Darius Slay Talks To Joe
March 14th, 2020
Pro Bowler talks Jameis.
Last year the way Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, played at Detroit, no one imagined, barring injury, that the Bucs may have a new quarterback this week.
Jameis went off on the Lions. He connected on 28 of 42 passes for 458 yards, four touchdowns and the obligatory pick. It was such a good performance that very likely his most harshest critic, commenter “Altered Ego,” even doffed his cap in respect.
At that point, there was hardly a person alive who didn’t think Jameis wouldn’t return to the Bucs.
And then… splat!
Jameis followed up perhaps his best game with two dreadful games at home, against Houston and against the Dixie Chicks and the Bucs finished with a 7-9 record. Icing on the cake was Jameis ending the season with a pick-six in overtime.
Bucs fandom erupted. In two weeks Bucs fans went from “Holy cow, we’ve got a quarterback!” to “Holy sh!t, we need a new quarterback!” It is fair to say since, Jameis may be the most hated guy in town (more so than Joe or Jason Licht).
Currently, Jameis’ days with the Bucs hang in the balance. Speaking publicly, Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians has all but said Jameis is toast in Tampa Bay. It seems like the only way Jameis returns is if the Bucs strike out with Tom Brady, Teddy Bridgewater and Philip Rivers.
After the season, Joe talked to Pro Bowl corner Darius Slay. He was on the field at Ford Field when Jameis went nuts. So Joe asked him a few questions about Jameis.
JoeBucsFan: Darius, you faced Jameis a couple of times. What’s your take on him?
Darius Slay: He is pretty good. Throwing for 5,000 yards is pretty impressive.
Joe: What type of gameplan did you have for him when you faced him earlier this year in Detroit?
Slay: We knew he was going to throw the ball. We knew he was going to force a lot of balls. But he did good. He had a solid game. Had one bad read that we made a play on, but [Jameis played] pretty well. He had a good game.
Joe: Is Jameis the type of quarterback that, even though he throws for a lot of yards, you know as a defense that sooner or later he will make a mistake and you have to capitalize on it?
Slay: He is a talented player but that is our goal is to make talented players make mistakes. He made a lot of them this year but overall his talent, he is very special. He’s a gifted player. Throwing for 5,000 yards is crazy.
Well, 5,000 yards may be crazy, but not crazy enough to impress many Bucs fans and apparently neither is the Bucs brass won over.
The next few days will be very interesting. As Joe has stated, Joe cannot remember an apparently healthy guy under 30 who led one America’s four top team sports in a major offensive category and couldn’t find work the next year.
That’s just mindblowing to Joe.
March 14th, 2020 at 8:01 pm
Jeff George?
March 14th, 2020 at 8:05 pm
Real good guess however:
1. Not sure if he was hurt but year after leading the league in passing, George only started seven games in 1997.
2. He was over 30.
March 14th, 2020 at 8:05 pm
I’ve never met a defensive back that didn’t absolutely LOVE Jameis.
March 14th, 2020 at 8:08 pm
Welcome to Tampa Mr. Brady!!!!
Now lets REALLY get this show on the road 🙂
(yall know my predictions usually come true)
March 14th, 2020 at 8:10 pm
Thanks Joe!
I appreciate all your research.
March 14th, 2020 at 8:35 pm
Excitement over winning….lol…
JW doesn’t throw for 5k without throwing 30INTs….
That’s the point….banking on JW to consistency throw for 5k is like banking on SHAQ to consistency rack up 19.5 sacks…
The difference is SHAQ was a first time starter….JW has had TO problems since college…we have more of a sample size with JW…
JW has too many TOs and not enough Ws…simple as that
GO BUCS
March 14th, 2020 at 8:38 pm
Hahah Joe hits the fan service with the Altered Ego ref!
