In two short weeks, Commissioner Roger Goodell will arrive at the podium & say the famous words, “The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now on the clock”. Everyone knows that the franchise will change April 30th, on what will surely be a windy & wild Chicago night. The only problem is that when the pick is made, the Quarterback, yes Quarterback (one of the two front runners), won’t be present.
Actually, both potential first-pick gunslingers won’t be in the “Second City”. Marcus Mariota once again is doing what he does best when he isn’t on the football field – he’ll be home in Hawaii. Jameis Winston has opted to stay home as well to be with his grandmother who is unable to physically travel to “Chi-town” for his big day.
This makes one think about how Mariota was deemed “too young” last year by his Mother who didn’t want him in the draft because he wasn’t even 21 years old. Now Mariota has a Heisman trophy under his belt and had a chance for a National title slip away. For all the talk about Winston & his character attributes the tide is slowly turning to show he is more of a proven commodity.
The statistics will show that Mariota had the edge overall over Winston. They match up just as they did going into the Rose Bowl match-up from this year: Mariota would appear to have the edge with 38 Touchdowns to 2 Interceptions. Winston was at 24 TD’s & 17 INTS. Both signal callers were in the 60% range with their completions & just 241 yards separated Winston from Mariota’s 3798 yards passing overall.
Head to head, Oregon beat Florida State 59-20 in that Rose Bowl game. Losing 4 fumbles helped the Seminoles succumb to defeat. Both quarterbacks played an even match-up with Winston throwing for 348 yards on 29/45, 1 TD, 1 INT – ten more yards than Mariota who was 26/36, 2 TDs, 1 INT – but he also had 62 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
The pro style offense that Florida State ran is a plus – it’s a big time plus for Lovie Smith as he reconstructs the Bucs. The understanding of taking a snap under center, adjustments on the fly, reading the defense, to check, to audible, calling the offense – all of these little things put Winston in a much better position to transition. Mariota took just 4 snaps this past season under center & hasn’t called a play in a huddle since high school.
Will Winston be perfect? No way, we haven’t seen that since the Dolphins of yesteryear & the Patriots were a few minutes away from making 19-0 a reality. That hasn’t happened yet & we will see growing pains. But for a man who has proclaimed during the draft process so far he is “Maturing”, the attitude is growing to one of a confident not cocky Quarterback who wants to lead when given his chance.
In the end, passing is the key & overall Winston will win out. The numbers from the pre & post Chip Kelly era sure helped Mariota but that is an offense where 50% of the time it’s a play action. In the NFL just like the National Championship game the defense will just go and attack the ball carrier. That’s when Mariota ended up hurt & in the NFL where they are bigger & faster it won’t be a pretty site.
Sure, it’s possible Mariota falls to 20th for the Eagles (it is possible) & possibly this is another factor to why he isn’t making the trip. We all remember poor Brady Quinn sitting & sitting & well, he sat some more until he finally got picked. Oregon runs a system much like what Kelly is trying to do in the NFL now: most plays are bubble screens, go routes or a post while trying to make the read-option the new fad. While we all have to watch this new version of the Wildcat….
Winston has been working on an NFL route tree for years. He has been working with the intermediate tree such as outs, ins & comebacks. These throws will be made every single Sunday. The arm for Winston outweighs Mariota’s with velocity & drive when he has to step up into a pass. He’ll take that seven step drop with ease & look for Vincent Jackson or Mike Evans downfield. “Famous” Jameis (Cookie desired every time) will be that on draft day & will fit well into his new “home town” team.
These two men have a chance to entertain for years & there faith will be sealed on Thursday April 30th. Can you just imagine how ESPN & the NFL network will eat up a chance to follow Lovie Smith? Walking up the steps & knocking at the door. Arriving to see Winston at the house with a Buccaneers cap?