Dave Gardner of New Era Scouting recently relayed an interview he had with Head Coach Jon Gruden about his Rookie Quarterback from San Diego, Josh Johnson. Here's a couple quotes from the interview:

New Era: How much film did you watch on Josh Johnson before deciding that you liked him? What skill sets does he have that enticed you?

Chuckie: We watched several films on him as a junior and a senior, and we watched all of his practices and his game film at the East-West Shrine Game, so we had a lot of exposure to him. And we knew the guys who coached him. We felt that late in the fifth round, it was a good gamble for us.

New Era: He had a solid coaching staff in college with head coach Jim Harbaugh. Does getting a positive review from a respected quarterbacks coach like him really encourage you? He did claim that — fittingly enough — Johnson had "Rich Gannon’s" mind.

Chuckie: Yeah, the positions coaches John Murtha (?) and David Shaw that did his daily coaches were actually on my staff in Oakland. Josh has been running a system that is similar to ours, so I felt that the development process would actually be quicker. You see him having to make a lot of throws that you would have to make in our offense. Whether or not he can play at this level, we’ll have to see; but he does have promise, and we’re excited about him

New Era: What do you think is the weakest area of his game, what area will take the most work to get to a pro level?

Chuckie: Well first of all, he has to improve as a passer tremendously. He’s got to become much more accurate, and that starts with where he needs to get better. He’s got to throw the ball consistently better all the time, and he’s got to get himself acclimated to this game. The corners that he’s going to see in the NFC South are going to be quite a bit different than what he’s seen in Division 3. He’s going to need some reps, and he’s going to take some time, but the number one thing he’s going to need to do is throw the ball more consistently — and that includes all the throws.

New Era: What is the typical time frame to develop a quarterback? Does Johnson coming from a smaller school affect his rate of development?

Chuckie: Well, we don’t have much time to develop these guys. We’ve got three quarterbacks on our roster right now who have won games for us: Garcia, Griese, and McCown. It better not take him very long. We’ll see where he is. It’s a difficult prediction, some guys will take a year or two, sometimes they burst onto the scene really quickly. But he’s got to improve his passing. He’s in the fight for his life right now.

New Era: Because the injury bug hit the team pretty hard last season, would you be hesitant to take four quarterbacks all the way to the 53-man roster?

Chuckie: If they are four of our best players, we will. I just want to have one good quarterback, I’m getting tired of talking about all of these quarterbacks. We’ve got a Pro Bowl guy here who wins for us. We’ve got to have great play at this position. We don’t really foresee ourselves keeping four guys at that position, but you never know. If Josh comes out… who knows what will happen based on the next three or four months?

For more of the interview please head over to New Era Scouting. Dave did a fantastic job picking Gruden's brain. Through three games this Pre-Season QB Josh Johnson has amassed 2 passes for 21 yards. Not exactly earth shattering numbers, but you don't draft a guy in the 5th Round to give up on him this early. Look for Gruden to take four Quarterbacks into the season: Garcia, Griese, McCown, and Johnson. Look for QB Chris Simms to get cut in the coming weeks and I'm pretty certain Josh Johnson will be relegated to Sabby Piscitelli duties from a year ago aka Clipboard holding and Playbook deciphering. The Rookie did look good in Training Camp and the little we saw in Pre-Season showed that he has the poise, the arm strength, and the agility to work well in Gruden's offense. We shall see...

Sorry for the lack of updates to the site; I’ve been out of town for the past 7 days on a Carnival Cruise to the Western Caribbean. In short it was a fantastic vacation and much needed break. On my way back home Sunday I stopped into Bucs Training Camp for the Afternoon Practice (2:45pm – 4:00pm). Here’s a couple things I picked up on:

For those that have never been to Buccaneers Training Camp, it’s a lot like College Footballs scrimmage games (Garnet & Gold Game, Blue & Orange Game etc), without the full on scrimmage… You got two football fields side-by-side with the Offense on one and the Defense on the other for about the first 30 minutes of practice, then the units come together for two hand touch scrimmages in which McCown and Griese had their shots at moving the offense.

