Week 9 QB projections   •  TB Stats

QB Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

HT: 6-5, WT: 240, Born: 1-14-1980, College: Marshall, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 7

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Stats and Week 9 Projection

WK	OPP	RES	CMP	ATT	PYD	Y/A	PTD	INT	RSH	YD	Y/R	TD	FPT
SEASON TOTAL			58	107	594	5.6	4	3	6	6	1.0	0	44

Week 9 Injury Status and Other News

He was not listed on Friday's official injury report.

Week 9 Matchup Info

vs Green Bay Packers (Bad matchup) - A raw rookie, Josh Freeman, is being inserted into the lineup this week, for the league's 23rd-ranked pass offense (Tampa averaged 174.3 net yards per game during the Leftwich/Johnson portion of the season). In his cameo appearance vs. New England, Freeman threw for 2/4 for 16 yards, zero TDs and zero interceptions (an improvement on Johnson's three picks and one TD). Here's part of our pre-season take on Freeman: 'It is no secret that Josh Freeman is the QB the Bucs want leading their team for the next 10 years. Freeman and rookie coach Raheem Morris go way back - Morris was a defensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2006 and Freeman was a freshman QB. Although Freeman didn't even start for Kansas State in his first year, Morris knew he liked what he saw. He liked Freeman enough to trade up and select him as the 17th overall pick in the 2009 draft.' Now it is time for Tampa to see what they got with their 17th pick. Needless to say, we're not real excited about Antonio Bryant or Kellen Winslow this week - Freeman is in for a baptism by fire with Green Bay coming to town.

Green Bay has the league's ninth-ranked pass D, averaging 184 net yards allowed per game. They have coughed up 13 passing TDs to date, but they counter that total with 11 interceptions (fourth in the NFL, although the team does have an anemic 12 sacks so far this year (28th in the NFL). Look for the sack total to go up this week, though, as the Packers pressure the rookie QB and dare the Buccaneers to beat them by running the football. Brett Favre was hard on the secondary last week (17/28 for 244 yards, four TDs and zero interceptions), but Freeman has a long way to go before he is mentioned again in the same sentence with Favre.

This is a bad week to be a rookie starting QB.

Game Summaries

Week 1 vs DAL - You can't pin this loss on Leftwich. He was in synch with his receiver early, displaying terrific downfield accuracy and the typical fireball velocity we've come to expect from Leftwich. He even moved around ok in the pocket and actually scrambled to the sideline on one play! Leftwich did have trouble with accuracy on short touch passes to RBs out of the backfield, and his INT came on a deep target that was underthrown because he was hit low as he released the ball. Josh Freeman will likely take over at some point this year, but if Leftwich plays like he did on Sunday, it won't be because the coaches feel the need to yank him.

Week 2 at BUF - Leftwich was his normal "battling to the very end" self, but his numbers were mostly compiled in a desperation efforts to catch up as the Bucs fell behind big early, then tightened the game, only to have the Bills pull away in the second half. Leftwich threw a gift pick six early that happened because Kyle Williams hit him low as he was throwing to Cadillac Williams. He also had multiple throws that should have been interceptions. Leftwich threw downfield without hesitation, and actually threw a nice strike to Kellen Winslow on his TD. He displayed nice touch on throws to Cadillac and Derrick Ward out of the backfield, and he hung tough in the face of many blitzes from the Bills. He's playing well enough to keep the Bucs offense viable, but he's not going to hold off Josh Freeman for long at this rate.

Week 3 vs NYG - Leftwich may start again next week vs. Washington, but his days are numbered after this horrendous performance - not that his teammated helped him much. He got off on the wrong foot with an interception downfield that seemed to be targeted to no one in particular, and never really recovered. The Bucs offense didn't convert a first down until there was five minutes left in the third quarter. Leftwich really didn't have time to throw, and the few times he did, he seemed out of sync.