Did Buccaneers jump the gun on Josh McCown?

Every time a team brings a new head coach in, there are usually a lot of changes. Most of those changes are in the coaching staff, and while there were plenty of them there, Smith also decided to make a change at quarterback.

Despite a solid rookie season from Mike Glennon in 2o13, the Bucs brought in Josh McCown on a two-year, $10 million deal. McCown, who has been nothing more than a good backup quarterback in this league since entering it in 2002, was forced into the starting role last season in Chicago after Jay Cutler went down due to injury.

In eight games, McCown only led the Bears to 3 wins, but tossed for 1,829 yards (66.5 completion percentage), along with 13 touchdowns and only one interception. For the Bucs, Glennon didn’t find many wins, either, but still put up some strong individual numbers.

In 13 tries, Glennon only pulled out of 4 victorious. Tampa Bay obviously had problems elsewhere as they fired their head coach and general manager the day after their horrific season concluded, and for a rookie quarterback, Glennon didn’t play too bad. Passing for 2,608 yards, 19 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions, it didn’t make much sense for a quarterback change. 4 weeks into the season, the Bucs seem to be figuring that out.

Smith claimed McCown would have to compete with Glennon for the job, but it doesn’t seem the team’s evaluations were quite on point. It isn’t fair comparing preseason numbers as Glennon got more time being the second-string QB, and seeing that McCown took the first-team reps throughout the preseason, he must’ve earned his starting spot in camp. I didn’t see what they saw in camp, but Smith’s observations could have been fairly biased as he came in and wanted a change at QB. Glennon clearly is a good enough quarterback to compete in the NFL, but Smith, apparently, didn’t see that.

After McCown suffered an injury to his thumb in Tampa Bay’s blowout loss to the Falcons, it gave Smith and the Bucs coaching staff another opportunity to evaluate Glennon. From what he’s shown already, McCown may have lost his starting job.

As McCown couldn’t suit up against the Steelers with his thumb injury, Glennon has thrown for 423 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception since taking over for McCown late in the Atlanta game. Not to mention, Glennon led the game-winning drive against Pittsburgh to sneak away with the Bucs’ first win of the season.

In McCown’s time under center, he has thrown for 420 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, along with 2 fumbles.

To some, it may seem odd that McCown is struggling with two pretty good receivers on the corners in Vincent Jackson and rookie Mike Evans, and there is an answer for that: Marc Trestman.

Ever since Trestman took over for Smith in Chicago, it has been evident that his offense system is very quarterback-friendly. Jay Cutler has still had his struggles, but it seems he has played better with Trestman on the sidelines.

As referred to earlier, McCown found plenty of success in Trestman’s system, and that’s what got him his new job in Tampa Bay.

While we have to take preseason stats with a grain of salt, former Panther quarterback Jimmy Clausen even found success with the Bears before the regular season began. Clausen had a horrific 2010 season in Carolina, throwing only 3 TDs and 9 INTs in 13 games.

Early on, it appears Smith and the Bucs overestimated McCown, and underestimated Glennon. Thus far, McCown still looks like the best backup quarterback in the NFL, and Glennon looks like, possibly, the next QB on-the-rise, alongside Nick Foles.

Late-game heroics in Week 4 certainly helped Glennon’s case as this could still be an open race for the starting job despite the season already being underway, but can we say he’s already won it? It’s easy to say McCown isn’t the best guy for the job, but that doesn’t necessarily make Glennon that guy. Glennon still must prove himself, and he’ll have some good opportunities, starting next week.

Already heading into Tampa Bay’s third divisional game of the season, the Bucs will travel to play the Saints in New Orleans. Based on recent performance and pretty much everything said earlier, it’s hard to imagine Glennon not starting next Sunday whether McCown can play or not.

The Saints haven’t had quite the start they wanted to get off to like the Buccaneers, but coming into a divisional game, they’ll play their best game and will give Glennon some trouble. That’s why this game is specifically a good test for the second-year QB, as he should be under pressure most of the day and will have to make some tough throws.

After New Orleans, Tampa Bay will have to face a tough Baltimore Ravens team before their Week 7 bye. After that, the schedule isn’t too tough before facing Atlanta again in Week 10.

Nothing is given in the NFL, especially a starting quarterback job. McCown has not earned the job, and while Glennon may be “the guy” right now, he must continue playing strong to retain his spot.

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