Tampa Bay Buccaneers swapping quarterbacks is the right call in a season already lost

TAMPA — The move has the whiff of desperation and the look of panic. Really, there is no other way to interpret the decision to change quarterbacks three losses into a season. Good teams don't make this call. Happy coaches don't blow up the huddle.

Which means it has become open season on Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, and, honestly, he has brought it on himself. So prepare your insults and take your shots. Just so long as you realize, Morris made the right decision Monday. Even if it was desperate. Even if it looked like a man playing roulette with the depth chart.

Because, by benching Byron Leftwich in favor of Josh Johnson, the Bucs may have gotten better today and tomorrow, too.

By now, most of us have realized this season is not going to end with pep rallies or parades. You had reasonable doubts before the season began, and the Bucs wasted very little time in confirming the worst of them.

The defense is inept, and the offense has major flaws. This team is too young, too thin, too lacking in essential qualities. And on the journey to this discovery came the realization that Leftwich is not the right fit for this team.

That doesn't mean the 0-3 record is Leftwich's fault. In a lot of ways, he has performed as advertised. The problem was not so much misjudging Leftwich, but misjudging the rest of the roster.

Back when there was hope the Bucs might have a competitive team, it made sense to put the veteran in charge of the offense. When there was confidence the running game was stout, it seemed perfectly logical to have a downfield passer standing in the pocket.

But today we know the Bucs are not very competitive. And we know the running game is not terribly consistent. And so now we also know an immobile quarterback with limited upside is not the answer in Tampa Bay.

"Talked to Byron this morning. He looked me right in the face and said, 'Hey, I knew I had to get some wins early,' " Morris said. "We're moving on. That was the decision."

Going from Leftwich to Johnson is not likely the precursor to a miracle. It didn't help much when the Bucs went from Brad Johnson to Chris Simms in 2004, when they went from Vinny Testaverde to Chris Chandler in '91, when they went from Steve DeBerg to Steve Young in '86 or '87, when they went from Randy Hedberg to Gary Huff in '77. Every one of those seasons ended with 11 losses or more.

Quarterback benchings are rare on good teams, which means the backups are almost always stepping into a mess. For Johnson, it will be no different.

He is a 23-year-old from a small school with 10 passes in the NFL. And he is inheriting an offense that has gotten a combined 67 rushing yards from its running backs in the past two games. That is not a typical blueprint for success.

But here's the thing: What's the downside?

Because he is quick on his feet, Johnson has a chance to befuddle opposing defenses. He allows bootlegs and rollouts to be reinstalled in the game plan. And while Johnson is not the downfield threat Leftwich is, the Bucs haven't had much time to throw deep anyway.

Perhaps, even more important, this gives the Bucs an opportunity to evaluate Johnson. They let Luke McCown get out of town without ever really knowing what he might accomplish given the chance to be a full-time starter. That won't be the case with Johnson.

Everyone knows the future is being prepared for Josh Freeman, but this an interim move that makes sense. It keeps the Bucs from rushing Freeman, and it gives them a chance to develop another young quarterback.

So what do we know about Johnson?

He is fast. He ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash at the 2008 combine, which was the fastest time for any quarterback that spring. He also knows how to take care of the ball. His touchdown-to-interception ratio at the University of San Diego looks like a misprint. As a senior, Johnson threw 43 touchdowns with one interception.

Coordinator of pro scouting Doug Williams spent 2½ days with Johnson in the fall of 2007 and came away convinced the kid had a future if given the time to develop. Then came a disastrous performance at the combine.

"He stunk it up. I think he was just too excited about getting the chance," Williams said. "He couldn't even throw a spiral. I wanted to crawl under a seat. I had sold Bruce (Allen) and sold Jon (Gruden) on this guy. The numbers were there. The athletic ability was there. And then he came in too hyped. I was on one end of the field and Jon was on the other end, and he kept texting me, 'When is he going to throw a spiral?'

"I was half-p----- at Jon for sending the texts and half-p----- at Josh for looking so bad. I kept thinking, 'Josh, man, what are you doing?' It was a big disappointment."

As it turns out, the poor performance caused Johnson to slip into the fifth round of the draft, where Williams was adamant he was a bargain. Johnson has spent the past year putting on weight, studying film, working with assistant coach Greg Olson and preparing for this moment.

Will he be a revelation? Will he bomb?

No one can say with any real certainty.

And that's kind of the point.

John Romano can be reached at romano@sptimes.com.