By Constantine Martin
Twitter: @gusmartin321
You might have heard, and you heard right. Jameis Winston is making headlines again for his antics off the field.
The NFL intends to suspend Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston for the first three games of the 2018-2019 season for violating the league's personal conduct policy, ESPN reported Thursday.
This punishment stems from an incident in March 2016, during which Winston allegedly groped an Uber driver in Scottsdale, Arizona. The NFL has been investigating the accusation since November 17, 2017, when the accusation was reported by BuzzFeed, and now decided to hand down Winston a three-game suspension.
This breaking news caused fans and analysts alike to have concerns about not only the Bucs' playoff chances for next year, but also the future of the team's 2015 first overall pick.
Personal conduct issues are nothing new to Winston. In 2013 he was accused of rape while playing at Florida State University. In 2014 he was caught stealing crab legs, and was also suspended for the first half of an FSU game for shouting vulgar language at his campus' student union. And now this.
Yes, this most recent incident occurred two years ago and the Bucs have since been pleased with Winston's efforts in the community and as the leader of their franchise. And yes, Winston is one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the NFL right now who has the potential ascend to MVP status within a year or two.
BUT, is he ever going to "pop"? Many people were hoping the 2018 season would be a bounce-back year for the Bucs and Winston, but instead he went 3-10 in the games he started and missed three games with a shoulder injury.
Coming out of college, all the talk about Winston was how talented he was and how when he eventually matured, he would be the next great NFL QB. Yet since he's been in he league, he has marginally improved his game, and continues to be surrounded by negative press, just when you think things may be looking up for him and his team.
Winston's numbers were pretty good in each of his first three seasons, the most notable of which being his 28 TD's and 4,000+ passing yards in 2016. But for a first overall pick, the Bucs were hoping to see more consistency and improvement from a man with so much natural ability.
He certainly did not build upon his promising sophomore campaign in 2017. His completion percentage rose 3 percent, but his QBR plummeted by 9.4 points. Not to mention his team went from 9-7 in 2016 to 3-10 with him at the helm in 2017. Even backup Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to go 2-1 to and posted a higher QBR during his absence.
Winston is known to throw some head-scratching interceptions, 18 of them in 2016 in fact, and isn't much of an athlete who can keep defenses weary of him escaping for big rushing plays, as evidenced by his 11.4 career rushing YPG.
Everyone knows Winston has the ability to be a game-changing QB that can rack-up lots of yards, but his decision making, on and off the field, is the key to the Bucs' chances of having any real success in the years to come.
The most concerning part about this recent violation is that this allegedly occurred after Winston was already in the NFL. People could make the excuse that Winston's previous conduct issues were in college and that he would learn from them and grow-up, but for him to continue making decisions like this is troubling for a team hoping for their young star to mature.
Think about it. How can someone lead a group of men if he keeps getting press for childish or inappropriate reasons? How can his teammates take him seriously when he's awkwardly "eating W's" by grotesquely licking his fingers in the pregame huddle? Everywhere you turn it seems like Winston is hindering himself.
Tampa Bay picked up the fifth year on Winston's contract for 2019, but if he doesn't make significant strides toward become the franchise-saving quarterback he was touted to be, then the Bucs should consider moving on from him while his value is still high.
Tampa Bay has made major strides on the defensive end this offseason, most notably to their defensive line by adding Jason Pierre-Paul, Vinny Curry and rookie Vita Vea. But the games Winston will likely miss next season are part of the toughest first three games in NFL history based on the previous season winning percentage (Saints, Eagles and Steelers), so they'll likely start the year 0-3.
But if the defense is an improvement and Winston continues to be a pretty good quarterback that can't get it done, then Tampa Bay would be foolish to stick with Winston and extend him long-term after 2019. It is feasible that another desperate franchise could make a large offer for a young talented guy, it just depends on if the Bucs trust Winston enough to mature into the player he should be, or if he'll continue to play and act like a talented rookie.
There's no way of knowing what Winston's off-the-field issues will be in the future, or even if he'll have any, but if history has shown us anything, it is that Winston's biggest issue is his decision making, whether that is making the right read on the field or simply acting like and adult in an Uber. I say that if he doesn't make some serious strides forward soon and prove his value to his team, then it may be time for the Bucs to look in a different direction.
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