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With all the hoopla surrounding Josh Freeman and the back and forth of his season, as well as the attempts to place him historically against other quarterbacks, I figured a look at other quarterbacks in similar situations may help us get a better idea of where Freeman is as a player and where he may be headed. (To view all graphs, you can set your viewing to "Wide" as opposed to "Narrow" or you can click on links at bottom)

In our previous looks at Freeman, we've covered completion percentage and yards per attempt and how each class of quarterback fared as well as the additional groupings we researched.  In this edition of our article Part II, we'll begin to explore the fantastic world of quarterback ratings.  The main question we are trying to answer is with Freeman having no data beyond his rookie year, where can we project him in future years?  By utilizing the 16 quarterbacks we selected and the historical seasons of quarterbacks from 1970-2009, we will try and place Freeman into a range by using quarterback rating.

If everything pans out, we will be able to come up with a statistical idea as to where Josh Freeman will end up in Years 2 and 3. 

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With the offseason about to get into a full swing, frenzied cycle of news as the combine, draft and free agency approach, I thought this might be a good time to involve the masses and see how you want Buc 'Em to be driven.  As we've stated many times in the past and will do so again in the future, our site is your site.  We write, we research, and we opine on all Bucs relevant news, but the most important part of our site is the community. Without you, we go from modern day blog to old style newspaper with no interaction.  And in today's society, the interaction is what makes this style of blog work. 

While we strive to bring you not only the must up to date news, but original content, we realize that as in every other walk of life, we can continue to do better.  And rather than those of us on staff making arbitrary decisions that we feel reflect the needs and wants of our readers, I thought it would be best to have an open forum of sorts and allow you, the reader/commenter, to tell us what you want. 

This can range from more discussion of players, to more draft coverage, more statistical pieces, more interactive content, additional contests, a desire to see some roundtable discussion, or anything else you can think of at this time.  I do want to say that while we will take all of your suggestions and discuss them, we may not be able to follow through on every single idea.  Don't take offense to this as it merely is a product of where we are. The hope is that this brings in heavy feedback so for us to promise that we can implement every single idea is simply not realistic. 

Keep in mind that this is for all year round, not just the offseason.  So while we welcome specific ideas like "Give us info on how Julius Peppers may fit in with the Bucs", we are also looking for more general ideas that we can put into place year round.   The goal is to make Buc 'Em not only the premiere destination for all Bucs news, but to make this a place that you want to visit.  We want this place to be an online home of sorts where we can discuss Bucs news, share opinions and research, and have a good time doing just that.  The best sites that I have been a part of in the past were not centered on those that brought the content, but based on the community, the interaction, the humor, and open forum environment.  Of course, as with any place, we still have guidelines to follow, but our goal is simply to involve and engage each of you. 

As I close this out, I encourage you to not only leave your comments below on what you would like to see on Buc 'Em, but to let us know how you think we are doing.  If you have criticism, bring it on, just do it tactfully (i.e. no name calling, slurs etc).  If you have praise, we'll take that too.  This is your opportunity to tell us not only how we are doing, but what you want to see.

I have to give credit where credit is due.  DRaysBay and Lookout Landing have used this type of forum to better their site, and like anybody with a pulse, I am taking a good idea and running with it.  I'd like to extend a thanks to both sites for the idea and the desire to make each site a better place in their own right. 

More photos » Reinhold Matay - AP

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With all the hoopla surrounding Josh Freeman and the back and forth of his season, as well as the attempts to place him historically against other quarterbacks, I figured a look at other quarterbacks in similar situations may help us get a better idea of where Freeman is as a player and where he may be headed. (To view all graphs, you can set your viewing to "Wide" as opposed to "Narrow" or you can click on links at bottom)

In the first edition of Part II, we looked at how completion percentages evolved among quarterbacks after their rookie year.  To continue Part II, which will be broken out into several articles due to the amount of data, lets look at our same selected quarterbacks (minus Freeman as we have no season two data on him) and analyze another statistic to look at the strides, if any, that these quarterbacks made in the next two years (Years 2 and 3) of their starting careers. 

Our goal is to project Freeman in years 2 and 3 with the data and results we find from analyzing all of our other quarterbacks.  Lets get on with it, shall we? 

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Chris O'Meara - AP

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With all the hoopla surrounding Josh Freeman and the back and forth of his season, as well as the attempts to place him historically against other quarterbacks, I figured a look at other quarterbacks in similar situations may help us get a better idea of where Freeman is as a player and where he may be headed. (To view all graphs, you can set your viewing to "Wide" as opposed to "Narrow" or you can click on links at bottom)

In Part I (located here if you didn't read it), we looked at a total of 17 NFL quarterbacks and their first year as a starter.  We analyzed their stats and compared them to our young quarterback.  This did not give us any predictive data, but gave us the comparison of Freeman to other NFL quarterbacks in Year 1.  In Part 1.5 (located here if you didn't read) we looked specifically at how offense type or timing of their first start may affect each quarterback and what type of numbers they produce.

In Part II, which will be broken out into several articles due to the amount of data, we will look at our same selected quarterbacks (minus Freeman as we have no season two data on him) as well as historical comparisons and begin to look at the strides, if any, that these quarterbacks made in the next two years (Years 2 and 3) of their starting careers.  We'll look at the same basic stats we perused in the last article to get a feeling for how each quarterback progressed. 

Using their rookie years as a baseline, lets look at the next few years for these quarterbacks.  So without further ado, lets jump into the next few seasons of data collected.

