There’s all this hype coming up to this year’s NFL draft about Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and all of the future stars of this league, but the only one who seems to stand out is Winston. A force to be reckoned with, he is already being compared to some of the league’s greats like Ben Roethlisberger, but can he succeed and post numbers like people are expecting him too? He is a solid quarterback who is playing a role where he has to be a leader, but from his past, it doesn’t seem like that is something he is able to do. He needs to be able to gain respect from his coaches and teammates to be successful, and it doesn’t seem like he is that capable of doing so. Yes, he truly is the best quarterback in this year’s draft with much potential, but he doesn’t show the leadership role that many other players show.
Looking back at Winston’s past, he’s done some very stupid things. One instance was going out of his way to move a referee so he can set up a quick hurry-up offensive scheme, a visual piece of evidence showing that if he doesn’t get what he wants, he will do stuff to people–even people higher in authority–to get what he wants.
More evidence of things that happened was Winston shouting an obscenity while standing on a table in a crowded area on the Florida State campus. Winston, not showing the person he is capable of being, came out after and apologized to everyone in the school, his coaches and especially his teammates. He made a terrible comment and wasn’t thinking of others before acting. Also, he was accused of sexual assault, but was never charged. He was later arrested for carrying a pellet gun on campus and breaking windows on campus, and then later that day was seen stealing crab legs from a grocery store in Tallahassee.
Despite all of his legal mishaps, his talent and ability shouldn’t be overlooked. Winston should be drafted first overall, which has been said by many coaches on the offensive side of the ball. One big reason why Dirk Koetter was picked for the offensive coordinator job over Marc Trestman is because Trestman wanted to take Marcus Mariota for his quarterback, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith was stuck on taking Winston. Koetter said the top four components for his offense are protecting the football, creating big plays, avoiding sacks and winning on third down. Seeing his four main goals on offense, Winston would be the perfect fit for the new Bucs offense.
Now thinking that they know their future and who they will take a chance with, will he be able to change their organization? When you look at the Buccaneers as a whole, they aren’t the worst team in the world. They will have a successful run game with Doug Martin if they can block for him, and with the threat of Jameis Winston, they will be able to fool around with the opposing defenses because of the versatility between the two players. Also on the offensive side of the ball, they have great wide receivers; veteran Vincent Jackson and second-year target Mike Evans form an unstoppable duel threat. They are almost like another form of the Brandon Marshall-Alshon Jeffery tandem from Chicago. The piece the Bucs were missing was a quarterback who can fit the ball in the spot where the player would be able to use their athleticism to get out of sticky situations.
After watching the Bucs dreadful season last year, starting from offense to defense, you would assume they would try and get the quarterbacks out of there, and that’s what they did. They kicked Josh McCown to the curb and are inviting Jameis Winston to the role as their starting quarterback. He is very capable of taking this Bucs franchise to the next level if he plays to his full potential and doesn’t do anymore stupid things. If he can carry the success he garnered from Florida State into the pros, he will become one of the better quarterbacks in the league.
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