Bucs Name Byron Leftwich Starting QB

Byron Leftwich will be the starting quarterback to open the 2009 regular season for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Head coach Raheem Morris made the announcement after practice this morning. After Byron’s mediocre 9-of-17 passing, 100-yard performance in a 10-6 preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins Thursday night, I was a little surprised with this decision, but I know it’s only a matter of time before rookie QB Josh Freeman takes the reigns and establishes himself as the team’s leader. For now, Byron’s talent and NFL experience wins out.

Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay Bucs / Image: Zuma Press

Byron was in a highly publicized competition with Josh Freeman and backup QBs Luke McCown and Josh Johnson. He was pleased to have another opportunity to be a starter:

“I was very excited. When I get home, I’ll probably be screaming, getting my emotions out. I’ve been holding them in. To work my tail off and get back to this point again, to be a starter on Week One ….. this is what I wanted and I’ll take full advantage of it. I think it will lead to a lot of good things for the Bucs this year ….. When I watched the film, I wanted to make sure I was going to the right place with the ball. I’ve never been an inaccurate passer. I know how to hit those passes. I’m not worried about that. The great thing was that I was able to get to the right reads with the ball. Some of those were on my third or fourth read that I got to, and that’s what I wanted to see. The balls that I missed, I missed them. Thank God it was the preseason and not the regular season. I learned a lot from it, and I’ll hit those when they count. You want to hit them in the preseason, but I’ve never been an inaccurate guy. That was something that I haven’t worried about my whole career and I won’t begin to worry now.”

Source: Buccaneers.com