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Leftwich speculation abounds as Bucs open minicamp

Tribune photo by JIM REED

The battle at quarterback between Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich has given fans something to talk about.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2009

Updated: 06/16/2009 06:00 am

We can say with some degree of certainty that the eventual starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is currently on the roster – which, praise be to the heavens, rules out Michael Vick and Brett Favre.

Thus, it follows, the "mandatory" minicamp that begins today could be important to deciding who that will be. That's opposed, of course, to the mandatory "voluntary" minicamps that guys are vilified for skipping, even though they're not required to attend. That's tweeting for another time and another column though, because we have serious business afoot.

There seems to be a growing undercurrent – out there, somewhere, in the vastness of cyberspace, virtually all of it unnamed – that Byron Leftwich will be under center when the Bucs open the season in September against Dallas.

This is more than just the usual bloggerific yammering. That talk has made it into mainstream news organizations such as Sports Illustrated. Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post wrote last month that the job is Leftwich's to lose.

Leftwich hasn't had a lot to say publicly since the Bucs signed him to a two-year deal in April, supposedly with a chance to win the job. The speculation started shortly after that report that Raheem Morris was unimpressed with Luke McCown's work in practice, and it went from there.

Can we at least agree on one thing? The best quarterback in town – this one, or any other city you want to name – always is the guy who isn't playing.

That's no reflection on McCown, Leftwich or any other quarterback in camp. It's simply a fact. There are probably Indianapolis fans who think the Colts' backup, whoever he is, should start over Peyton Manning. I wouldn't want to be trapped in an elevator with any of them, but I'll bet they're there.

Winning track record

I do find the Leftwich talk intriguing. It has just enough of a ring of truth to make you think it could actually happen.

The Bucs didn't exactly sneak him into camp when they signed him, but it didn't generate that much buzz because A): No one is sure how much of a toll injuries had taken on his body; and B): If Leftwich had kept his public profile any lower since coming here, he'd be deep enough to strike oil.

The guy has one thing the other contenders don't, though, and that's a track record of winning games in the National Football League.

Leftwich is renowned as a good teammate, so no matter how this goes it probably won't split the locker room apart like a good quarterback competition always has the chance to do. In the tale of the tape between Leftwich and career backup McCown, the new guy has the edge in just about every category.

He has 54 games in the league, which is 40 more than McCown and Josh Johnson combined. He has a 24-22 record as a starter, and he is a tough son of a gun. The lasting image will be his teammates at Marshall carrying him down the field during a game because his shin was broken. He stayed in the game as his team fought from 17 points behind.

That still impresses me.

It's hard to get too amped about any of this right now, though, because whoever wins the job – Leftwich or McCown – is just keeping the seat warm for Freeman. I wouldn't even rule Freeman completely as a starter on opening day, although that's probably pushing it.

Camp getting close

Anyway, we'll be out there for minicamp and we'll see what Leftwich has to say about all this. He is supposed to be available around noon when the Bucs open their locker room for a little while.

If there's anything you'd like to ask him, feel free to post it or drop me an email and I'll see if I can get you an answer. These next couple of days are the last practices before training camp begins Aug. 1, so I guess there'll be a bit more urgency out there.

We won't get an answer to the great quarterback debate until later this summer, but for now it's something to talk about until something more substantive comes along.

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