So ... Josh Freeman. He's awesome. And then he's horrible. He's horrisome. Hawesible? Awerrisible?

I'm not sure what to call him, really.

When Freeman is unhurried and locked-in, he's tremendous. During a five-game stretch last season between Weeks 6 and 10, he threw 13 touchdown passes and just one interception, leading his team to four wins. Freeman's passer-rating in each of those games was well over 100.0.

But his play deteriorated in the final weeks, then fell off a cliff in mid-December. Tampa Bay closed the season with losses in five of its last six games. In Week 15, in what should have been a friendly match-up against the Saints, Freeman was an absolute mess, a fantasy plague. He threw four interceptions, lost a fumble, averaged 5.9 yards per attempt and finished with a passer-rating of 37.5. His team was destroyed, 41-0. On the Bucs' final drive against New Orleans, Freeman was actually replaced by Dan Orlovsky — yup, this Dan Orlovsky — which has to be rock-bottom for any professional quarterback.

Freeman enters 2013 in the final year of his rookie deal, still trying to convince his employer that he's worth a substantial long-term investment. His offensive line should be very good, now that guards Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks have recovered from injuries. His starting receivers are among the NFL's best. His running back is a do-it-all player coming off a 49-catch season. Without question, Freeman finds himself in an enviable situation. He passed for a franchise-record 4065 yards and 27 TDs last year, so it's not as if he's never made a play.

Still, the giveaways continue to pile up for Freeman. He's thrown 39 interceptions over the past two seasons, plus he's put the ball on the ground 19 times, losing seven fumbles. Accuracy is another worry, as he completed just 54.8 percent of his passes last year. When pressured, Freeman was notably bad — his completion percentage was 41.4 in such situations, per Pro Football Focus, and he tossed nine picks. For comparison's sake, Freeman's under-pressure completion rate placed him just behind Rivers (43.2) and Weeden (41.8), just ahead of Sanchez (41.1) and Ponder (40.6).

Freeman isn't going to lose his starting job to third-round rookie Mike Glennon any time soon, but the team is clearly looking for progress. Tampa's offense is entering its second season under coordinator Mike Sullivan — Eli Manning's former position coach — and continuity is generally a good thing in the NFL.

"[Josh] is way more comfortable this year with the language," Vincent Jackson said back in June. "You can see it in his confidence, the way he's directing the field."

"The big problem last year," said Mike Williams, "was we couldn't get on the same page, knowing when to break our routes off."

This season, miscommunication won't really be an acceptable excuse. Again, Freeman should benefit from system stability, improved protection, excellent receivers and a terrific ground game. If he can't deliver a better season in this environment, then maybe it's never gonna happen.

At Freeman's average draft position (126.2), there's basically no risk attached. He's going undrafted in a majority of Yahoo! leagues, a reflection of the depth of talent at QB (and also, perhaps, a reflection of everyone's frustration with Freeman). Earlier this week, I landed him at $4 in an auction, in a two-quarterback league. That price seemed ridiculously low, considering last year's numbers and this year's setup.

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Jackson and Williams both finished as top-20 fantasy receivers last season, combining for 135 catches, 2380 yards and 17 touchdowns. These guys have ideal size, and Jackson remains one of the NFL's elite deep threats. He led the league in yards-per-catch last year (19.2) while establishing new career highs in receptions (72) and yards (1384). Williams is an oddly under-appreciated WR2; his current ADP (93.2) doesn't adequately reflect his 2012 production (63-996-9).