Here's a background article on Josh from our partners at USA Today: When Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman announced that he would enter the NFL draft after his junior season, he was viewed as a second-round choice.Not any more.The longer teams scrutinized the strong-armed 6-6, 248-pound passer on film and during workouts, the more impressed they appeared to be. The more they got to know him as a person, the more they seemed convinced that he deserved to climb the draft board.Virtually every mock draft now has Freeman going in the opening round after fellow juniors Matthew Stafford of Georgia and Mark Sanchez of USC. One question remains: How high is high?"I think he's an outstanding football player. I put him in my top 10 ahead of Sanchez," said NFL.com's Gil Brandt, a highly regarded talent evaluator when he was with the Dallas Cowboys. "I think he has tremendous upside."Charles Davis, an analyst for NFL Network, shares Brandt's enthusiasm."Love him," Davis says of Freeman. "It's funny how his stock is climbing. When we first started this process, he was maybe a second-rounder."Freeman started all 12 games last season for Kansas State, completing 224 of 382 passes (58.6%) for 2,945 yards and 20 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He is a weapon whenever he elects to run. He carried 118 times for another 412 yards and five scores.With all team's focused on drafting pass-rushing ends, fast outside linebackers and blitzing cornerbacks, finding mobile quarterbacks is a must."I think they like the size and that I'm a big quarterback but also that I have some mobility to my game and athleticism," says Freeman, adding, "A lot of people assume that a 6-6 guy is going to be a big ol' lumbering type guy."NFL teams have come to know better, especially new Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris. He was Kansas State's defensive coordinator in 2006."I know Josh Freeman really well. I was with him for a year," Morris says. "Absolute specimen to look at, physical, tall, big arm, deceptively quick."Morris compares him to the young quarterback who has used his arm and his legs to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to two Super Bowl triumphs in five years."He's got that Ben Roethlisberger effect where he's hard to tackle once you get back there," Morris says.Some also have compared Freeman to the Detroit Lions' Daunte Culpepper, who starred for the Minnesota Vikings before suffering a devastating knee injury."I don't know if he's a Daunte Culpepper type because Daunte was a big-armed thrower down the field," Morris says. "This kid has a lot of touch as well. He can drop a flare or a screen as well as a 27-yard comeback."Brandt is not at all discouraged by Freeman's 14-18 record at Kansas State, noting a lack of talent in the offensive line and other key areas. He rates him ahead of Sanchez at this stage of their development, partly because he played in twice as many games as Sanchez's 16."I see things that say he's going to be a successful quarterback," Brandt says of Freeman. "He has a very good arm, good athletic ability, and he has very good mental quickness. He always adjusts quickly to different things."That doesn't always mean it's going to work out, but the battle is halfway won."The NFL is so convinced Freeman will be prominent when the name-calling begins on Saturday that he was among the top prospects invited to New York. The New York Jets, picking 17th, may be a perfect fit as they move on after Brett Favre's one-year stay. Otherwise, Morris and the Bucs may be waiting two slots later.Wherever Freeman goes, fans will welcome his determination to raise his play to ever-greater heights."Your game," he says, "is never where you want it to be."/>
Josh Freeman excited to be a Buc!
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