Here's ladder Rob Johnson has no problem climbing

Signed as the third Bucs quarterback, he relishes the chance to learn, and compete, for coach Jon Gruden.

[Times photo: James Borchuck] "...if you give him the talent, he'll mold you into a great player," quarterback Rob Johnson says of coach Jon Gruden. Johnson was warming up at the Bucs minicamp on Friday.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 6, 2002

TAMPA -- For eight hours a day, Rob Johnson joined the Bucs' other quarterbacks last week for a crash course in Jon Gruden's offense.

Occasionally, he tried to interrupt the lessons with a conversational spitball, but the Bucs coach plowed ahead.

"Jon is no nonsense. It's all football," Johnson said Friday. "Like a little kid in class, you try to change the subject and get some story-telling, but he's all football."

Johnson knows he will begin the preseason at the bottom of his class, but it did not deter him from wanting to sign with the Bucs for the opportunity to study under Gruden.

The roll call of quarterbacks Gruden has improved -- beginning with the Raiders' Rich Gannon -- is what prompted Johnson to turn down other opportunities to enter training camp as a No. 1 quarterback after four seasons as a starter with the Bills.

"It was big," Johnson said. "It's very intriguing. Rich kind of bounced around for a little while. Then he got with (Gruden) and became a Pro Bowl player. It helps out. You have to have the talent. But if you give him the talent, he'll mold you into a great player.

"Basically, whoever's played for him has had their best years with him, whether it was Ty Detmer, Rodney Peete, Donald Hollis, Jeff George -- whoever it was, they've done well with him. That's all you can ask for."

When Gruden looks at Johnson, 29, it's not hard to imagine he sees a quarterback just like Gannon: a big, mobile, accurate passer who never has been surrounded by a great system or talent.

"I like him because he's 6 feet 4, he's 218 pounds, he's athletic, he's got a quick, strong, accurate arm," Gruden said. "He's a (61) percent passer and he's young. As far as I'm concerned, those are real interesting qualities. And he's an experienced starter in the NFL. That's exciting to work with.

"I think sometimes the development of a quarterback is stunted by a lot of different things. It could be an injury, it might be the changing of a quarterback coach, then he might lose a coordinator. It's not easy with modern-day football and with all the radical changes that teams are faced with."

In Tampa Bay, Johnson will be part of the changes Gruden will make as he attempts to improve the Bucs' popgun offense that was among the worst in the league last season.

Of course, for Johnson to ascend to the role of starting quarterback, he will have to climb past Brad Johnson and Shaun King. But Rob Johnson is not a stranger to competition after splitting time in Buffalo, embroiled in a controversy with Doug Flutie.

"I know it's an uphill battle beating Brad and Shaun out," Johnson said. "But I'm confident in my ability."

It was no surprise, however, that Rob Johnson took snaps with the third team at minicamp Friday, behind Brad and King. Despite Gruden's gushing over Rob and King, Tampa Bay's starting quarterback isn't looking over his shoulder.

"I feel like I've always worked hard and proved myself over time," Brad said. "I feel like I've played well and played winning football. So if I come in here and play hard, everything will kind of take care of itself from that standpoint.

"I think the biggest thing is you don't worry about anything else, you worry about what's going on around you."

Although Rob Johnson's record as a starter is 10-17 in the regular season, including 1-7 last year, his teams reached the playoffs three times in four seasons. But injuries, many the result of poor pass protection or his habit of holding on to the ball too long, kept him out of the lineup.

At Buffalo, Johnson was flattened like a hash mark more times than his scrambled mind cares to remember. In fact, in 20 games over the past two seasons with the Bills, he was sacked 79 times for a loss of 487 yards.

"When I was out there, I thought I played fine. I just couldn't stay healthy," Johnson said. "I got hit a bunch, whether it was scheme or me holding the ball or not protecting, it was one of those things that happened. When I've been healthy, I've played well. In Jon Gruden's offense, the pass protection is a big priority for him and I think that will help me out a bunch and we'll go from there."

On Friday, Gruden didn't give his quarterbacks a learning curve. He threw everything at them the first day, multiple formations, zone blitz reads, audibles ... everything.

"He's intense," Johnson said of Gruden. "I mean, he likes to have a good time. But he's going to jump your a-- if you make a mistake. I like that stuff."

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