Tampa Bay Buccaneers bench Byron Leftwich
The win-less Tampa Bay Buccaneers demoted their starting quarterback Byron Leftwich to the third string quarterback and Josh Johnson is now the starter. Johnson replaced Leftwich in yesterday’s 24-0 loss to the New York Giants, after Leftwich failed to get anything going. The Buccaneers’ first round draft pick this year, Josh Freeman, will be Johnsons’ backup. Johnson is in his second year and will be making his first career start next week in Washington against the Washington Redskins.
This move just shows how inept the Buccaneers’ front office and coaching staff is. They should have kept Luke McCown, plain and simple. He earned the shot to start on this team based on his performance as a backup. Byron Leftwich started the first three games for the Bucs and he completed 58 of 107 passes (54.2%) for 594 yards with 4 TD passes and 3 interceptions (71.2 QB Rating). Leftwich is becoming the scapegoat for an offense that is bereft of playmakers. Josh Johnson was a fifth round pick out of San Diego last season. He completed 4 of 10 passes (40%) for 36 yards (54.0 QB Rating) in relief of Leftwich yesterday. He also carried the ball 1 time for 15 yards against the Giants. Johnson has more physical skill than Leftwich now we will see if he’s a better QB.