November 13, 2018

Christopher Kyler is a first-year undergraduate student at Bowling Green State University. He is planning to major in Sports Management with a minor in Marketing. Christopher is from Parma Heights, Ohio and a diehard Cleveland sports fan. He is interested in many sports, but mainly  football at the professional level.

After a horrific loss to the Redskins, Jameis Winston will once again start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There’s a lot of talk about whether or not Jameis Winston is a franchise quarterback in this league or even worthy of being on a roster. After coming out of Florida State with high expectations right away, and the expectation to grow, Winston has not lived up to the hype. His first pass in the NFL was a pick-6 which properly represents his time in Tampa so far as a starting QB. Although he did well in his first two years, even making the Pro Bowl his rookie season, Winston recorded 16 fumbles and 33 interceptions in that same time frame. Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless both expressed doubts about his future with the team on their show Undisputed. The national media, for the most part, has written the end of Winston’s tenure with the Buccaneers organization.

While the media has been tough on Winston’s off-field actions, which he deserved, media outlets have been increasingly tough on their opinions of his on-field play. Many have put the nail in the coffin for his days for Tampa, which would continue their trend of never resigning a quarterback they drafted to a second contract (Florio, 2018). This scary statistic can also highlight that there is hope yet for Winston’s time as a signal caller, since three of those quarterbacks went on to win Superbowls with another team – Doug Williams, Steve Young, and Trent Dilfer. We will see if the Glazer family decides to give Winston another contract or to go their separate ways.

Going back to Winston’s expectations coming into the league, one of his supporters was Cris Carter, on First Things First, thought the former Heisman Trophy winner would progress his game with experience. Carter believes Winston is not the player he thought he could be, and that he continues to make the same mistakes. Jameis Winston, the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, won three games last year as a starter, while the last QB taken, Trevor Siemian, won five. I like to say it’s never a mistake until you make it twice, but after 63 times you would think Winston would learn to keep the ball away from the other team.

With his future in question, it will be interesting to see what Jameis Winston does with his back against the wall and all 32 teams examining him. We may have seen his peak, or the best may be yet to come. Winston has continually made costly mistakes, while also showing signs of greatness; we could see either side stand out. Either way, it is sure to be amusing to see if Winston can prove his caliber in Tampa Bay, or reach his peak with another organization.

References

Florio, M. (2018, October 31). Buccaneers curious quarterback trend may continue. Pro Football Talk. Retrieved from https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/31/buccaneers-curious-quarterback-trend-may-continue/

Goldsmith, T. (Producer). (2018, October 29). Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. [Television broadcast]. Los Angeles, CA: Fox Sports 1.

Ketaineck, M. (Producer). (2018, October 30) First Things First. [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Fox Sports 1.