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Buccaneers What Would You Do? – Quarterback edition

By David Harrison

TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers greets fans in the tunnel before heading out to the field to take on the Carolina Panthers at an NFL football game on October 29, 2017 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers greets fans in the tunnel before heading out to the field to take on the Carolina Panthers at an NFL football game on October 29, 2017 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /
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Brian DeFeo

If I were in Dirk Koetters position for this week I would have the tough decision of what to do at quarterback.

While the decision has been made slightly easier with the rash of injuries, it is never easy sitting anybody who is either a fan favorite or player performing well at the time.

With this being said, I would put Jameis Winston or IR for the rest of the season. If what happened to his shoulder is limiting mobility at all it can only get worse by playing with it. Look at Andrew Luck in Indianapolis. He had a similar injury which required surgery and hasn’t been able to throw a football since.

Right now, Winston is the future of this franchise, and the Buccaneers cannot afford to lose him for a significant amount of time next season.

This team is young but their core isn’t getting any younger. DeSean Jackson only has a few years of relevance and their key young players all need contracts soon.

While this team is rebuilding over and over again they have multiple pieces to win now. The main piece being the quarterback.

This season is a wash. While winning is great, the team needs to think for the future. They used Ryan Fitzpatrick the past three games and he has gone 2-1.

While a good performance in the absence of Winston the team has already lost too many games.

Which is why I would start Ryan Griffin. He is a guy the Buccaneers have been grooming for a while. They’ve held on to him even when the Bucs had Mike Glennon as their backup.

Either on the practice squad or injured reserve now should be his time to get some actual snaps. Griffin should get playing time because as a career backup we have never seen what he can do.

Maybe he can play well enough to get the Bucs a Jimmy Garoppolo-esque trade in the off-season, or he can be a suitable backup for Winston the rest of his contract.

We just don’t know what we haven’t seen. If he’s terrible: Great, we get a better draft pick.

If he plays well: Great, we know what we have. It’s the rare time where the Buccaneers have a win-win by not playing their starting quarterback.

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