Jameis Winston’s season is over, but he has defied his critics

My stance

Anyone that has followed my writing at all knows that I’m no fan of Jameis Winston. Oh, I used to be. I’m not the guy that didn’t like him on draft day. I feel that he earned my criticism in a big way culminating in London with his 6 turnover-day — that game did it for me. I turned my back on him and haven’t looked back until Sunday in the Big Easy. I feel I’m a fair type of writer. I try to always look at things objectively. If you rag a guy when he deserves it, you should also praise him when he’s doing well.

Arians vs Payton’s style of offense

Winston’s numbers are underwhelming, with the Saints 89 of 151 for a 58.9 completion percentage. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns vs, more importantly, only 3 INTS in 6 games. He’s not being asked by Sean Payton to run the kind of offense that Bruce Arians runs in Tampa. The Saint’s offense is more balanced with Alvin Kamara in the stable. He doesn’t have to throw the ball 35 to 50 times in a game to win. I think that it’s fair to say that Winston has a problem with interceptions, but especially when he throws a high number of attempts. Let’s take a look at the numbers. They are very telling. With the Bucs in 2019 through six games, Winston threw the ball 220 times, compared to 151 with the Saints through six this season. That’s 69 fewer attempts that Winston didn’t have to take in Payton’s offense. His touchdown total through six in 2019 was 14. That’s almost the same as he has this season, hmm.

A comfortable place for Winston

Winston isn’t going to throw 33 touchdowns with the Saints this season, even if he hadn’t been injured against the Bucs. *Winston is out for the season ACL tear and MCL damage – Ian Rapoport. I think what it comes down to — as seen above; is that Winston just wasn’t the quarterback for the Buc’s offensive system. He isn’t that type of quarterback. He’s extremely hard to trust in those high attempts schemes. Give him a good running game and keep his attempts at or under 30 and what you get is success more often than not. He’s convinced me after just 6 and almost a half games that there is a place for him in the NFL as a starter. Whether you are a supporter, a hater, or indifferent, you have to admit it was working so far in NOLA for our former first overall pick. It’s also apparent that he has left his youthful mistakes off the field, in the rearview mirror. Go Bucs!!