“Better Than I Thought”
August 18th, 2015
A noted NFL Network analyst and former quarterback was impressed with “America’s Quarterback.” Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
There were more than a few Bucs fans disappointed by the play of “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, in his first game as an NFL player.
A few were even outraged.
At first glance, NFL analyst/guru and former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network grimaced at Jameis’ play. But, ah, the eye in the sky never lies, and when Jeremiah went to the tape, he actually came away impressed with Jameis — for his first at-bat as a pro.
That’s the word Jeremiah pumped out on Twitter.
@MoveTheSticks: Winston was better than I thought. 3rd 14, hits 40 yd deep ball..3rd 10, strike to VJ (no catch)..3rd 7, scramble TD. 2 scoring drives. … Couple other positives for Winston: escaped 3 pressures and also stood tall and took some big hits in pocket. He will continue to improve.
Joe isn’t running, screaming at the top of his lungs enroute to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Joe totally understands that rookie quarterbacks, even with a solid line, will struggle.
But Joe liked how Jameis marched the Bucs to a touchdown in crunch time of the first half, just like he did often in college. When is the last time you saw a Bucs quarterback in any game complete a successful two-minute drill ending in a touchdown?
Such accomplishments are as common around these parts as snow.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:13 am
To answer your question Joe, Mike “check down” Glennon last year against the Steelers had that game winning drive.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:16 am
Jameis has the desire, puts in the effort, has the football IQ and most importantly enough talent to develop into a top level NFL quarterback. Now what he needs is to have the necessary reps to develop. It’ll be interesting to compare his present performance to his performance towards the end of this season.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:20 am
Winston has always thrived in important situations / red zone / etc. It’s why preseason is tough to really gauge much on. No one in their right mind thought Cam Newton was going to throw for over 400 yards in week 1 if you saw his preseason performances
August 18th, 2015 at 11:20 am
Rome was not built in a day. The entire Bucs offense with a new OC and a new system is a work in progress – and more talent is needed up front. But Winston’s talent is there and his will to succeed and be great and WIN is the one intangible that cannot be taught, bought, sold or accounted for on a spreadsheet.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:22 am
I hope they let him play atleast 3 quarters next game and a full game in week 3.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:27 am
What Winston needs is an effective offensive line that gives him the space to work his magic. A little time will bring a lotta points.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:33 am
I agree. I watched the game again last night and also thought he played better than I thought Saturday night. He had a few bad reads but on quite a few of his passes I thought that his read was correct but he threw it a little too late. He also took a shot to Kenny Bell in the end zone that I initially thought was a bad pass but when stopping the game just before he released the ball I see where he attempted to throw to the back of the end zone where as Bell went more towards the middle where the LB was sitting. Those types of things will improve as the guys start to get in sync with one another and as Winston starts to get adjusted to the speed of the game at that level.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:43 am
Also another thing I think will help is Koetter should start him off with some easier high percentage passes to start his next couple games. When watching the Tennessee game that’s what they did with Mariota his first couple passes were screens and short out routes and a wheel route. After that finally had him throw a route or 2 more than 10 yds. They also didn’t have him making pre-snap protection calls he just focused on going up to the line and calling the cadence. Maybe they need to scale back what they’re throwing on Winston at the moment and ease into more responsibilities as the season progresses.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:45 am
Waterboy…I think you’re correct. It’s timing and speed of the game thingy. I have no worries about Winston at all yet, because he’s a helluva a hard worker, and knows when and why he made a mistake at a certain point in the game. No worries he’s smart enough to take all this in and get better and better and better.
August 18th, 2015 at 11:52 am
I agree that we need to start Winston with some shorter passes/screens until he gets in a rhythm.
We have the weapons at WR/TE/RB to complete short routes…..I realize that we wanted to run some and had poor field position…but, as usual….we went to that well once too often and it dryed up.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Not to mention the Vikings secondary was holding like a mofo! I get it, let these guys play but that cant happen come September.
But Winston will get better. His feel in the pocket is pretty good for his first game. Amd remember that laser to Louis Murphy? He did good finding the open man. Wether he went through his progressions, or knew Murphy wpuld be open based on what the defense showed him, IDK. But a beautiful throw regardless.
However, if Jameis is going to use short timing routes with three step drops, he has to work on that wind up. My goodness, its not horrible but that quick release just isnt there. And its not something you can just fix. Its the way he delivers, so if he alters that, his accuracy and strength will change. Its not horrible, its just a little concerning with our inconcistent o line.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
All great points but Lord C you spot on bro.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:27 pm
I agree that running until the D stomps on it, then expecting to drop back and pass is not the best strategy. It would be far more effective to mix it up and pass sometimes right after a big run. Get a 8 yard run, then a completion for 15 yards, now run or pass again. Changing it up helps keep the D off balance. That is how good offenses shred even a good defense and put up big numbers. Hopefully we see lots of that after the real games start.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Let’s see how we do against the Bungles, perhaps a better measuring stick. Minnesota is better than the Bungles and the Vikes already had a win under their belts when they played us.
I’d like to see us take another step forward against Cincinnati. Right now improvement is what is critical.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:43 pm
I think maybe a solution Winston’s tendency to start slowly is not to let him get comfortable with high-percentage throws and get some momentum going, but just the opposite really. He thrives in urgent game situations, where he can put pressure on himself and challenge himself. Maybe Koetter need to start every game with ridiculously risky, low percentage deep balls, forcing Jameis to test himself right away – with the downside being that if the team gets in a hole because of interceptions or stalled drives, at least it happens early and Jameis can feel that sense of urgency all through the game instead of just the second half. That potential upside, of course, is to start games with early leads, which can’t be bad thing.
August 18th, 2015 at 12:55 pm
Tebow looked great against Colts. If we are lucky eagles will cut him and we can pick him up for second string and have good depth at quarterback going into season
August 18th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
The hit he took delivering the 40 yard pass to V-Jack was impressive that he stood in there and knew he was going to take the hit and delivered a strike. Thats what made V-Jack so excited that he’s going to be the real deal. Thats what good qb’s do. We havent had anyone like that here in a very long time. I see stretching the field quite a bit this year as opposed to Captain Checkdown Glennon.
August 18th, 2015 at 2:21 pm
The only thing I’m worried about w Jameis Christ us his attempts at sliding. This dude is a baseball player and quarterback and still bout snaps his legs when he goes down.
August 18th, 2015 at 3:17 pm
Winston did fine people… We just need ASJ to catch the ball and a center that can snap and this game would of had a different outcome!
August 18th, 2015 at 4:00 pm
I really dont care about the “outcome” of a preseason game. I would have like to see better O Line protection tho. we will see more of the starters this week and maybe have a better idea of where we stand. The Vikings had already played a preseason game and they are a good team.
August 18th, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Yeah, geez Joe. I’m just as excited about “America’s Quarterback” as you are but lets tone down the hyperbole just a smidgeon.
August 19th, 2015 at 12:57 am
We really aren’t going to know what Jameis can do until we get a decent Oline to block for him. That part is very frustrating. I was impressed with how he looked in a hurry up offense and he excelled at it in college as well.