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With all the hoopla surrounding Josh Freeman and the back and forth of his season, as well as the attempts to place him historically against other quarterbacks, I figured a look at other quarterbacks in similar situations may help us get a better idea of where Freeman is as a player and where he may be headed. (To view all graphs, you can set your viewing to "Wide" as opposed to "Narrow" or you can click on links at bottom)

Now that Freeman's rookie season is over, we've run out of data to analyze on him.  But this doesn't mean we should just throw darts and hope our projections are right.  We can utilize other player's data and experience to formulate an idea for which direction Freeman will head.  Again, this is not an exact science, but just one possible way to look at Freeman's upcoming 2010 season and beyond.

In Part I (located here if you didn't read it), we looked at a total of 17 NFL quarterbacks and their first year as a starter.  We analyzed their stats and compared them to our young quarterback.  This did not give us any predictive data, but gave us the comparison of Freeman to other quarterbacks in that first year of starting.

In Part 1.5, we'll look at those same quarterbacks and begin to look to see if there are any differences amongst the make up of the quarterbacks and how that may have affected their rookie numbers.  Buc 'Em users FreeZorilla and McBuc both brought up good points in that veterans in the same offense may give us some insight into the offensive success or failures (i.e. How did Leftwich and Johnson do in the same offense as Freeman in 2009) and does a QB who starts in year 2 or partway through year 1 have an advantage or disadvantage over those who started right away in their rookie year. 

We'll flip through the data and see which direction it points us.  Hit the jump to dive into the data.

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With all the hoopla surrounding Josh Freeman and the back and forth of his season, as well as the attempts to place him historically against other quarterbacks, I figured a look at other quarterbacks in similar situations may help us get a better idea of where Freeman is as a player and where he may be headed. (To view all graphs, you can set your viewing to "Wide" as opposed to "Narrow" or you can click on links at bottom)

In the 2009 NFL draft, the Bucs hand selected the quarterback that they hoped would take them back to the NFL promised land.  Josh Freeman was taken with the 17th pick of the draft and instantly become seen as the franchise QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  But the 2009 season was not flawless for Josh Freeman and featured mistakes, mishaps, and road bumps along the way.  We have his rookie year numbers and have dissected those to the point of exhaustion here on Buc 'Em.  This begs the question, "What's next for Freeman?"

Rather than just throw out some arbitrary projections and numbers that attempt to evaluate and predict how he will do in the next few years, we'll take a look at some other quarterbacks that have items in common with the young Bucs QB.  The goal here isn't to nail down Josh's future, or pigeonhole him as a one trick pony, but to perhaps give us an idea of what we can expect. 

The toughest part is a willful admission;  predicting future performance is not an exact science.  There are far too many variables, unknowns, and parts to the equation that can either exist or differ from our assumed path for anyone to have a reasonable chance to predict the future of an NFL player.  There have been "sure things" like Ryan Leaf and Todd Marinovich that have fizzled out.  There have been unknowns like Kurt Warner and Tony Romo that have ascended the charts of NFL quarterbacks.  And then there are the "late bloomers" like Matt Cassel, Jeff Garcia and Tom Brady who have become solid if not spectacular. 

The toughest part to quantify is how surrounding talent and a system affects each quarterback.  A good or bad system can improve or de-value a quarterback.  If you took the relatively immobile Peyton Manningandput him behindthe 2002 Houston Texans offensive line or 2009 Green Bay Packers line, how would he have done?  Conversely, how would David Carr have done with a running game like Ben Roethlisberger enjoyed his rookie year? 

The determinations are left to opinion only with no ability to project or determine how each piece of the puzzle impacts the quarterback.  There is no magic switch or set of figures that allows soemone to predict future performance, but that doesn't mean we won't try.  We're going to look at quite a few quarterbacks, and over several articles, we'll look at how those quarterbacks fared their first year of starting, what improvement or movement we saw in the next few years, the total career arc of these quarterbacks (to date) and ultimately try to project a path for Freeman.  Hit the jump to take a look into the future of Freeman and a comparison to the early years of several quarterbacks.

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Like many of you, I was stunned at the news that Gaines Adams had passed away as a result of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.  At age 26, and reportedly one of the quieter guys in any locker room, his death comes far too early.  His funeral will be on Friday in South Carolina and both tbe Bucs, Bears, and NFL will be well represented. 

But with his passing, what can we take from this tragic end?  I'm not writing to debate his statistics while in the NFL, or whether he was justified as the 4th overall pick.  I don't want to discuss the amount of money paid to him, or re-review the trade that sent him to Chicago.  None of that has a place right now.  We've all surely documented our thoughts on Gaines Adams the football player, but I believe these is some good that can come out of his death as we focus on Gaines Adams the person.

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This 300 pounder is Sapp like in strength and speed. He is a Tampa Two style defensive Tackle, and may be ours if McCoy or SUH are gone.

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What to do if Suh and McCoy aren't there after pick numbers 1 and 2 are gone? Draft a Safety and miss our chance at a defensive tackle? Maybe, but the Bucs arnt just after any ole D Tackle. We know what we need. And there is another option besides the two we have heard about lately.

UCLA's Brian Price.

Price is 300 Pounds and is fast, very fast, off the line. He reportedly excels at launching from the 3 technique and just gets better when the guys he faces  get tougher.

Price has over 20 tackles for a loss including 8 in a three game span this past season, and more than 7 sacks on the year. The best part is he is doing it against double teams. His coach Frank Neuheisel and college scots think he is a sure first round pick, probably the third best Defensive Tackle in the draft behind Suh and McCoy. 

He is a 300 Pounder with an exceptional first step, which is what's needed to be the next Warren Sapp, like Suh or McCoy. Or now Price.