Well we'll get to see what former Buc Gradkowski can do again

[JavaBuc]

Curt, to be fair, the year that Gruden was forced to start Gradkowski was a tough one for Buc QBs.  Luke McCown went down in training camp with a knee injury.  Simms was hyped up all through training camp, and then stunk it up the first 2-1/2 games before rupturing his spleen.  Our only options were Gradkowski, and Tim Rattay, who was recently traded for.  While Rattay had more NFL experience, it wasn't like he was tremendously better than Gradkowski, and Gradkowski had 5 months head start on learning Gruden's complicated offense.  Gradkowski also has 2 wins as a Bucs starter, which is more than any QB on our current roster.  And, if we had simply lost either of the games he won (the last second TD pass against Cincy or the 62-yd field goal to sink Philly), we'd have Calvin Johnson instead of the 2nd round pick we got in the Gaines Adams trade.

I still think if Simms doesn't get hurt in that game, he turns it around that year and might even still be the Bucs starter.

[dalbuc]

Looks like Gradkowski probably won't be the only former Buc staring at QB on Sunday.  Sounds like Chris Simms has been taking most all of the snaps in practice and will start due to Kyle Orton's ankle injury for Denver against San Diego.

Any bets on who actually has the better stats?

[Blaze688]

Curt, to be fair, the year that Gruden was forced to start Gradkowski was a tough one for Buc QBs.  Luke McCown went down in training camp with a knee injury.  Simms was hyped up all through training camp, and then stunk it up the first 2-1/2 games before rupturing his spleen.  Our only options were Gradkowski, and Tim Rattay, who was recently traded for.  While Rattay had more NFL experience, it wasn't like he was tremendously better than Gradkowski, and Gradkowski had 5 months head start on learning Gruden's complicated offense.  Gradkowski also has 2 wins as a Bucs starter, which is more than any QB on our current roster.  And, if we had simply lost either of the games he won (the last second TD pass against Cincy or the 62-yd field goal to sink Philly), we'd have Calvin Johnson instead of the 2nd round pick we got in the Gaines Adams trade.

I still think if Simms doesn't get hurt in that game, he turns it around that year and might even still be the Bucs starter.

You don't play much worse than Simms did at the beginning of that season.

[HughC]

Looks like Gradkowski probably won't be the only former Buc staring at QB on Sunday. Sounds like Chris Simms has been taking most all of the snaps in practice and will start due to Kyle Orton's ankle injury for Denver against San Diego.

Any bets on who actually has the better stats?

That's a tough call, but if I have to pick one I'll go with Simms - based on the fact he has a better team around him.

[TOP SECRET]

It shouldn't be too hard for him to outperform Russell. A friend of mine played with him at Toledo, so I've had a soft spot for the guy. It would be cool if he actually developed into a starter.

another jeff garcia. how was flutie on those long passes? just a couple of smallish guys to succeed.

Bruce has a much weaker arm than both Flutie and Garcia....

Bruce is a very good QB under 15 yards, but teams stop respecting the deep ball against him and just load the box, that's why he never succeeded. Jeff and Doug didn't have great arms by any means but they could make a team pay for leaving receiver wide open deep.

I hope Bruce has worked on throwing the deep ball but I don't know if his problem is fixable.

[Badabing]

Curt, to be fair, the year that Gruden was forced to start Gradkowski was a tough one for Buc QBs. Luke McCown went down in training camp with a knee injury. Simms was hyped up all through training camp, and then stunk it up the first 2-1/2 games before rupturing his spleen. Our only options were Gradkowski, and Tim Rattay, who was recently traded for. While Rattay had more NFL experience, it wasn't like he was tremendously better than Gradkowski, and Gradkowski had 5 months head start on learning Gruden's complicated offense. Gradkowski also has 2 wins as a Bucs starter, which is more than any QB on our current roster. And, if we had simply lost either of the games he won (the last second TD pass against Cincy or the 62-yd field goal to sink Philly), we'd have Calvin Johnson instead of the 2nd round pick we got in the Gaines Adams trade.

I still think if Simms doesn't get hurt in that game, he turns it around that year and might even still be the Bucs starter.

You don't play much worse than Simms did at the beginning of that season.

If only we didn't go with a young QB for the sake of trying to develop a young QB, we could have went after a veteran like Drew Brees that off-season....

Simms was terrible in 06 and Java you got to take the blinders off---Simms had a whole off-season to prepare as the starter and played terribly.  He did improve in the Carolina game and probably would have been better than Gradkowski in 06, but I don't think Simms ever would have amounted to anything.

[Blaze688]

Gradkowski was much better than Simms in 2006.  During that 3 game stretch, Chris threw an interception every 15 passes... and a touchdown every 106 passes.

To really believe how bad that season started for him, you have to project it over 16 games:

309 completions | 565 attempts | 55% | 3,120 yards | 5 touchdowns | 37 interceptions

Obviously, he would've either improved or been pulled for his bad play well before the 16-game mark, but few players in league history have had three game stretches as bad as Simms did.

[warrenfb12]

Gradkowski was much better than Simms in 2006.  During that 3 game stretch, Chris threw an interception every 15 passes... and a touchdown every 106 passes.

To really believe how bad that season started for him, you have to project it over 16 games:

309 completions | 565 attempts | 55% | 3,120 yards | 5 touchdowns | 37 interceptions

Obviously, he would've either improved or been pulled for his bad play well before the 16-game mark, but few players in league history have had three game stretches as bad as Simms did.

Yes, but Simms has or had A LOT more talent than Grads. Not that Simms was playing well, but that injury really destroyed the kids career. I used to love watching his deep ball to Galloway. Hopefully Freeman can bring Simms talent, with a little more intelligence.

[Blaze688]

Gradkowski was much better than Simms in 2006.  During that 3 game stretch, Chris threw an interception every 15 passes... and a touchdown every 106 passes.

To really believe how bad that season started for him, you have to project it over 16 games:

309 completions | 565 attempts | 55% | 3,120 yards | 5 touchdowns | 37 interceptions

Obviously, he would've either improved or been pulled for his bad play well before the 16-game mark, but few players in league history have had three game stretches as bad as Simms did.

Yes, but Simms has or had A LOT more talent than Grads. Not that Simms was playing well, but that injury really destroyed the kids career. I used to love watching his deep ball to Galloway. Hopefully Freeman can bring Simms talent, with a little more intelligence.

I'd agree with that.

[Fitz66]

Not doing all that bad in Oak...good for him.