Praising Jameis
November 30th, 2016
High praise.
The numbers lie.
In a universe that seems to need everything qualified by some sort of inane statistic, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, rises above the gibberish.
That’s the word from Steven Ruiz of USA Today.
Ruiz believes, if you just look at box score numbers and the notorious if not dubious quarterback rating — regular readers know full well what Joe thinks about quarterback ratings, which is why he never uses that empty stat — one will conclude Jameis is, maybe, an above average quarterback.
Ruiz suggests if you look at the game of football, what Jameis is doing is extraordinary. And that puts him among the NFL’s elite.
In short, Tampa is asking a lot of its young quarterback, in terms of both volume and degree of difficulty. Winston has attempted near 200 more passes than Mariota has through two seasons. Coming into the weekend, he led the league in average pass length, according to the NFL’s in-house stat keeping. At the same time, only Luck has been pressured on a higher percentage of dropbacks than Winston, per Football Outsiders.
Quick recap: Winston is being asked to carry the Bucs offense on his back and make the toughest throws in the NFL with some of the worst pass protection you will find in the league.
Considering all that, it’s remarkable that Winston is anywhere close to producing a league-average statline. And that’s not even taking into account how young he is. Only one quarterback who has started multiple games this season is younger than Winston: Jared Goff.
Well, Joe doesn’t agree with Ruiz’s take on the offensive line whatsoever. And neither would Jameis. But his points are interesting.
Ruiz also writes how he is shocked at Jameis’ advanced level of play.
It’s a pretty interesting read and the conclusion is clear. Joe doesn’t want to imagine how rotten this franchise would still be without Jameis.
November 30th, 2016 at 5:36 am
Joe any word on a Chris conte injury? I heard he may be missing this game
November 30th, 2016 at 5:41 am
Never mind I see it a few articles back.
November 30th, 2016 at 5:45 am
Still trying to convince myself that Ruiz is really praising Jameis. Words like “worst pass protection you will find in the league” and “close to producing a league-average statline” sure don’t sound like praise. And as far as Jameis being “asked to carry the Bucs offense on his back” goes, I disagree. Bucs pass-rush ratio is about 56%-44% so I think Dirk Koetter has tried hard to create a respectable pass-rush balance. Compare that to Drew Brees & the Saints (61%-39%) or to Aaron Rodgers & the Packers (65%-35%) and I’d say that they are being asked to put their offense on their back. Totally agree with your bottom line though Joe: Can’t imagine where we’d be without Jameis.
November 30th, 2016 at 6:30 am
Joe doesn’t want to imagine how rotten this franchise would still be without Jameis…..
….. or with Johnny Football.
Licht saved the day when we acquire JW. And don’t forget to thank Lovie for getting us in place for the 1st overall pick in the draft and Koetter.
Go Bucs!!!
November 30th, 2016 at 6:52 am
If you read the full article it is clearly praise.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:02 am
Tackles continue to struggle. Andy Benoit has a good article on Koetter’s offensive adjustments over the past couple of weeks in the MMQB.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:05 am
I get what Ruiz is saying, but America’s (2nd Most Hated) Game-Manager QB Jameis Winston wants to shoulder the burden. One play is illustrative of this. In looking at the last game again, it was 3rd and 6 in the third quarter (around the 5 minute mark) and the Bucs were in Seattle territory at the 40 yard line. He had Doug Martin open in the flat with a chance at a first down. Instead, he chose to go long downfield to ME13, who was covered well. He and Koetter might have been thinking that they were up by more than a TD and a 2 point conversion and could afford to take the chance. I think that JW embraces the “volume and degree of difficulty”, statistics be damned, and he had confidence in his teammates to stop Seattle and they in him.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:25 am
@ Warrenfb12
That was a good read. The tackles have had lots of help with chip blocks the past two games, hence the improved protection of Winston. Bucs need better tackle play badly
November 30th, 2016 at 7:28 am
Game manager? WTF are you talking about Stroud? JW is anything but a game manager.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:29 am
Or maybe you simply didn’t read the post above.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:30 am
@ Doctor
I recall that play. I was very upset he didn’t read that checkdown to Doug, there wasn’t a defender 20 yards ahead of him. However, I may be thinking of a different play or just wrong in observation, I thought it was 2nd down which made it less wincing, but the throw to the downfield sideline was to Shepard and not Evans which made it more peculiar.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:41 am
And where would Jameis be without Evans…shudder to think. I for one was all in on the Manziel bandwagon with Bridgewater as my 1A pick. Lesson here folks…the Bucs have good management and maybe we need to trust in the long term vision more than we do at times.
November 30th, 2016 at 8:15 am
Jameis’ has one of the slowest releases in football which is sometimes why the line can’t hold it’s blocks forever….if Jameis IMPROVES that he will be in the elite class status.
November 30th, 2016 at 8:20 am
Since #3’s game seems to have morphed into a mobile QB who likes to hit receivers while he is on the run I do not see him getting blasted that often.
The OL is getting a bum wrap in my opinion. How many times has #3 stood tall in the pocket and you’ve thought…throw it…throw it…THROW THE FREAKING BALL. Many times when #3 got hit it wasn’t really on the OL but rather #3’s penchant for never giving up on a play.
He seems to have reset his mental clock on the pass rush during this win streak.
