Buccaneers: Four Areas of Concern Heading into the Regular Season
JAMEIS WINSTON’S TURNOVERS
Prior to the 2015 NFL Draft Jameis Winston was being hyped at the quarterback who had all the tools to be the next superstar (which is true) but the “Draft Experts” had one knock on him and that was the number of interceptions in his last year at Florida State (18).
We as Buccaneers fans (and rest of the NFL are finally noticing) know that Jameis definitely DOES have all of the tools to be a superstar quarterback, and we also know that he is a classic “Gunslinger Quarterback” or a QB who takes some risks by throwing more deep passes into extra coverage’s for the potentially great rewards.
Which he has achieved by being the first quarterback to throw for over 4000 yards in his first two seasons and have 50 touchdowns, but also helping the team as a whole improving from 6-10 his rookie season to 9-7 last season.
From his rookie season to last season he improved his passing touchdown total from 22 to 28 and his total touchdowns improved from 28 to 29 (5 rushing down to 1 rushing), but as his passing attempts went up (+32), completions went up (+33), yardage went up (+48), his interceptions also went up from 15 to 18 (+3).
Winston’s rookie season he finished with the fifth most interceptions thrown and last season he finished with the second most interceptions thrown which gives him the second most interceptions thrown the last two seasons (33). If you count his eight fumbles lost he has the second most turnovers in the league at 41 tied with Philip Rivers and behind Blake Bortles (45).
During his career Winston has thrown a touchdown about every 22 pass attempts and has thrown an interception about every 33 pass attempts which is very comparable to the ultimate “Gunslinger QB” in Brett Favre who threw an interception about every 30 pass attempts and a touchdown about every 20 pass attempts.
Not saying that Jameis Winston is Brett Favre but just a comparison between two “Gunslingers”.
Now to this year’s preseason, Winston had some very good games in the preseason but during game two against the Jaguars while in the red zone he threw a terrible interception but the refs deemed him down. He was also sacked by Dante Fowler and fumbled but luckily Adam Humphries recovered the fumble.
In game three against the Browns on the first drive while in the red zone he threw a pass that was intercepted by Browns rookie Jabril Peppers, which would have accounted for three turnovers in the preseason if they all had stood.
Granted fumbles happen more to a quarterback because they don’t see the hit coming so maybe some of the fumbles aren’t necessarily on him, but in order to prevent those he needs to get rid of the ball faster and the line needs to provide him with better protection.
If he can lower his turnovers by making better decision and thus increase his touchdowns this offense could be real special. He has the players around him now he doesn’t have to do everything on his own, but just continue to be a superstar quarterback in the making.
Next: Buccaneers CAN Play 16 Straight
So now to my fellow #STICKCARRIERS, first, thank you for taking the time to read my article, and then what are your thoughts … is the defensive line pressure a concern? … Is the Buccaneers inability to score touchdowns in the red zone a concern? … Will the running game be okay without Doug Martin? … And can Jameis lowers his turnovers this season?
Those are just some of my concerns heading into the delayed regular season so feel free to tell me if you agree or disagree in the comments section or follow and comment to me directly on Twitter @ND1Bucsfan.
To all the people in Florida stay safe during Hurricane Irma and were all thinking about you. GO BUCS!!!