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I'm more critical than JBen or Gur; so please feel free to call me an A$$hat, condescending or cooky. I suppose the condescending moniker is aimed at me...I'm good with that. You won't hurt my feelings, I used to be an Army First Sergeant so I'm sure I've been called worse. Gur and JBen are more open-minded. They have taken a critical, albeit hard pressed look at Mike Glennon and said "lets wait and see".
Let me come out and say it. "I'm a skeptic". I'd love to be wrong, I really would. I'm a huge Bucs fan and I really wish we had a franchise QB but in my humble opinion we don't. If Glennon proved to be something else I'd be very happy. However, while Gur and JBen have been happy (even in the face of uncalled for insults) to say they are skeptics who want to wait and see....I say "Mike Glennon prove me wrong".
Yes It's my opinion and just that, an opinion based on hours of watching QB hopefuls spill their way into the NFL. I say Schiano has made a mistake: Glennon is no franchise QB. I cite the same 5 issues I've seen with him since the beginning:
1, Step into pressure and make a good pass.
2. Spread his feet and throw from a good base while making the deep throw.
3. Keep track of dropping down linemen and safeties..don't throw it toward their helmet.
4. Raise/change the release point. You're 6'7", no need to get balls batted down at the line of scrimmage.
5. Avoid the downward spiral; don't let one bad pass lead to 5. invoke a short memory on bad passes.
To be sure Glennon has gotten better at #2, the past two games on the deep throw the stance has been wider and he's had more success placing the ball downfield. If he could do #1 consistently on throws I'd change my mind, but he hasn't. I wish he would but wanting won't make it so.
IRON PYRITE
Mike Glennon is fool's gold, Iron Pyrite. I write 500 opinions on draft picks and potential draft picks a year, projecting how collegians will transition to a game that's faster, with more tactics involved, and more cerebral. I'm bound to be wrong on some of them and I'm ok with that: but prove me wrong. Glennon hasn't made me order crow yet and I don't think he will. JBen and Gur may be comfortable saying let's be cautious, wait and see, give Glennon the full season, that's probably the wise course.
I just don't see it that way. Mike Glennon is a backup QB. Ask him to win the game for you and he'll wilt like last spring's flowers. That's my opinion based on my game film evaluations of him. It is what it is; prove me wrong (please) but I don't think he will. That said...no equivocation; you know where I stand what I believe and how I see the state of the Bucs. .I wrote I thought 3 years to a Super Bowl was doable. I still believe that, I just don't see Glennon as part of that. At the end of the day - at least you know where I stand.
The Fallacy of near Perfection
There is some canard that since not everyone can be Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers that any game managing QB will do. That's not the canard, but assuming there is no difference between a QB like Drew Brees - to Matt Ryan - to Alex Smith - to Caleb Hanie is as nonsensical in my opinion as believing that Ground Chuck is the same as USDA Grade A and USDA Grade A is the same as Prime Steak. It just isn't the case. Look at the past 10 Super Bowls from the QB viewpoint
Joe Flacco vs. Colin Kapernick (Good QB vs. Game Manager - Good QB won)
Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning (Great QB vs .Good QB - Good QB won)
Aaron Rodgers vs. Big Ben (Great QB vs. Godd QB - Great QB won)
Drew Brees vs. Peyton Manning (Great QB vs. Great QB - Great QB won)
Big Ben vs. Kurt Warner (Good QB vs. Great QB - Good QB won)
Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady (Good QB vs. Great QB - Good QB won)
Peyton Manning vs. Rex Grossman (Great QB vs. Below Average QB - Great QB won)
Big Ben vs. Matt Hasselback (Good QB vs. Game Manager - Good QB won)
Tom Brady vs. Donovan McNabb (Great QB vs. Good QB - Great QB won)
Tom Brady vs. Jake Delhomme (Great QB vs. Game Manager QB - Great QB won)
By my count, that's 8 of 10 appearances for great QBs with 4 victories. With the 6 victories for good QBs and not a single victory for game managers or less. Call it the modern NFL but if you don't realize that just because Matt Ryan or Matt Stafford isn't Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, that doesn't mean that you don't at least need a Matt Stafford to be a Super Bowl contender.
Yes the Ravens and Bucs won one a piece with serious game manager QBss (more than a decade ago now) but each carried 4 players that were Hall of Fame or near Hall of Fame on defense. The game has changed...don't fear change: embrace it.
We've Been Down this Road Before
We really have. Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy are potentially budding All-Time All-Pro players. However, unless you're prepared to matriculate Darrelle Revis back into that category AND believe we nail a draft pick for one more HOF member, we need better than a game manager under QB.
Call me what you will , but I'm convinced this is the best path forward for Tampa. That said if you want to counter Jben or Gur please show some civility and dignity in making your points for this post.