It now seems as if #3 drops back…and by the time we get to the throw the ball dammit…you can see the alarm go off in #3’s head and he leaves the pocket just before it totally collapses.
The game is slowing down for #3 and he’s becoming a deadly QB. Instead of the stationary, flat footed, slow “pocket” QB we were promised before the draft, we’ve found a second #3…shed the weight…add quickness if not flat out running speed….he’s always been an underrated runner in terms of being slippery and agile…and he has the gift….he does all this running with his eyes focused downfield on potential receivers while his peripheral vision and sense of feel tell him where the DL are.
When Koetter claimed he hadn’t seen any better QB play this is it folks. Young Jameis is incredibly elusive…can extend plays forever…and he never panics…his eyes downfield at all times….we might as well accept it.
Too early to crown the kid as great yet…but he has been playing some great football over this recent stretch. The game has slowed down for him and it’s becoming obvious…from the clock in his head that now rings when it’s time to get out of a collapsing pocket…to his ability to run around through desperate DL chasing him all over the field to the ability to make a throw like the one to ME that was into double coverage that was too high for DB’s to touch…only ME could have caught that ball and he did…what a freaking combination!!!!
We can beotch and moan…we’ve certainly had the excuses…but the past few weeks we are watching great play from a young QB-WR combo that will be in the HOF if they can simply keep up this current pace.
November 30th, 2016 at 9:15 am
Not only America’s QB but even better, he is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB!
November 30th, 2016 at 9:20 am
@TDTB: Thanks for asking WTF I am talking about. I certainly read the post, and my point is that JW is anything but a “game manager”. In fact, I used an example that refuted this. My introduction of him as America’s (2nd Most Hated) Game Manager QB is a tongue in cheek, ironic (and perhaps moronic) take on efforts by others to label Winston. For example, there was a September poll listing him as the 2nd most hated player in the NFL (after Colin Kaepernick); another article calling him a “game manager”, etc. I apologize for the confusion/propioception.
November 30th, 2016 at 9:29 am
Quick recap: Winston is being asked to carry the Bucs offense on his back and make the toughest throws in the NFL with some of the worst pass protection you will find in the league.
—————
I’ve been saying this for weeks but what do I know.
As for carrying the offense although Koetter calls a balanced attack I’m not sure there are any second year QBs playing with 5th string running backs for half of the season. Not to mention 4th string WRs and 3rd string oline.
Rejoice for the kingdom of Jameis is here!!!
November 30th, 2016 at 9:42 am
Jamies is a baller. I traveled to FL from NC just for the draft party. I will never forget it and it’s a memory that I will share with my dad for the rest of my life. Everyone clowned me cuz of the hate he was getting but they are singing praises now lol
Did anyone see his stiff arm against Seattle and eluded the pressure 10 yards back from the line of scrimmage, scrambled for a second, and then threw a dart to Evans which was highly reminiscent of the play of the year to Evans against Chicago? WOW!!!
The guy has the combination of elite pocket presence, above average pocket passing, the ability to scramble, and my favorite the ability to extend plays outside of the pocket. The latter is the one that really separates the big boys. (ex: Rodgers, Wilson, Cam, etc.) Not only can the guy dice up a secondary standing firm in the pocket, he can maneuver out of it and perform even better. The sky is the limit with our young QB. I expected above average but at this rate, top 5 in the NFL in no time is highly possible.
November 30th, 2016 at 9:42 am
Stpetebucsfan Says:
November 30th, 2016 at 8:20 am
———————————
Excellent post, Spbf! I’ve always been a Glennon fan. I was a skeptic about JW. I’m still a Glennon punter, and glad that he will be able to check out the FA market after this season. I’m now on board with Famous. He’s a terrific young QB. He’s also kept his nose clean off-field (gangbanger character issues have always been a pet peeve of mine). I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: DK is building an offense which will equal the great Tampa Bay defenses. It’s already happening. If the 3rd down stats in the last 2 games don’t indicate it, I don’t know what does. Just my $.02. GO MIGHTY BUCS!!!
November 30th, 2016 at 10:16 am
Yea Joe I don’t know where these nationals always come off saying the Bucs have one of the worst offensive lines. We’ve been damn good lately actually. Tell em to watch a Bucs game for once before they put their bull spit down on paper.
November 30th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Salute St.Pete Salute Orlbuc.
November 30th, 2016 at 10:45 am
As an FSU fan, having watched Jameis for years, his release is much quicker now than at FSU and last year. His footwork and release are much improved, and is quicker on his feet due to the lost weight – IMO. Because of these things, I also see the spiral of the ball much tighter than before. With continued improvements in these areas, his high football IQ, his extreme work ethic and study habits, I see startdome for our young QB.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:01 am
Without Jameis we would be the 2014 Bucs. 2 and whatever.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:45 am
that stat about Winston attempting200 more passes than MM is amazing….the biggest thing that I’ve noticed is that it seems the game has slowed down for Winston, n.spence and VGIII….all 3 players are playing at a high level….GO BUCS!!!!
November 30th, 2016 at 7:25 pm
Doctor Stroud they were up 14-5. So yes, they were up by more than a TD and 2pt conversion.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:17 pm
He’: also faced one of the toughest schedules in the NFL