Phil Sears USATODAY Sports
When Josh McCown starts 11 games under center for you in a season, without an injury to make that happen, that looks like a course that leads to the No. 1 overall pick. That’s just what happened for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, and predictably they’ve essentially been on the clock for the top pick in this year’s draft since the season ended after going 2-14.
A lot of the conversation before the draft starts at the end of this month has centered around which of the top two quarterbacks the Buccaneers will take with the first pick. Jameis Winston is widely regarded as a virtual lock to be the No. 1 pick right now, but there’s still a chance Marcus Mariota will be Tampa Bay’s choice when it comes time for them to actually make the pick.
Leaving aside the character red flags he carries from his time at Florida State, Winston is clearly the more pro-ready of the two signal callers. He played in a pro-style offense and was able display the tools NFL teams look for, while Mariota played in Oregon’s more specialized spread offense with a limited range of responsibilities.
The public faces of the Buccaneers’ organization, general manager Jason Licht and head coach Lovie Smith, have made it clear they hold Winston in very high regard. His past off-field indiscretions can’t be totally disregarded, but if Winston has addressed those issues confidently during the pre-draft process they can be put into the background when evaluating him. He is not someone who has made headlines with his social life to this point, in an overall sense, and there are signs Winston is willing to work to become one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
I’m surely not alone in thinking Winston’s NFL career will go one of two distinct directions. I think he will be very good (or even great), and easily justify his status as the No. 1 pick this year, or he’ll be a complete bust that goes down the path of 2007 No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell.
Tampa Bay has the on and off the field structure in place to set Winston up for success, which has to be something that will help drive their decision to take him. As long as something significant from his past doesn’t surface over the next few weeks, Winston is clearly the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft and the easy choice for the Buccaneers.
Brad Berreman is a Columnist/Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