I was listening to a national broadcast the day after that Detroit win, caller was from Detroit and was disgusted with how bad the Lions were and lamented: “We even let Jameis Winston throw for 400+ yards against us!”…
March 14th, 2020 at 8:42 pm
We love Joe! Just don’t agree with him on Winston. I don’t hate Jameis, I just hate it if he was our QB again next season. I don’t hate Licht. Hated some of the decisions he’s made, but don’t hate him. Think the hate word is being misused on this site.
March 14th, 2020 at 8:48 pm
JW one of the riskiest FA to sign this year… LoL
March 14th, 2020 at 8:56 pm
As a fan since 1976 Winston is by far the most talented QB this franchise has ever had. Steve Young didn’t excel until he left here for S.F. Brad Johnson had the the best defense in the league and was not asked to win games and out score opponents. Doug Williams was a leader but again it was the defense that made the difference.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:02 pm
>most talented QB this franchise has ever had. That’s not saying much if anything.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:03 pm
Hey Nancy, Jameis lit up a number of teams with a ton of yards so that caller didn’t know what he was talking about. I guess you forgot but he led the entire league in passing yards you A$$ Clown! Once again Buc fans are the dumbest. Angry Nancy trying to make a point that is ludicrous when JW led the league in passing. Wow what a idiotic take by HER!
March 14th, 2020 at 9:05 pm
It’s genuinly amazing how so many cannot understand basic facts about the game of football.
Also Joe Slay is being a professional. What was he supposed to say?
He makes so many boneheaded decisions but for some reason he can sure sling that ball. If the Lions were so bad Winston looked like Patrick Mahomes out there aside from one incredibly boneheaded play.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:10 pm
If we don’t sign him someone else will and he will start. We/I would like to see you back. 5000 yards is too impressive.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:15 pm
You guys who like to talk about yards know yards mean Jack S#!t.
It has never been easier to pass in the NFL then right now.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:19 pm
“Holy cow, we’ve got a quarterback!”
Perhaps Jameis Joe and NDOG and a few other thought that. Rational fans thought hey…perhaps….were the first four years an aberration…At no point in the past two years have I ever thought HOLY Cow we’ve got a QB.
I certainly confess to getting my hopes up…and I think that’s why in Joe’s hyperbolic terms fans hate Jameis…he fans hope up…over and over and over again. That is the postscript to Jameis Winston’s Tampa career. DASHED HOPE.
The cocky…yeah I know I gotta control my turnovers but if you take those away I’m ballin’…certainly didn’t help.
Someone needs to tell Jameis the old joke…..”But other than that Mrs Lincoln how did you enjoy the play?
March 14th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
If it’s never been easier to throw for 5000 yards, please tell me why in the entire history of the NFL has only 8 QBs done it??? My god these dumb statements!
March 14th, 2020 at 9:25 pm
To be honest it doesn’t seem to be much of a challenge for something to be mind blowing to Joe.
Jameis will find work…being a back up is still working.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:27 pm
Some team will pay him mid-level starter’s wage. Of course he’s going to give the defense opportunities…he threw 35 + times with zero threat of a running game. Until Week 17…and BL called a pass on the first play of overtime of course. Winston’s best season record wise (9-7) was when the defense was unconscious for 5 games and actually didn’t blow every lead. Of course Aguayo-no did what he does still…
Bring on Teddy Bear…that’ll fix things.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:28 pm
“Yards mean Jack S#!t”
You realize yards mean that as a QB your moving the ball consistently and putting your team in scoring position very often. One of the main reasons that the Bucs had a #3 scoring offense this year.
Very dumb comment. Get a clue.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:31 pm
How Jameis Haters View the QB Postion…..
TDs= Meh
Yards= Irrelevant
High Scoring Offense= Yawn
Interceptions= OH MY GOD THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!
March 14th, 2020 at 9:33 pm
So.
Let Slay take him then.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:34 pm
Tampabuscsbro … It may be easier than ever to pass for 5,000 yards, but only ONE QB accomplished that last season. And only eight different QBs have ever accomplished that (Marino, Brady, Manning, Stafford, Roethlisberger, Mahomes, Winston & Brees … who’s done it FIVE times). And you’re right, it has become easier in recent years … all but one of those 5,000 yard seasons came since 2008.
