have, not the ability to gun it into a tight window. And for that matter, a lot of QBs with laser arms often have trouble with depending on it too much and turning the ball over(think Jay Cutler, pre-2010 Mike Vick, or Ryan Mallett on the college level).

[awitron]

So which one is it.. is Freeman great at extending plays or does he struggle past his first read?

Cant be both.