In what can only be described as an eminent move, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have reportedly relieved Josh Freeman of his starting role in favor of 6-foot-7 rookie Mike Glennon. The Bucs have nice offensive tools, but they have totaled just 34 points in three games this season with Freeman completing a mere 45.7 percent of his passes.
The rookie from NC State will make his first career start against the Arizona Cardinals, a team that has displayed a stout run defense (third fewest yards allowed and only 3.2 yards per carry) but has struggled a bit in defending the pass (seventh most yards allowed and a 7:2 touchdown to interception ratio). Sam Bradford, Matthew Stafford, and Drew Brees have all burned the Cardinals this season (297 pass yards per game), a defense that will certainly be without two of their starters (linebackers Sam Acho and Lorenzo Alexander) and likely a third in the now 9.5 fingered safety Rashad Johnson. Glennon is a rookie quarterback with no experience, but a porous defense that is pulling up players from the practice squad to play significant minutes this weekend gives him some upside.
All reports have Vincent Jackson (ribs) as day-to-day, and assuming that the Bucs will have their top receiver playing alongside young playmakers Mike Williams and Doug Martin, I’ve got Glennon as my 20th ranked quarterback this week (projection: 17 completions for 225 yards with two touchdowns and one turnover), making him a QB2 for those in two quarterback leagues that are without the services of Aaron Rodgers or Cam Newton due to byes this week. His ability to see over defenses and his plus arm strength play nicely into the field stretching skills of Jackson and Williams, while the threat of Martin running the ball (1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground last season) should result in some eight man fronts and plenty of room for his receivers to operate down the field.
Over the years, we’ve seen many a quarterback make a splash in the fantasy football world when expectations are low. While I don’t think Glennon is going to be a fantasy starter in standard leagues, I do think he holds some sneaky upside against a banged up defense at home this weekend.
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