The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have decided to bench quarterback Josh Freeman for rookie Mike Glennon, according to league sources.
The Bucs are making the change now because they feel it is beneficial for Glennon with the bye week coming after Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals, team sources told ESPN. He can start this week, then have two weeks for the coaches to review his performance and make corrections before the Bucs play the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 13.
Coach Greg Schiano, according to the sources, felt this was a more favorable scenario than having Glennon anticipating his first NFL start for two weeks.
"This league is about finding a franchise quarterback, and with Josh's roller-coaster career, we don't feel he's that guy," a team source said.
Schiano said Monday that Freeman was still his starter despite completing fewer than 50 percent of his passes during the Bucs' 0-3 start.
The writing was on the wall for Freeman after the Buccaneers drafted Glennon on the heels of Freeman's disastrous finish in 2012 (after posting top 10 fantasy QB numbers through the first 14 weeks). Freeman never had the full support of Schiano and it showed in his play in 2013. As for Glennon, he led the NCAA in interceptions (17), but was 9th in passing yards (4,031) and tied for 12th in touchdowns (31). His YPA (7.1) and completion percentage (58.5%) were very mediocre. We're not optimistic about his prospects for this season, but he does have a strong arm and can make all the throws, so there may be some good fantasy lines in his near future. He does have a couple of good WRs (Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams) and a pass-catching RB (Doug Martin) to throw to, so he's in a good situation, relatively speaking. Those skill players shouldn't be impacted too negatively by the switch at QB because Freeman wasn't playing well. Consider Glennon a QB3 with low-end QB2 upside if given a good matchup.
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