Jason Licht Sees Tom Brady, Dan Marino in Jameis Winston

People love making comparisons. Some are on the favorable. Others are downright ridiculous. While discussing Jameis Winston with Pewter Report, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht made a comparison which most likely fits within the latter category. For now.

"“Brady – we took him in the sixth round, and if we knew he was going to turn out like this he would have been the first overall pick,” Licht said. “But you could see it right away in training camp. The way he sat in the lunchroom at the cafeteria. Within two weeks, this rookie would sit down and all of the veteran offensive linemen would sit down around him, and he would be holding court. He loved football. That’s all he talked about. He would tell stories. He has a leadership charisma about him. Drew Bledsoe was a great guy, but he was a quieter type of guy. Nothing against Bledsoe, but Brady was special. You see that in Winston.”"

Yes, the Brady that Licht is referring to is New England Patriots quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady. Now look, Winston is a rookie who hasn’t even taken a snap in an official NFL game, so we may be getting too ahead of ourselves with that type of comparison. But, you can see that he has the potential to command a cafeteria the same way that Licht saw Brady do years ago. And the Buccaneers general manager didn’t stop there.

"“I’ll take it back even further to 1995 and what I saw in Dan Marino,” Licht said. “Marino threw 23 picks his senior year in college. But he was a gunslinger that trusted his arm and he had a fire like no other. I remember one game Bruce Smith sacked him and was facemask-to-facemask on top of him on the ground, and Smith was getting off him and said something to him. Marino heard him, grabbed his facemask and pulled him back down on top of him so he could say something back to him. It’s the same as Brady, you don’t want to rattle his cage. Jameis has a little Dan Marino in him, too. He’s more mobile than Marino, but still not known as a running quarterback. He’s a pocket guy who trusts his arm and is as fiery as they get – and clutch.”"

Again, some lofty praise for Winston’s game as a quarterback. Then again, that fiery and clutch persona is something you could definitely see in Winston from his two years at Florida State.

While it is encouraging to read that Licht has shades of Brady and Marino in him, it’s still all very, very premature. One important takeaway is that the Bucs G.M. is basing these comparisons solely on attitude (Marino) and personality (Brady). In addition to having the fiery personality and commanding personality, Jameis will need to make the appropriate reads and right throws. If he fails to do that, these comparisons by Licht mean nothing. The ball is in Winston’s hands. Let’s give him a chance and see what he can do with it.

Next: Intangibles Make Jameis Winston the Best QB in 2015 Draft Class

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