Missed The “Fire?”
December 7th, 2015
More national nonsense
Joe is growing further dumbfounded by the expert doubters of America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
What exactly could they have possible missed during his two-year run of leadership and dominance at Florida State University?
Front and center in this choir of skeptics was Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal picture-taking, video game-playing, Taylor Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame.
King was the guy selling that there was massive consensus that Marcus Mariota was the No. 1 overall pick of NFL executives. Ok, silly as it was.
But King flashed an ugly card in his popular Monday column for theMMQB.com today. King dared to say that he (actually a mysterious “we”) missed a burning desire in Jameis when studying him before the NFL Draft.
• Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota willed their teams to fourth-quarter wins. There was this great debate about which of these quarterbacks, picked 1-2 last April, would be the franchise guy. Maybe both will be. Winston has a fire in him we might have missed in the run-up to the draft. Look at the third-and-19 scramble/dive late in the fourth quarter, his team down three. Winston got 20. The drive ended in a game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Evans. Mariota isn’t as demonstrative, but do you have to be when you can run 87 yards for a touchdown, the way Mariota did in the fourth quarter in Nashville? Mariota doesn’t have anything to play for now (Winston has a whisper of a playoff shot), but don’t tell him that. Both of these guys are on the right track.
And that’s why Joe is dumbfounded. Anyone watching Jameis in college, anyone doing any homework before the draft, knew Jameis had a winning fire and leadership passion in him on par with the all-time greats of college football. But King didn’t see it?
Joe’s gotten so leery of draft gurus over the past couple of years. Joe still can’t believe a guy like Mike Mayock was claiming Jameis was a 40-interception machine.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:51 am
Missed the fire? Do these people even watch football?
What he “might” have missed is that he has zero ability to evaluate potential NFL talent.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:55 am
Ahhhh screw them, Im just happy to see Tampa in second place. I think next year will be a very telling year because other teams will have game tape on Winston. Still his presence in the locker room and on the side line is something was needed.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:56 am
People nowadays have such short term memories. Jameis has a sophomore season where he had a few more interceptions than he should have (although we don’t know how many were his fault, and they were still undefeated) and people forget about how sensational he was as a freshman (where he didn’t throw interceptions). He was still damn good as a sophomore. He loses to Mariota and that’s all people remember. People forget about his speech before the Clemson game. They don’t remember him having the game winning drive in the national championship game. It’s no different than us winning 3 out of 4, then losing to Indy and morons saying Lovie should be fired. The last thing that happens isn’t always telling of what something is. It’s amazing to me how people today seem to truly not understand that.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:57 am
These dudes write what they have to, to get paid brother. Their expertise should rest in their inside knowledge of who a particular team is looking to get in the draft, but not so much on the player and their outlook in the NFL. I pay more attention to the “GM and HC of the ________ took a second visit to _______” stories. Everyone who was either a Nole fan, or not anti-Winston knew exactly what kind of deal the young man was. I applaud him for handling the “Sheep” with dignity and precessionalism; furthering the positive image that is “America’s Quarterback”
December 7th, 2015 at 9:59 am
*Professionalism
December 7th, 2015 at 10:01 am
Glad you brought up the Mayock points. Chris Laundry was on the draft Mariotta wagon. MM may turn out to be great, no doubt I would draft him on my fantasy team, but I think we can all agree Winston’s 20 yard run was a bit more than 2 fantasy points…
December 7th, 2015 at 10:01 am
There were people saying Jameis was uncoachable, that he was a bad teammate, that he wouldn’t be able to grasp an NFL playbook
Those were the criticisms that really bugged me because they were so obviously untrue. ANYONE who watched ANY of Jameis at FSU knew that his coachability, locker room leadership, and ability to grasp a playbook were his greatest strengths.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:03 am
Haven’t heard a peep from Mary Mayock about Winston since the draft, got any updates what Mary’s spewing about our QB now?
December 7th, 2015 at 10:03 am
Howard trusts whoever made the picks in 2015 draft.
Whoever this person is they’re a genius of the 1st order (or just incredibly lucky).
Was it Licht? Was it Lovie? Was it team Glazer? Was it Mr Koetter?
Probably a combination of all the above.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:07 am
They already have game tape on Winston lol. Kirk keeps them guessing and Jameis has been executing.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:17 am
The people who missed it were too busy worrying about him dressing out for the suspension game and BB guns and crab legs.
We tried to tell you….
December 7th, 2015 at 10:23 am
That’s because the national narrative was he was an interception machine with off the field baggage etc. Then you had the uneducated buc fans on this site and elsewhere buying into the propaganda without doing their own research and just regurgitated what the national media was feeding them. How silly do all of them look now? Very!!!! Oh and this kid is just getting started!!!
December 7th, 2015 at 10:26 am
I have to confess..and if I didn’t 87 would point it out anyway..LMAO that I was worried because of the off field issues. It wasn’t just the rape allegation…that can happen to anybody…it was the number of offenses any one of which was nothing but taken together caused some concern.
