Should the Buccaneers look beyond Josh Freeman?

The Buccaneers are entering their second season under head coach Greg Schiano, and their biggest question remains unanswered. What is the right move in regards to their starting quarterback Josh Freeman? Should they move on? Should they simply add a challenger to their roster?

Over the past couple seasons, Josh Freeman's progression has stopped, and now it's moving the wrong direction. Over that time period, Freeman has thrown 43 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. While that ratio does remain touchdown heavy, it's nearly a 1:1 rate. That won't get it done in the NFL.

In addition to turning the ball over, Josh Freeman's completion percentage plummeted in 2012, going from 62.8% in 2011 to just 54.8% last season. That's not far from the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

While the option to begin moving on from Freeman may be tempting for the Buccaneers, it wouldn't be a wise move at this junction. Josh Freeman had to deal with new coaches and a new system a season ago. That being said, adding another quarterback to the roster that could push Freeman for the starting job wouldn't be a bad decision by the Buccaneers.

At just 25 years old, the Buccaneers shouldn't give up on Josh Freeman just yet. He's shown some very real potential in his time in the NFL, and while last season was a step back, the stability of working with familiar coaches shouldn't begin paying off this season. If his production doesn't show noticeable improvement in 2013 however, we may be having this talk again next offseason.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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