Buccaneers: Opinion – Jameis Winston may not be a franchise quarterback

Jameis Winston went down in the Buccaneers most recent loss to the Arizona Cardinals with an injury to his throwing shoulder.

With Jameis Winston out, the grizzled veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick stepped in and nearly led the Buccaneers to an improbable comeback victory.

Fitzpatrick put up very nice numbers going 22/33 with 290-yards and three touchdowns.  The significant number to take away from this though, is Fitzpatrick was only sacked a single time, and even with two interceptions had a quarterback rating (QBR) of 53.4 per ESPN.

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Winston, in his first four starts this season had a higher rating in only two of those games.  Also going back to last season, he only had a higher QBR in 7/16 games.

The single sack shows the offensive line is capable of protecting a less mobile quarterback.

Currently, according to Pro Football Focus, Demar Dotson is the #1 rated offensive tackle (87.1), Ali Marpet is the #14 center (71.3), and Evan Smith is the #17 guard (78.6).  Three-fifths of the offensive line is currently grading out inside the Top-20 at their position in the entire NFL.

While having a mobile quarterback is a nice commodity, it isn’t a necessity for winning the big games.

Breaking down the numbers: Winston, through his first two years had graded out as nothing more than an average quarterback. Throwing for over 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons is an impressive feat, but looking at the numbers needed to win games, he falls far short of the expectations of a number one overall pick and franchise quarterback.

Many other quarterbacks had more success than Winston through their first two seasons and have faded into NFL obscurity.  Why not get what you can for him and progress onto a quarterback who can bring a Super Bowl back to Tampa Bay?

Does this mean the Buccaneers would be better served having a stopgap veteran like Ryan Fitzpatrick?

The pieces have been built around Winston, but those parts might be better served by someone who understands how to use them. This, coupled with the return the Bucs would get for Winston could set up the franchise for success over the course of the next decade.

There are a lot of quarterback-needy teams which would part with at least a few first round picks to obtain Winston.

The 49ers are the first team which comes to mind.  They are in the middle of a rebuild and could use Winston as their building block, and Jason Licht would get the next two selections of theirs in the 1st-Round which would likely be Top-10 selections.

Licht could work miracles with an additional Top-10 picks over the course of the next few seasons.  This would also leave Kirk Cousins in free agency without a top potential suitor.

Adding a proven player of Cousins’ caliber to the explosive offense the Buccaneers have amassed could lead to success for the next decade and push the team over the top.

If the Bucs failed to land Cousins, there are multiple proven options in free-agency next year who could prove to be a better option than Winston.

Next: Winners and Losers From 38-33 Loss To Cards

Signing a veteran and allowing a young quarterback to develop is a proven road to success for many current NFL quarterbacks.  This year’s NFL Draft is stacked with at least five potential first-round quarterbacks who could be franchise building blocks, and could work out better than Winston has.

It might be early in his career, but given the risk-reward of keeping him or trading him, general manager Jason Licht should take a long hard look at the possibility.

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