Instant analysis. That’s what we demand these days. Who will have more ESPN highlights this NBA season- LeBron or Stephen Curry? Who had the best tweet during Saturday night’s Stanford-Washington State football game? Would Donald Trump look more presidential in gray hair than strawberry blond?
It may all be at least somewhat ridiculous. And it’s usually a bit unfair to those being analyzed.
But after watching Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jameis Winston play with unusual poise, skill and leadership throughout the Bucs’ 23-20 overtime win Sunday in Atlanta, it might also be time to more fervently salute Tampa Bay for choosing the former Florida State star and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner over former Oregon QB and 2014 Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, who went to the Tennessee Titans with the second overall pick.
In case you forgot, Winston was the other quarterback on the field that opening NFL Sunday in September when Mariota and the Titans torched Tampa Bay 42-14. Not only did Mariota have a perfect QB rating that day, but Winston threw a pick-six on his first pass attempt on his way to an overall disappointing afternoon.
Then again, the last rookie quarterback to toss a pick-six on his first pass was Brett Favre, and he wound up having a fairly satisfactory career.
Judging by Winston’s work thus far, so will he. Though far from perfect this season – 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and an 85.6 quarterback rating – he hasn’t thrown a single pick in his past three starts. Moreover, the Bucs are suddenly a respectable 3-4 overall.
And while Winston badly underthrew a pass that would have been a game-winner in overtime against the Falcons, he also calmly and confidently completed three third-down passes to keep the drive alive that led to the winning field goal. He finished with one running touchdown and one passing score.
Afterward, Tampa Bay coach Lovie Smith noted, “I see him grow a little bit more each week, growing into that leadership position.”
A lot of us who believe there’s more to life and leadership than what takes place on a football field have not always stood firmly in Winston’s corner. The rape accusation during his Heisman Trophy season. The sexual obscenity he shouted in the FSU student center the fall following that Heisman year. The crab legs fiasco at a Publix supermarket, though that may have been a misunderstanding.
None of it endeared him to those who believe athletes should do more than win games. But everyone makes mistakes, especially in their youth. And few youths have to deal with the temptations of fame a star quarterback in a national championship program is forced to navigate.
Doesn’t mean Winston should get a free pass. Doesn’t mean that if he hasn’t learned from past mistakes, he won’t repeat them in the future – and face much more serious consequences.
There’s more than one reason why the Titans might have been tempted to take Mariota, even if they’d had the No. 1 pick. And it’s not because of football so much as the fact that in a Bible Belt city such as Nashville, Mariota’s unimpeachable class and character seemed a better fit than Winston’s relaxed values.
Teammates don’t care about that, however. And much as Winston’s FSU teammates never failed to rally around him or defend him, you get the feeling he has already won the trust of veteran Bucs who are as much as 10 years his senior.
Or as former Tennessee Vol and current Fox analyst Charles Davis noted Sunday: “There’s one leader in that (Bucs) clubhouse, and it’s Jameis Winston.”
This is not to say the currently injured Mariota doesn’t command the same respect in the Titans locker room. And his numbers to date remain slightly higher than Winston’s. In five starts before his knee was injured, Mariota threw nine touchdowns and five interceptions with an overall QB rating of 93.2.
But while the Bucs are now 3-4 overall, the Titans stand 1-6, with that 42-14 win over the Bucs in mid-September feeling like a lifetime ago.
“It’s just one game,” Winston said during his postgame press conference Sunday inside the Georgia Dome, during which he referred to Atlanta QB Matt Ryan as “Mr. Ryan” and donned a conservative sport coat and tie. “We’re not looking for a turning point. We’re just working on a week-to-week basis with the goal of getting better each game.”
Such a plan seems to be working in all areas of his life.
If it continues, Tampa Bay may one day find the same success with Winston the Packers so long enjoyed with Favre.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com