Only veteran Jeff Garcia has had success as a starting QB if you don’t count Jake Plummer who looks like he will retire.  Garcia doesn’t have a great throwing arm, but you don’t really need one in Gruden’s version of the West Coast Offense based on timing and precision.  Garcia also still has good mobility despite his advancing age and that should help him out behind Tampa’s young offensive line.  Garcia was awesome last season for the Eagles as he led them to the playoffs after Donovan McNabb went down to injury.  Garcia played in 8 games (6 starts) for the Eagles last season and he completed 116 of 188 (61.7%) passes for 1,309 yards with 10 TD passes and 2 interceptions (95.8 QB Rating).  Garcia also carried the football 25 times for 87 yards (3.5 ypc).  Garcia saved his career last season by the way he played for the Eagles as that was the first season he played well after leaving San Francisco.  He has played in 99 games (92 starts) in the NFL and he’s completed 1,811 of 2,973 passes (60.9%) for 20,385 yards with 136 TD passes and only 73 interceptions (86.4 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 395 times for 1,878 yards (4.8 ypc) with 24 TD runs.

Second year man Bruce Gradkowski took over for Chris Simms when he was injured last season and he has appeared to pass him on the depth chart so far in workouts.  That’s kind of amazing seeing how they gave Simms big bucks to return this season.  Gradkowski has good mobility but he often throws into tight coverage and his arm isn’t strong enough to tempt fate and the results are often not good.  Gradkowski played in 13 games (11 starts) and he completed 177 of 328 passes (54%) for 1,661 yards with 9 TD passes and interceptions as a rookie (65.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 41 times for 161 yards (3.9 ypc).

Chris Simms was horrible in the first three games of last season until he was severely injured in a brutal game against the Carolina Panthers.  After the game Simms was rushed to the hospital and had his spleen removed.  The Bucs should have just let Simms walk because he’s not a good QB and chances are he never will be.  His throws have no arc and a lot of them get batted down or intercepted.  In his 3 games last season (all starts), he completed 58 of 106 passes (54.7%) for 585 yards with 1 TD and 7 INTs (46.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 4 times for 7 yards (1.8 ypc) with 1 TD.  Simms will have to fight his way up the depth chart as he’s currently listed as the #3 QB….we’ll see how that works out for him.  Simms has now played in 19 games (15 starts) and he’s completed 291 of 492 passes (59.1%) for 3,087 yards with 12 TD passes and 17 INTs (71.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 30 times for 52 yards (1.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Luke McCown is currently the #4 QB on the Bucs.  He didn’t play last season and he’s had numerous problems with his knees so far in his career.  He used to be mobile and his only experience in the NFL was with the Cleveland Browns who were injury ravaged at the time so he didn’t have much help.  He tried to make things happen and it often resulted in positive plays for the opposition.  McCown has played in 5 games (4 starts) in his career and he’s completed 48 of 98 (49%) passes for 608 yards with 4 TD passes and 7 interceptions (52.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 6 times for 25 yards (4.2 ypc).

The Bucs traded for disgruntled ex-Broncos’ QB Jake Plummer in the off-season but he’s stated that he would rather retire than play for the Bucs.  Maybe the Bucs will be lucky if he doesn’t show up after how poorly he played last season in Denver when he lost his job to a rookie QB as Denver was making a playoff push.  Plummer played in all 16 games (11 starts) for the Broncos last season and he completed 175 of 317 (55.2%) passes for 1,994 yards with 11 TD passes and 13 interceptions (68.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 36 times for 112 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Plummer should take Coach Mike Shanahan out for dinner and a few drinks as his career numbers look respectable because he played well in Denver’s system.  He has played in 143 games (136 starts) and he has completed 2,484 of 4,350 passes (57.1%) for 29,253 yards with 161 TD passes and 161 INTs (74.6 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 428 times for 1,853 yards (4.3 ypc) with 17 TD runs.