Still, only EIGHT QBs have managed to accomplish that feat in all the years the NFL has been in existence. That makes them a pretty elite club.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:51 pm
Tbbucs – well said. They choose to ignore that and focus on wins knowing the defense has been mindblowingly bad the majority of his time here. If the Bucs are smart they will bring him in for 2020 and the Bucs will be back in the playoffs.
March 14th, 2020 at 9:56 pm
Joe: What type of gameplan did you have for him when you faced him earlier this year in Detroit?
Slay: We knew he was going to throw the ball. We knew he was going to force a lot of balls.
—————————
That is the game plan!!! Every defender is excited to play bucs because eventually he is going to force balls. That has absolutely nothing to do with mechanics it’s just dumb quarterback play which is why BA doesnt trust him and he is the last option. I’ll trust BA scouting of a qb in his system over any of the nuthuggers or media types because in the end his opinion is all that matters
March 14th, 2020 at 9:56 pm
If it’s not Brady I’ll take Jameis for a cheap three year deal. He has as equall chance what all these other FA QB (minus Brady). Second year under BA could help his game.
…But I’m praying for Brady.
March 14th, 2020 at 10:17 pm
Keep your turnover machine. I’ll gladly take a smarter quarterback that throws in the 4000 yard range with a dozen interceptions or less that wins games period. Not even a debate. No one seems to be fighting to sign the turnover machine but I guess we will see. I don’t wish anything but the best for him but I’ll be thrilled when he signs with anyone else and we get Brady or Bridgewater and draft a rookie for later. Go Bucs!
March 14th, 2020 at 10:19 pm
TDTB
Think about the position JW put the defense in, a lot of the time. A QB needs a defense, but that works both ways.
If your defense is struggling, stop giving the ball to their offense.
March 14th, 2020 at 10:20 pm
They PeeWee all stars are hilarious any one who says anything good about JW don’t know nothing even if they play in the league yet some beat writer or radio personality who never played past peewee league himself does a analysis that fit their narrative what a great guy lol! PeeWee All Stars= Losers!
March 14th, 2020 at 11:00 pm
Yeah Winston had most of the fans and even the media on his side when he was winning.
At the time we heard skeptics saying we beat only bad teams. Them final two games were a big test.
Sure seems that the pressure was too much for Winston to handle. And that’s the part I have trouble getting past.
I want my QB to be that guy you can count on in the clutch. Y’all can have your stats. Give me that guy.
I always thought Winston was that guy but just dindt have the team(mainly defense) to get him to those moments……..Well, he had the defense to get him there and he could not deliver the win. I now have my doubts that Winston is “that guy”. It’s up to him to proove it now. Either here or elsewhere.
March 14th, 2020 at 11:09 pm
The Winston defense force keeps calling me haters for telling them rudimentary facts about the modern NFL.
March 14th, 2020 at 11:24 pm
Licht and Arians are inept losers
JW is an elite talent
F these clowns and their dumpster fire sideshow
March 14th, 2020 at 11:40 pm
Eric,
FYI, it’s a 2 way street. Mostly one way, . Look thru the posts and you can apply it both ways. The former and current player comment count is mostly perceived as antI winston. By winston supporters no less.
The stone cold facts are clear. Winston hasnt been resigned as is expected when the player performs . Mariota and who else has been drafted first Rd and not resigned before Yr 5? I don’t know of anyone.
Added, The lack of interest in winston as a free agent . The lack of offers . And the offer he does get is going to be low .
I like winston and this isn’t anti winston. It’s anti drugs.
Sorry but it’s time for reality. If winston was as great as you guys claim, He would not be in this situation. Sorry, but that’s the death blow to the winston guys. Game f-ing over!
The anti part is…….Now that theres no argument to make , its time to get off the drugs and alcohol, get sober and face the stone cold facts that the haters were right. Lol……right!
March 14th, 2020 at 11:44 pm
I find myself conflicted with Jameis.