When arriving at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex you had to get a ticket (free) to get into the venue which I thought was weird, since the venue was free, but I guess they’re trying to keep tabs on how many folks actually attended the practice.

Although Simms was on the Practice Field, McCown, Griese, and then Rookie Josh Johnson got the reps, Simms didn’t get a single chance against the defense…

I wish I had made the Morning Practice as just about none of the Veterans made the afternoon Practice: Barber, Brooks, Dunn, Galloway etc… I can’t blame them, it was hotter than heck Sunday.

Sabby Piscitelli was getting a lot of reps with the first team Defense which was pretty cool to see. Again that first team defense was missing starters for that afternoon practice.

Rookie LB Geno Hayes (#54) got a lot of reps as well with the 1st team defense

I know it’s selfish, but I wonder what those Practice Sessions would look like had a certain #4 been behind center…

Speaking of Quarterbacks, Luke McCown looked good completing the shorter and mid range passes he attempted…

In the session I attended, i didnt get to see DJax display his returning capabilities, he did catch every pass thrown his way however…

Josh Johnson looked a lot taller than I had envisioned, his passes were crisp, and he looked to get quite a few reps despite his status on the depth chart…

It was good to see WR Paris Warren back out on the football field. Hopefully he can make a case for himself again this preseason.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of WR Antonio Bryant, but I had no such luck… Maybe in Saturday’s Pre-Season opener against the Miami Dolphins

There was a good turn out Sunday for the Practice. Tons of fans showed up.

By the pictures included in this post, its obvious I’m lacking a fairly decent camera, but it is what it is…

It sure would be nice to be able to purchase a Training Camp Jersey.. Come on Reebok!! : )

In Scott from BucStats honor, I've included a photo of Bucs Cheerleaders. This is the first pic I've ever included of Cheerleaders on this site. Something tells me Scott would be ashamed of the quality and nature of the picture, but that he would greatly appreciate the effort:

I'll post more pictures from Training Camp in the Fan Shots section of the site!!

Tampa Bay Buccaneer 5th Round Draft Pick Quarterback Josh Johnson is adjusting to the Pro Life. Surprisingly its a lot like his freshman year in college:

"It’s like you’re a freshman," Johnson said, shortly after his first practice as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. "The way I was thinking about it is like you went from high school to college as a freshman. Now I’m just at the next freshman level for me. - Buccaneers.com

As expected, Josh was as nervous as anyone of us would have been had we taken the field as a Buccaneer:

There was a little bit of extra juice, just to be back on the field," Johnson said. "You’ve got to get your feet wet, but once practice was on, it was football again. It kind of became reality," Johnson said, referring to the first time he pulled on his Buccaneers practice jersey. "Finally today it hit me that I have an opportunity to play for an NFL team, so that’s when it sank in" - Buccaneers.com

Josh Johnson on what its like to take the inevitable verbal beating from Head Coach Jon Gruden:

"Coach Gruden is awesome," Johnson said. "He’s intense, but I like coaches like that. It makes you get better when somebody is pushing you all the time. You know everything he’s saying is only going to help you; it’s not to make you worse. You have to look at it like that. He’s intense, but he’s always telling you something that can only help you. To me, I’ve been coached like that my whole life, so I’m really used to guys getting in your face. The way I look at it, he’s teaching me something so all I can do is listen." - Buccaneers.com

Josh Johnson hopes to eventually get an opportunity to play and run with that opportunity:

"I’m just taking [this experience] and trying to learn as much as I can and go out on the field and execute," Johnson said. "I want to come away with a good impression on the coaches that I can learn and get better every day and take coaching. I want to go out and execute and show my teammates around me that I can be a leader. I just want to be a great team player and learn from the veterans and learn from coach Gruden and just continue to get better every day. Hopefully when I get my opportunity to play I’ll just take it and run with it" - Buccaneers.com