87 convinced me that Fameis really had character and those were youthful indiscretions. As I’ve told him many times since…87 was spot on.
As for on the field I thought BOTH QB’s will be excellent. The footspeed didn’t concern me because yes MM is going to have times when he breaks contain and has speed to take it to the House. How often will that happen in the NFL. So far once against the mighty Jags.
I saw Fameis highlights of quite a few excellent runs…he doesn’t have any one great characteristic…speed, shiftiness, or Cam Newton size…but he does have a healthy amount of shiftiness and he’s a pretty big dude himself and can be hit by several guys and still keep on going. In short he’s a good runner and when you add his heart and desire he becomes a great runner.
I’m thrilled to have #3 because as much as talent..he and MM both have that…we needed the heart of a Lion a real winner to turn our SORRY attitude around. Again I think…Bret Favre versus Aaron Rodgers. Which of them was the best QB? Does it matter they were/are both great. #3 is great and he’s soooooo much fun to watch. MM could also be a great QB but he’s not nearly as entertaining as #3! Go Bucs!!!
For a team with no offensive line to start the year..a washed up Running back…and the wrong choice at QB…with an incompetent coach…we’ve done pretty well eh. Just keep the insults coming it only motivates all of us!!
December 7th, 2015 at 10:41 am
The airing of “The Hunting Ground” has come and gone almost without mention.
Jameis is doing exactly what he needs to do…..focus on football and prove himself on the field.
As for the Mariota/Winston debate……it is somewhat meaningless at this point…..my opinion is that they both will be good…if not great….NFL Quarterbacks and both franchise QBs for their teams….
Winston was the right pick for the Bucs because we needed more than a QB.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:53 am
And Joe’s buddy on the radio is still butt hurt about his boy Mariota being in a different uniform…tweeting out his stats like anybody actually cares about the Tennessee Titans QB and how many yards he has.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:54 am
No one is a draft expert just like no one is a fantasy football expert. It’s all guesses and projections
December 7th, 2015 at 10:54 am
As you should be. Mike Mayock also claimed Jonathan Manziel would be the next Steve Young because he’s got that “IT” factor. A couple of weeks ago I read an article by Steve White who dissected one of Manziel’s games. All of these so-called experts were dead wrong on Manziel. Manziel is a terrible QB and he’s not going to improve. It’s evident given White’s breakdown on his decision making which was far worse than anything Jameis has done this year. Yet, the apologists will claim it’s the system and that he needs a chance. The NFL exposed Manziel for what he really is just like RGIII and Colin Kaepernick.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:07 am
I saw that as well. I’m glad Jameis’s play on the field is shutting down any criticism he would have. You can bet there have been some drafted tweets ready to fire off against Jameis. Mariota has a very good game yesterday but honestly I’m not sure that if the Bucs drafted Mariota that we’d have the same kind of success. Stats aside, I think Jameis has done things on the field that the Titans wouldn’t allow Mariota to do.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:09 am
I did not prefer Winston as the selection, but never questioned his fire or desire to win.
Even though I didn’t want him, I’m glad he’s a Buc.
This is just a way for the “professional analysts” to say they were wrong without actually saying they were wrong.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:12 am
D-Rome, if it had gone the other way and Mariota had gone 1 and Jameis 2 then the Bucs would be sitting at 3-9 right now and the Titans would be at 6-6 and in the playoff hunt. There’s no doubt in my mind about that
December 7th, 2015 at 11:34 am
Well, I’m not sure about the Titans being 6-6 with Jameis. I think the Titans are one of the least talented football teams in the NFL. Their offensive line isn’t great and they have no running game to speak of. Hard to say. That said, I really don’t believe the Bucs would be 6-6 with Mariota. I think they would have a worse record.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:43 am
I am glad Big Doggie blocked me on Twitter. Tired of reading his tweets anyway… GO BUCS.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:57 am
Well, I’m not sure about the Titans being 6-6 with Jameis. I think the Titans are one of the least talented football teams in the NFL. Their offensive line isn’t great and they have no running game to speak of. Hard to say. That said, I really don’t believe the Bucs would be 6-6 with Mariota. I think they would have a worse record.
——
The same could have been said about us last year. We had no running game and a horrible offensive line. Nobody considered us “talented” by any stretch of the imagination. Granted our offensive line is different, but we’ve been getting it done with 2 rookies and a couple old men well past their prime. I would argue that Jameis has infected them with his energy. You may not believe in that kind of thing, but I sure do. When I see Vincent Jackson bouncing in the pre-game huddle (when he’s not even playing), then I know something magical is happening. Winston is basically like a Tim Tebow that can actually play QB.
December 7th, 2015 at 2:55 pm
Jameis is definitely going to be a 40-interception-machine … It just might take 6 full seasons to get to 40. I’m absolutely amazed at how he just willed himself to stop turning the ball over, it’s insane.