Everything that could’ve gone wrong for Jameis Winston has. Let’s not sugarcoat it. A #1 pick, especially a QB, is supposed to alter a franchise. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, with Winston, they’ve remained in football purgatory, while three straight draft classes have produced star quarterbacks who are leading playoff teams.
In his four seasons, the Buccaneers have gone 25-39. Their best season, you may ask? A 9-7 season (2016) that resulted in the Bucs missing the postseason. The future seemed bright after that season. It was Jameis’ second season. He threw 28 TDs and surpassed 4000 yards in Dirk Koetter’s first season as a head coach. It seemed Koetter had found a way to unlock the potential of Winston. Two years later, we know that to not be the case. Koetter is gone, and Winston is on his last straw.
So, what do the Buccaneers do? They sign the proverbial QB locksmith, Bruce Arians, as their new head coach. Nearly everything Arians has touched has turned to gold. He was the OC for the Browns in 2002, the last time they made the playoffs. As the OC in Pittsburgh, he oversaw two Super Bowl winning offenses. During his brief stint in Indianapolis, he helped guide rookie QB Andrew Luck (a former #1 pick) to the playoffs as the interim HC. And, most recently, he turned a 36-year-old Carson Palmer (a former #1 pick) into a legitimate MVP candidate, while going 13-3.
Winston has the potential to be just as good as those guys. We’ve seen his ability to win games, at least at the college level. With a record of 26-1 during his two years as Florida State’s, Winston proved to have a winning pedigree. Those games weren’t all pretty either. Jameis was often forced to find ways to squeak out wins against tough opponents week after week. That’s been his biggest struggle in the NFL. Instead of finding ways to win games, he’s often at fault for the loss. The most obvious example of this is his 70 interceptions in just 54 games.
Bruce Arians’ number one goal should be to stop that problem. From here on out Winston can’t make the same mistake more than once. That’s what really separates the good quarterbacks from the great ones. Arians should provide the discipline to get Winston over that hump. Again, he’s done it just about everywhere he’s gone.
However, nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. Winston will most likely be the toughest task that Arians has faced, but it’s not something uncommon to him. The season before Arians became the OC in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger threw 18 TDs and 23 INTs. In Arians first season with Ben? 32 TDs – 11 INTs. Carson Palmer’s career low in interceptions also came under Arians.
It’s almost like Arians has this whole coaching thing figured out. What would be just a little more helpful is if he could bring in a younger, more relatable coach to call plays and for Winston to grow under. So, that’s exactly what he did. Arians
Leftwich might be just as valuable to the process as Bruce is, especially as a mentor to Winston. Leftwich, a former high draft selection, will be more than just a coach to Jameis. He’ll be a constant reminder of what can happen when your chances run out. Jameis will be an opportunity for Leftwich to take everything that went wrong for him and project into a talent that still has one more chance left.
This last chance for Jameis is starting to seem like his best one. After the chaos that was the 2018 Buccaneers, a solid, consistent 2019 could silence the doubters or just simply buy everybody a little bit more time. It feels like, for the first time in his career, Winston is surrounded by the necessary support system to succeed. The stars may be beginning to align in Tampa for the first time in a long time, and it’s all centered around the perfect marriage of Winston and Arians.
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