Anybody who is credible and has football knowledge will tell you that his arm talent is amazing.
Anybody who is credible and knows football will tell also tell you that his decision making in the pros has been questionable.
I’m a Gator. I hate FSU.
I and any other unbiased and credible fan will tell you that Jameis was an amazing quarterback at FSU.
Redshirt Freshmen 1st year- 40 TD, 10 INT, 14 Wins – 0 Losses, National Championship and Heismen Trophy Winner
Redshirt Sophomore 2nd year – 25 TD, 18 INT 13 Wins – 1 Loss, led FSU to a Semifinal Final 4 appearance
By any metric those two years are terrific for a college QB.
Anybody who’s says that Jameis struggled in college is either not aware of the data from his college career, or they are aware of it and lying about it.
We picked him off 4 times in one game, giving him his worst game in his college career, but he still beat us!
If there was no NFL draft and Jameis got to pick where he worked like any normal college graduate, then I am willing to bet that Tampa Bay would not have been his choice.
I base this on the fact that he didn’t go to a historically losing college football team.
He chose FSU over Alabama, both amazing football programs.
Tampa’s inept front office and revolving door of coaches has harmed him.
Jameis reminds me of a bigger and slightly slower Fran Tarkenton and Jeff George. Fran Tarkenton was amazingly gifted, but he struggled as a QB for many years from the start of his career. Do wax George.
Then after being a QB with a losing record for many years and turning the ball over Fran finally got it.
George never did.
Tarkenton only went to the playoffs in five years out of his 17 year career.
Tarkenton is a Hall of Famer in Canton.
George didn’t accomplish either.
That’s the problem with Jameis though, will he get it?
The Bucs face the risk that any sports team faces when they have an elite talented player who is just not getting it with them, and that is will they get it with somebody else?
Nobody knows that answer.
For a Fran, there’s a Jeff George.
That’s the problem with Jameis and the Bucs.
March 14th, 2020 at 11:48 pm
I like Jameis and if he had had even 25% less dumba$$ plays this past year I’d probably be acting like a raving lunatic on this site and saying that I want him back at all costs. That’s just not the reality though. Jameis is a highly flawed, broke a$$ quarterback right now. I really hope that he gets one more year here, but if not, I won’t lose any sleep.
March 14th, 2020 at 11:49 pm
So…we have the “He threw for 5,000 yards and 30 TDs…..we must keep him fans.
We have the” He threw 30 interceptions and 6 pick sixes…..we must get rid of him fans.
How about us other fans…..probably quite a few. “We’d be ok with bringing him back if he comes at a fair, reasonable price….about $20 mil or so……so we can sign our other players” fans.
March 15th, 2020 at 12:29 am
AT least after 5 years he has learned how to throw the ball away.. now he can focus on more important things. Easy to please buc fan..lol
March 15th, 2020 at 12:49 am
Why does everyone forget that the last two games (splat) were played without Evans or Godwin? Just sayin’.
March 15th, 2020 at 2:06 am
That’s what 32 teams look for. That’s what 32 fan base want.
Difference is loyal fan stick to their QB until the end ( team moving forward making decision public )
. Two face fan are changing back and forth every game.
And it’s completely understandable. Fans have their right to cheer for whatever,
A) team
B) qb
C) players.
JimmyJack Says:
March 14th, 2020 at 11:00 pm
I want my QB to be that guy you can count on in the clutch. Y’all can have your stats. Give me that guy.
March 15th, 2020 at 2:10 am
Free Jameis!!! The whiners will keep whining.
March 15th, 2020 at 5:14 am
DJ
I think Winston is the the fall guy for an inept organization, this organization is ready according to the media to go in on a QB not because he played great last year because Brady didn’t but because it believes more people will come to the games!
“Whisperer” is ready to make all these changes for Brady yet it appears they made no adjustments with Winston last year I think it was plenty of blame
To go around from last year but the way this organization has handled things it is a mess and the leadership lacks from the top!
