One of the more interesting situations in the NFL preseason has to do with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback scenario: Josh McCown looks like the favorite to win the starting position, but for a team that wants to win now, using the older, veteran quarterback over second-year Mike Glennon might not actually put them in the best spot for immediate success.

Things turned sour for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers very quickly last season. Josh Freeman lost his starting job and was cut from the team. Greg Schaino went with Mike Glennon and the team eventually improved after their horrible start, finishing the season at 4-12. Schiano was fired when the season ended.

So the Bucs took in Lovie Smith, who had a rather successful time one might suggest with the Chicago Bears, although struggled to make it into the playoffs during the last couple of years. Smith, unlike Schiano, is considered as a players coach, but not one that lets the locker room run wild like Raheem Morris did. And Smith brough Josh McCown from the Bears, hoping that last season wasn’t just a rare occurence in a fading career.

McCown, 34, is brought in as the experienced one after 12 years in the league. However, he only has 35 career starts during his decade and change in the league. Last season was something of a breakout year thanks to the injury to Jay Cutler, posting a 109 passer rating which is 32 points better than his career rating. Glennon posted a 83.9 passer rating during his rookie campaign in 2013, which suggests that giving McCown the keys to the car might be a risky move.

And that’s why things are wide open going in to training camp, despite the early assumptions that McCown is going to be the starting quarterback. Glennon has a shot in training camp, but the more likely scenario is that the former North Carolina State QB starts on the sidelines. However, McCown won’t have too much room for mistakes, as the Buccaneers intend to win now, and not start another rebuilding process and hope to see success in a few more years.

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