The Official Josh Johnson Support Thread

[rowdie]

If you can amend those articles to include keeping Ryan Purvis I'll sign.

[anterrabae33]

- Josh is the smartest quarterback on the roster and the most mentally sharp.
- Josh is the most accurate.
- Josh has the best pocket presence.


I'd question these 3 points, particularly the first and third. Last night, he seemed to be the smartest. He didn't try to play Gruden-ball like McCown, bomb it downfield every friggin play like Leftwich, or stare down his receiver the whole time like Freeman. He was also easily the most accurate last night, and also seemed to have the best pocket presence last night. Which is all good and fine, but Tennessee's 1st team defense is in the top 5 in the NFL easily. Their 3rd/4th team defense? Not so much. We can't really say that Johnson has the edge in any of the above three categories(aside from maybe accuracy) without seeing him play against first string defenses...which I'd love to see, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to be getting a fair chance.

And that's where I do agree with you. It seems like Morris drafted Freeman and thus Freeman can't possibly fail because Morris saw him at K-State and he KNOWS he'll be a great NFL QB. Which I certainly hope is true...a franchise QB would be great, to say the least. And while I might prefer that guy to be someone else, I don't care if it's him, Leftwich, McCown, Johnson, or some other guy we pick up next year. So I certainly don't hold anything against Freeman, but what annoys me is that Morris is making it clear that Freeman is guaranteed the starting job within 3 years. By saying (paraphrased) "I'm giving McCown a chance to be like Drew Brees", he's essentially saying that even if McCown turns out to be a GREAT QB, he's still going with Freeman. Which essentially means that unless we have multiple QB injuries in the next couple weeks, it doesn't matter what Johnson does because he's not the future, and thus he'll never get a chance at proving he might actually be better than Freeman.

I hope for the sake of the team that Freeman is the real deal, but I don't have a good feeling about the way he's guaranteed the starting job in a couple years and Johnson is automatically ignored no matter how well he plays. Even if Morris ends up being right, it's still a foolish way to handle the situation.

I'd like to talk about your whole post but the one part that stands out is the question of 3rd and 4th string. Yeah they aren't the big boys but it's not like Johnson has an advantage. We had 3rd and 4th stringers in too. It was an even playing field and he made them look like Pee Wee players. Is he going to do that against 1st stringers? No, not 100% of the time but I think it proves he should be put against tougher tests.

[hayesair]

If Leftwich continues playing better than McCown, a case could be made for releasing McCown, and keeping Johnson as 2nd QB to run the Wildcat.

[GhostRider]

If Leftwich continues playing better than McCown, a case could be made for releasing McCown, and keeping Johnson as 2nd QB to run the Wildcat.

I could see that happening.

[sma2680]

Johnson has opportunities every day in practice to prove his worth to the team.  If he was truly the best QB on the team, the team would get him on the field.  Most of the criteria you listed are things you can't possibly know.  You know he is the smartest and the sharpest?  By what measure?  Dude took a busted play 40 yards for a touchdown against a bunch of scrubs.  I will trust the coaches who get to see and evaluate him every day think.  If he doesn't get enough reps, I think it is safe to say he didn't earn them.   To be honest, I think if we put him on the practice squad there is a good chance no one will claim him.  That would be good for us.  I have nothing against the kid, I am just not willing to say he should be leading the team b/c he had a nice touchdown run. 

[JasonOfthetower]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

[MBF]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

[JasonOfthetower]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

As a running back...maybe. Has he attempted a pass over 20 yds? If so, haven't seen it.

[anterrabae33]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

As a running back...maybe. Has he attempted a pass over 20 yds? If so, haven't seen it.

Hmm lets see, he had a minimum amount of snaps last year in Grudens offense where those throws hardly exist. He's had 5 throws this year, I didn't see any with a long route really. That bobbled snap might have been a deep pass play. But hey we got the TD anyway

[JasonOfthetower]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

As a running back...maybe. Has he attempted a pass over 20 yds? If so, haven't seen it.

Hmm lets see, he had a minimum amount of snaps last year in Grudens offense where those throws hardly exist. He's had 5 throws this year, I didn't see any with a long route really. That bobbled snap might have been a deep pass play. But hey we got the TD anyway

That's all well and good, but the point remains. I've seen him at training camp as well and I honestly can't remember him throwing farther than 20 yds. Leftwich, McCown, and Free were gunning it down field while Johnson was like Jeff Garcia.

I like the kid's skill set but some of our fans really need to get a grip. He's not Donnevan McNabb. Hell, he's not even Michael Vick. Freeman is the future of this team, for better or worse. Once you accept that, you'll be better off.

[anterrabae33]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

As a running back...maybe. Has he attempted a pass over 20 yds? If so, haven't seen it.

Hmm lets see, he had a minimum amount of snaps last year in Grudens offense where those throws hardly exist. He's had 5 throws this year, I didn't see any with a long route really. That bobbled snap might have been a deep pass play. But hey we got the TD anyway

That's all well and good, but the point remains. I've seen him at training camp as well and I honestly can't remember him throwing farther than 20 yds. Leftwich, McCown, and Free were gunning it down field while Johnson was like Jeff Garcia.

I like the kid's skill set but some of our fans really need to get a grip. He's not Donnevan McNabb. Hell, he's not even Michael Vick. Freeman is the future of this team, for better or worse. Once you accept that, you'll be better off.

I don't want him to be McNabb and definitely not Vick. I want him to be Tom Brady or Joe Montana. A winning QB.

[Booker]

They won't give him a fair chance. Leftwich is the clear front runner to be the starter and Luke is the White QB on the roster why is he still here, don't know any other reason other than that. The Freeman love affair will cause JJ to get the boot, life is not fair and he will get a chance to be a QB elsewhere hopefully such move don't comeback and bite us in the butt.

So Luke is still on the roster because he is white? Let me just make sure this is what you are saying before I go any further

[SunnyD]

  .   

[Capt_Chaos]

I totally agree with you on this topic. Josh Johnson deserves a REAL chance to fight for the starting QB job. I think the mind set is that Johnson is like Shawn King, good enough to be on the field when all else fails. But in reality, he's better than Josh Freeman ( who I think was a good Draft pick, but wrong round )  Johnson has the arm, legs, smarts, and the drive to be a winner. Its funny how Freeman is in contention to be the starter , but he hasnt proved a thing to anyone. I hope Johnson comes out playing like a maniac the next chance he gets.

[JoshJohnson11]

Josh Johnson is the black Gradkowski.

No, Gradkowski didn't have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. JJ does.

As a running back...maybe. Has he attempted a pass over 20 yds? If so, haven't seen it.

Hmm lets see, he had a minimum amount of snaps last year in Grudens offense where those throws hardly exist. He's had 5 throws this year, I didn't see any with a long route really. That bobbled snap might have been a deep pass play. But hey we got the TD anyway

That's all well and good, but the point remains. I've seen him at training camp as well and I honestly can't remember him throwing farther than 20 yds. Leftwich, McCown, and Free were gunning it down field while Johnson was like Jeff Garcia.

I like the kid's skill set but some of our fans really need to get a grip. He's not Donnevan McNabb. Hell, he's not even Michael Vick. Freeman is the future of this team, for better or worse. Once you accept that, you'll be better off.

I don't want him to be McNabb and definitely not Vick. I want him to be Tom Brady or Joe Montana. A winning QB.

Attempted a pass over 20 yards? You can't attempt a pass over twenty yards when the coaches don't let you throw the ball down field.