March 15th, 2020 at 9:04 am
@Eric, I disagree. That the organization is inept is a fact. But it is not Licht or Arians. It is the inept current owners. And it goes back to when they inherited the Bucs from Malcolm Glazer. Everyone said that Malcolm was nuts when he gave those picks and all that money to Oakland for Chucky. But Chucky won Malcolm the Superbowl the very next year. Then come the Kids, who had all those grand ideas to ow ManU and wouldn’t let Gruden spend any money on good players. But Gruden, not liking to lose, got some old veterans to play for him on the cheap and went 9-7 three years straight, so the kids fired Gruden. I do agree with you on the reason the Glazers want Brady. And it’s the 1st smart thing I’ve seen them do since they were “handed” the Bucs. Like years ago, I still feel that they should sell the team to Debartolo or some other owner that knows how to win. But that is what it is. My disagreement with you is on Winston. He has had 5 years to be “the guy” and has never lived up to his potential. So he is not the “fall guy”, as you put it. He has simply been part of the problem, not the solution.
March 15th, 2020 at 10:46 am
Jameis may be the most hated guy in town (more so than Joe or Jason Licht).
You are all good but we can hope for better too!
March 15th, 2020 at 10:49 am
how many yards would have JW have had with an average receiving corps.
March 15th, 2020 at 11:12 am
http://pfref.com/tiny/nmdug
From ProFootballReference.com:
Here is the list of NFL QBs who threw for more than 5000 yards in a single season.
One of them seems to be an outlier to me, and perhaps you can spot which one.
Note: the ELITE QBs have:
1) TD/INT ratio of > 2:1 as a minimum
2) TD% > 5.0 %
3) TD% minus INT% > 3.0; and the QB with the highest number for that calculation is typically the NFL MVP for that year!
tickrdr
BTW: The AVERAGE QB rating for the ENTIRE NFL in 2019 was 90.4
JW3’s NFL QB rating was 84.3, despite 5000+ yards and 33 TDs!
March 15th, 2020 at 11:14 am
Thank you for moderating my post @ 1:12 AM!
As usual please feel free to correct and spelling or grammatical errata you may find.
tickrdr
March 15th, 2020 at 11:15 am
Well, it looks like I left out a 1, and hopefully admin will correct the time stamp.
Posted @ 11:12 AM.
tickrdr
March 15th, 2020 at 11:36 am
BTW#2:
Even though Brady, Brees, and Stafford ALL threw for > 5000 yards in 2011,
NONE of them were the NFL MVP that year???
That honor went to Aaron Rodgers who only threw for 4643 yards, but had
45 TDs (9.0%) against only 6 INTs (1.2%) with an NFL QB rating of 122.5!
The Rodgers-led Packers went 14 – 1 in the games he started.
BTW#3: The Packers defense was 19th in the league in points allowed, but they were dead last in yards allowed. (#32)The Packers rushing offense was 26th in rushing attempts, and 27th in yards per attempt. Neither of their two top backs cracked 600 yards rushing for the year.
BTW#4: Rodgers’ TD/INT ratio was 7.5 that year, 4th highest in league history.
JW3 has never come close to even 2:1!
tickrdr
March 15th, 2020 at 1:08 pm
How about signing both Foles & Mariotta. Together they would be cheaper than JW, Brady or Bridgewater. But I still think overall Carr would be there best choice. Just thinking out loud.
March 15th, 2020 at 4:27 pm
Tickdr
Spending summers on Michigan ‘s U.P. which is Prime Pack country. I’ve seen a lot of Rodgers. He has been a very special QB indeed!
What impressed me most about your research was pointing out his defense
and running game worse than what “Blameless” played with.
March 15th, 2020 at 5:12 pm
Thanks, St. Pete!
tickrdr
March 15th, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Eric,
Winston is the fall guy for???? Winston! Just like all the McCoy fans saying we couldn’t live without him our D line will suck even worse than it already does found out quickly we can get better and we did. JPP and Suh showed us what great players can do on ANY team. What did McCoy do? Took a top five run D and helped them finish close to last just like he did with us.