Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Is Jameis Winston ready to start?

With the drudgery of the 2015 NFL preseason finally reaching its conclusion, the main question for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has to do with number one overall pick Jameis Winston. Is he ready to take over as the Bucs’ starting quarterback?

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Barring some kind of stunning decision by Bucs’ head coach Lovie Smith, or a catastrophic injury to Winston, he will be Tampa Bay’s opening day starter whether he is ready or not. However, it must be noted that Winston did not exactly set the world on fire in his extended preseason work. In fact, the numbers from Winston’s three preseason appearances are downright awful.

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The former Florida State superstar completed just 48.9 percent of his passes, threw a grand total of zero touchdowns while being intercepted twice, and was sacked seven times. This adds up to a brutal quarterback rating of 52.7. To put these numbers in perspective, Winston’s passer rating ranks 105th out of the 117 quarterbacks that attempted at least one pass in the preseason.

It is fairly safe to assume that had Winston been selected later in the draft, there is no possible way he would have been handed the Bucs’ starting quarterback position over Mike Glennon with these horrendous preseason statistics. While I completely understand that preseason numbers are essentially meaningless at day’s end, Winston fell well below the expectations that come with being the number one player chosen in his draft class. While experienced players can essentially coast through the preseason in an attempt to avoid injury, rookies like Winston do not have this luxury in my estimation.

Aug 15, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) reacts after a sack during the first quarter in a preseason NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

By no means is this article meant to trash Winston and suggest that he will eventually turn into a colossal draft bust. Winston could very well become the franchise quarterback Tampa Bay was envisioning all along. All I am suggesting is that Winston is simply not ready to become the Buccaneers’ opening day starter based on the numbers. Furthermore, I think it was a mistake that Tampa Bay elected to sit Winston in the final preseason game. Based on how inconsistent Winston was in his previous three outings, giving him more preseason reps wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Of course, this is assuming the ankle injury that Winston suffered against Cincinnati on Monday Night Football is a non issue.

Not only has Winston failed to make an impression during preseason action, but Glennon has done nothing to lose his starting quarterback position either. Glennon had a respectable preseason and has a career passer rating of 83.7 in two seasons with the Buccaneers. Based on what I’ve seen from Winston in the preseason, I have no reason to think that Winston is any sort of an upgrade over Glennon at this time. In fact, I believe inserting Winston into the starting lineup over Glennon could possibly be a significant downgrade in the short term. Being that Tampa Bay is not projected to be a division contender to begin with, relying on a mistake-prone rookie quarterback who is a known risk taker may be a recipe for disaster.

Aug 24, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) drops back against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Regardless of who their quarterback is, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a rebuilding franchise and are not expected to make a playoff push this season. That, coupled with the politics of the NFL, and we have a situation where number-one pick Winston is automatically handed the Bucs’ starting quarterback job. Anointing Winston the starter from day one may indeed turn out to be the best long term decision for the Bucs.

However, if we were to suspend our knowledge of Winston as the number-one pick and objectively look at how he stacks up against Glennon, there is no way you can convince me that he is a better player than Glennon heading into the first game of the 2015 NFL season.

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