The more things change, the more they stay the same. Again, the Bucs will be heading into training camp with more questions than answers at the quarterback position and there is an open battle raging at One Bucs Place. Let’s look at the competitors and  various thoughts on their offseason to this point. Honestly, I question how much it matters, but we will discuss that later.

Luke McCown - 6′3 - 212- Is thought to be an athletic, "efficient" passer. He has the ability to avoid sacks, find the open receiver and run the offense. He has a career Passer Rating of 75.2. His best year came in 2007 when he started 3 games and played in 5. He threw for just over 1,000 yards and tallied 5 TD’s and 3 INT’s with a 91.7 Passer Rating. His sample size is so small, so its hard to make an accurate prediction of what he would do as the starter, however I would guess it would be closer to his "career" QB Rating than his 2007 total.

Byron Leftwich - 6′5 - Fat - We all know about Leftwich. He has a strong arm……and that’s about it. He has some veteran leadership and we know he is capable of winning. The problem is he is the anti-Luke McCown. It gives us a decision to make. He can’t get out of the pocket, he makes slow decisions and he has thrown 58 TD’s ot his 34 INT’s in his career.

Josh Freeman - 6′6 - 250 - A huge, somewhat mobile quarterback with loads of potential according to the coaches. The problem is he is young, has been stymied by awful college coaching and has a tendency to force balls and make mental errors. The question here is can he grasp a NFL offense quickly and step up as a leader. Morris wants to play the best quarterback and there is fear amongst Bucs fans that Morris will deem Freeman as it.While Tampa has plenty of offensive talent to surround a young quarterback do you really want a rookie learning on the job?It’s the age old-question.

Most think McCown is in the lead now for the starting role. According to PewterReport.Com who has been able to watch the quarterback competition heat up during OTA’s and MiniCamps they think McCown has simply made the smarter decisions. That’s what it’s going to come down to….Who can manage the game more effectively? I honestly don’t know that it matters as our offense will be centered around our zone running game and the pass will be a secondary thought. I firmly believe that Jags will open it up more the more he gains confidence. Freeman truly is a blank slate for him with a tremendous amount of size and ability. I believe McCown will be the starter for about 4-6 games before Freeman takes the reigns.

What do you think? Who do you think gives Tampa the best chance to win?

Some quotes regarding the competition…From Rick Stroud of the St.Pete Times

…But frankly, neither Luke McCown or Byron Leftwich have  grabbed hold of the position. What they met about and decided was that a week into training camp, if Freeman continues to improve, they might have to put him in the mix and see if he can win the job. I still think on this day that it’s Luke McCown’s job to lose. But I wouldn’t rule out Freeman starting because the Bucs’ haven’t.

I would agree with this sentiment. It was also clear to me that before the camps started that the Bucs weren’t high on anyone on their roster. This is going to be a battle of who wants it least….

Per Fred Goodall of the AP

“He’s pushing the envelope. Those guys are fighting with him. He’s fighting back. That’s what you want,” Morris said.

“We’ll continue to evaluate this thing throughout training camp. We’ll continue to evaluate it throughout the season. We’ll continue to evaluate it until Josh Freeman is ready to become our prototypical franchise quarterback.”

…Pretty much what you would expect Morris to spout out. He also added that hes “not giving anyone anything” and he wants them to earn it. A lot of words and no substance.