Morris Blowing Smoke or Kisses at Freeman?

In the St. Pete Times, Rick Stroud has new Bucs head coach Raheem Morris raving about Kansas State quarterback prospect Josh Freeman.

Morris, the K-State defensive coordinator in 2006, told Stroud, "I was with him for a year. Absolute specimen to look at. Physical. Tall, big. Big arm. Deceptively quick, even though the 40 time says 4.8, he's got that Ben Roethlisberger effect where he's hard to tackle once you get back there, so you'd better send somebody blitzing big enough to get him on the ground."

Freeman's been the third wheel in this year's quarterback class, rolling in behind Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez of Georgia and USC.

With both having played at bigger, better programs than Freeman, that's expected. But at this point in the process, another dynamic's at work. And that's the fault-finding and nitpicking on top prospects that starts to chip away at their stranglehold on the top spots.

Plus, on his own merit, Freeman's an intriguing prospect. Could Freeman leapfrog either Stafford or (more likely if either one might occur) Sanchez? Doubtful. But not impossible. Draft Brains like Rob Rang and Mike Mayock crowed about Freeman after his pro day on March 12 with Rang of nfldraftscout.com opining that Freeman might be rated ahead of Stafford and Sanchez if he'd been surrounded by the talent they were in college. Rang had Freeman going 8th to Jacksonville in a recent mock draft.

If Morris' Freeman-lust is for real, though, he might want to make a move to get him. As Stroud points out in the original story, Morris has a two-year deal with a team option for a third season. And currently, he's got Josh Johnson and Luke McCown at QB. Letting Freeman ferment a year behind those two then giving him the job next year would almost assure the team would have to pick up Morris' third season to give him a fair shot with a seasoned quarterback.