4 truths about Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston

Play calling is not helping him out any

While Winston has not shown a great ability to work through his reads down the field and a refusal to hit his check down receiver, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has not done much this season to help him out either. Given the struggles of the offensive line to hold off pressure for very long, and Winston’s inability to find his checkdown, the Buccaneers should not be running as many long developing plays as they do.

The strength of the Buccaneers’ offensive line is the interior, as both Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson have struggled to hold off attacks off of the edge. With this being said, Leftwich must adapt his playcalling to limit the five step drops, which give edge rushers a better angle to the quarterback, and work the shorter crossing routes rather than down the field shots.

Surprisingly as well, Winston has displayed the ability to throw on the move (evidenced by his touchdown strike to Godwin against the Saints), so Leftwich should incorporate this into his gameplan as well. By designing more rollouts, Leftwich would not only be getting Winston on the move, but he would also cut the field in half for Winston, giving him less reads that he would have to make.

The definition of insanity is to repeat the same exact actions and expect different results; Leftwich’s play calling has been nothing short of that. Stop compromising your already struggling tackles, and start catering the offense to Winston.