There is a lot of excitement surrounding the hires in Tampa Bay. Jameis Winston will be spectacular, right? I hope so, but what if he isn’t? I’ve said this many times in audio, written and video form and I’ll say it again, the problem with Jameis Winston is not talent, it’s consistency. Jameis has the arm strength, he has the mobility, he can make the throws, but can he consistently perform at the level we have all seen before?
More of the same?
This isn’t a new thing for Jameis Winston. Since entering the league, he has thrown interceptions and fumbled the ball. It is commonly understood that the offense Dirk Koetter installed was based around getting the ball down the field. Matt Ryan frequently turned the ball over in Atlanta while under Dirk Koetter. The new offense that head coach Bruce Arians brings also involves a high amount of deep throws. Can Arians help Jameis utilize his wide variety of skills while at the same time limiting turnovers? Of course, there are some throws that you don’t want Jameis Winston to be afraid to make. Mistakes happen, “no risk it no biscuit”, is clearly not a motto that will lead to fewer turnovers. The problem is when the decisions are just plain bad. Take for example Jameis Winston’s second interception against the Cincinnati Bengals. “Marc, why are you bringing up the worst game of his career?” Because the interceptions were so egregious it can’t be ignored. Click the link to see the play in question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRm-uVNf7Bk
This isn’t the first or last bad play that Jameis will make. There are more, but at a certain point, we have to see progress. Greg Auman put it best during the season.
To appreciate how much Jameis Winston has regressed with INTs this season: He could throw 28 passes a game for the remaining six games, not throw a single INT, and still have the highest INT percentage season of his NFL career. And INTs had been a well-known problem before 2018.— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 21, 2018
It’s not the interception, it’s the decision.
Interceptions are a part of football, after all, the guys on the other side get paid too. Some interceptions can be blamed on receivers running the wrong routes and others are just ” A guy making a play”, but this is not that. The play above begs the question, Why Jameis? Why? These are the types of plays that Jameis Winston needs to eliminate from his repertoire. I’m sure the Bucs understand that interceptions are part of the game. The problem is that the play in question highlights the problematic decision making Jameis often has. On that particular play, he looked a lot less year four and a lot more year one. That’s not the first time this has happened. We can all point to various instances that he looks extremely raw and other instances where he looks like a seasoned veteran.
Don’t be fooled by franchise records
88 touchdowns is a great number, but with 58 interceptions and 15 fumbles, Jameis has been largely average. Don’t let those Buccaneers records fool you, he needs to be better. People often throw his franchise records as some sort of evidence of great play. News flash: Tampa Bay hasn’t been blessed with some illustrious history of quarterbacks. Former Super
What’s next?
I don’t expect the interceptions to stop completely. I do expect that the decision making to improve. He has improved every year, but at a certain point, we can’t continue to make excuses for his errors. There seems to be some forbidden law that says people aren’t allowed to speak ill of Winston. The fact of the matter is, Jameis has games where he shines bright and games where he looks like he is lost. What if he has a bad year? I don’t think a “bad year” is a certain stat threshold or anything like that. It’s not X amount of touchdowns to X amount of interceptions. What I am saying is, that the decisions that cause me to want to pull all my hair out, have to stop. Is Bruce Arians the guy to make that happen? I’m not sure, but if Jameis Winston doesn’t improve his decision making this year, the Bucs will be looking elsewhere for a quarterback.
