By William Relihan, Staff Writer
With less than three weeks remaining until the NFL draft, there is a lot of buzz surrounding Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, and for good reason. In Winston’s debut season as a redshirt sophomore in 2013, he led Florida State to their first National Championship since 1999. In doing so, Winston was also awarded the Heisman trophy; the highest honor for collegiate football players. In terms of physical ability, Jameis Winston has been rated as the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since Andrew Luck, who is now a pro-bowl signal caller for the Indianapolis Colts.
After sustaining the worst overall record in the league, Tampa Bay has since been the favorite suitor of the Florida State product. While nearly every single mock draft and professional football analyst has Winston going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first overall pick, there are some off-field issues concerning Winston’s future in the National Football League. Winston was subject to many disciplinary infractions during Winston’s college football career at Florida State, one of which even included a date-rape scandal, which eventually ended without the indictment of the Florida State quarterback. As many teams have lost star players to off-field league infractions, general manager’s and front-offices alike have their doubts about Jameis Winston.
All-pro wide receiver Josh Gordon, all-pro running back Adrian Peterson, and others have all faced suspensions from league offices for violations of league policy. Josh Gordon remains suspended indefinitely for his third infraction. Nonetheless, Jameis Winston’s physical tools, and knowledge of the game have been unanimously recognized, and in a pass-happy football league, NFL teams may find it difficult to pass up a rare talent such as Winston.
In Tampa Bay, there has been a playoff drought for over a decade. The last playoff win for Tampa Bay was the Super Bowl in 2002, during which they were led by legendary coach Jon Gruden. Even in those glory days of Buccaneer’s history, there has been perpetual mediocrity at the quarterback position. Although analysts and front offices alike have Jameis Winston at the top of their boards, recent polls in the Tampa Bay area suggest fans are indifferent. Currently 52% of Buccaneer fans favor incumbent Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota as their choice with the number 1 overall pick in the draft. As Florida residents, perhaps they imagine Tampa as one of the worst possible destinations for Winston. Not because of his ability on the field, but Tampa’s geographic proximity to Tallahassee, where Florida State’s campus is. Many sports editors have noticed this, and if Winston is to continue his collegiate off-field antics, Tampa Bay may just be the best enabler of this behavior.
As history has shown, with Gordon and Peterson, there is no amount of talent that can help a team when they are suspended and unable to participate. Therefore, Tampa is left with the difficult decision of rolling the dice on Jameis Winston’s maturity. Often times however, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
