What is Mike Glennon all about? That’s one of the big issues facing Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay. Can Glennon be their long-term solution at quarterback? Or should the Bucs be on the lookout for another young arm?
Glennon’s rookie numbers were surprisingly good. He completed 59 percent of his passes, with 19 TDs and 9 interceptions. That’s good for a rookie.
In the last 10 years, 32 quarterbacks selected in the first, second or third round has attempted at least 100 passes as a rookie. Of those group, only a half-dozen finished with better passer ratings in their first year, and it’s a nice-looking group – RG3, Russell Wilson, Roethlisberger, Cutler, Ryan and Newton.
| ROOKIE PASSERS, 2003-2013 DRAFTS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Passer | Pct | TD | Int | Rating |
| 2012 | Robert Griffin III | 65.6% | 20 | 5 | 102.4 |
| 2012 | Russell Wilson | 64.1% | 26 | 10 | 100.0 |
| 2004 | Ben Roethlisberger | 66.4% | 17 | 11 | 98.1 |
| 2006 | Jay Cutler | 59.1% | 9 | 5 | 88.5 |
| 2008 | Matt Ryan | 61.1% | 16 | 11 | 87.7 |
| 2011 | Cam Newton | 60.0% | 21 | 17 | 84.5 |
| 2013 | Mike Glennon | 59.4% | 19 | 9 | 83.9 |
| 2012 | Nick Foles | 63.1% | 6 | 5 | 82.1 |
| 2011 | Andy Dalton | 58.1% | 20 | 13 | 80.4 |
| 2008 | Joe Flacco | 60.0% | 14 | 12 | 80.3 |
| 2013 | EJ Manuel | 58.8% | 11 | 9 | 77.7 |
| 2012 | Andrew Luck | 54.1% | 23 | 18 | 76.5 |
| 2010 | Sam Bradford | 60.0% | 18 | 15 | 76.5 |
| 2012 | Ryan Tannehill | 58.3% | 12 | 13 | 76.1 |
| 2010 | Colt McCoy | 60.8% | 6 | 9 | 74.5 |
| 2006 | Matt Leinart | 56.8% | 11 | 12 | 74.0 |
| 2003 | Byron Leftwich | 57.2% | 14 | 16 | 73.0 |
| 2012 | Brandon Weeden | 57.4% | 14 | 17 | 72.6 |
| 2007 | Trent Edwards | 56.1% | 7 | 8 | 70.4 |
| 2005 | Charlie Frye | 59.8% | 4 | 6 | 70.2 |
| 2011 | Christian Ponder | 54.3% | 13 | 13 | 70.1 |
| 2006 | Vince Young | 51.5% | 12 | 13 | 66.7 |
| 2013 | Geno Smith | 55.8% | 12 | 21 | 66.5 |
| 2011 | Blaine Gabbert | 50.8% | 12 | 11 | 65.4 |
| 2009 | Mark Sanchez | 53.8% | 12 | 20 | 63.0 |
| 2003 | Kyle Boller | 51.8% | 7 | 9 | 62.4 |
| 2009 | Matthew Stafford | 53.3% | 13 | 20 | 61.0 |
| 2009 | Josh Freeman | 54.5% | 10 | 18 | 59.8 |
| 2010 | Jimmy Clausen | 52.5% | 3 | 9 | 58.4 |
| 2004 | Eli Manning | 48.2% | 6 | 9 | 55.4 |
| 2007 | John Beck | 56.1% | 1 | 6 | 50.3 |
| 2005 | Alex Smith | 50.9% | 1 | 11 | 40.8 |
Note that passer rating is not necessarily the silver bullet of player indicators. The game is constantly changing, and it’s easier now to finish with an 84 passer rating than it was 5-10 years ago. And guys grow and improve at different rates. Note that Eli Manning, Matthew Stafford and Alex Smith all played poorly as rookies, and they would rank a lot higher if you simply ranked these quarterbacks 1 thru 32. They’d all rank ahead of Matt Leinart, Colt McCoy, Charlie Frye and a lot of others.
Is Glennon for real? Or should the Bucs be looking to add another arm?
—Ian Allan