I know I didnt want the bucs to draft another quarterback, but consider me one of Josh Johnson's biggest supporters. I hope he makes it to the NFL in lightning fashion. By that I don't mean in Week 1 of the Regular Season, but I hope once Jeff Garcia calls it quits or becomes a Free Agent, that Josh Johnson is ready and raring to be our starting Quarterback. Like Gruden said in the Buccaneers.com article, "We've got a long way to go – that's about the best way I can sum it up. But work will get done and it will take some time" .... It will take some time. If it does (and one can only hope it would), that can only spell good things for the Bucs, as the only way JJ would see the field is if disaster strikes..

Raise your hand if you already created new Bucs QB Josh Johnson via Madden on your Video Game system... Come on don't lie... I was dismayed when Jon Gruden took a Quarterback with that 5th Round Pick, but I was curious as to how the kid's 4.53 speed would play out on my PS2... I gotta say, yeah boy!!

Video Game characters aside, this guy has the make-up to be a very special Quarterback in Jon Gruden's system. I know, where have you heard that before. Gruden was quoted as saying in the off-season that he wanted a chance to draft a 1st round Quarterback. Well my man, with Grads and now JJ, that ought to add up to a 1st Round Quarterback.. Hopefully you can mold this guy. I know I look forward to it.

What makes Josh exciting? Probably his ability to make plays happen with his feet and his athletic ability to avoid the rush. He's a smart player who does a good job reading the defense and progressing through reads. Despite great legs, he looks for the pass first, and knows when to run with the ball.

I think he'll win over Bucs Fans with toughness, he's missed little time due to injury and he has a tremendous work ethic. He's a competitive player who wants to win, and knows how to win.

Here's New Era Scouting's take on Josh Johnson's Quarterbacking abilities:

Accuracy:
An accurate quarterback when throwing downfield and on the run. However, he struggles when throwing underneath patterns. Overall, he is pretty sound in this category.

Arm Strength:
A strong arm that allows him to fit the ball into tight windows. Can spread out the field, and will not hinder an offense with his arm. Puts great velocity on his throws.

Decision Making:
Tough to grade because of his competition, but he makes good decisions which is evident by his touchdown-to-interception ratio. A smart player, but he gets away with a lot of throws because of his lackluster competition.

Field Vision:
Does an excellent job going through progression and scanning the field. Realizes when to run the ball when there isn’t anything available. Does a good job spreading the ball out, and keeping his head up when scrambling.

Mechanics:
Struggles somewhat with footwork, and basically just needs to fine tweak his mechanics. Nonetheless, he is solid in this area.

Mobility:
Spectacular mobility. Can make things happen on a consistent basis with his legs, and has the ability to turn nothing into something with his legs. Can avoid the rush, scramble, and pick up 10 yards with his legs any given time.

Pocket Awareness:
Does a great job of feeling the rush and moving around in the pocket. Steps up into the pocket, and avoids the rush.

Additional Comments:
Johnson is a very intriguing prospect with a high ceiling. His level of competition makes him hard to grade, but Johnson undoubtedly has the physical skills to excel at the NFL level. His athletic ability is uncanny for the position, and he has the mental toughness and intelligence to be a special player in the NFL. However, Johnson will undergo a grace period during his transition to the NFL game.

If there was ever a perfect situation for Josh Johnson this is it. QB Jeff Garcia has this season with the Bucs, maybe a few more depending on his durability.. Johnson needs time to learn Gruden's offense, so long as Garcia is playing well.. JJ will have the time necessary to adjust to the NFL and its stellar competitive level. It's ridiculously early to predict his future, but you gotta like the kids abilities and its easy to see why Jon Gruden would stick his neck out there and draft, yet, another Quarterback