After another terrible game, it’s time for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to consider replacing Jameis Winston and the 2020 NFL Draft has three great options.
It’s been five years since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Jameis Winston first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. I remember being more partial to Oregon’s Marcus Mariota during draft season, as Winston’s off-the-field troubles and penchant for turnovers worried me. Nevertheless, the brain trust of general manager Jason Licht and then-head coach Lovie Smith selected Winston.
For a time, this seemed like a solid selection. Winston showed improvement during his first two seasons under Smith and offensive coordinator turned head coach Dirk Koetter. Although he continued to turn the ball over frequently, the Bucs improved from 6-10 his first season to 9-7 during his second.
The arrow was trending upwards. Then came the off-the-field mistakes. Those, in turn, led to a regression on the field as well.
Now, here we are, in the middle of Winston’s fifth year. He’s playing for his third head coach in Bruce Arians and third offensive coordinator in Byron Leftwich. That duo was hired specifically to revitalize Winston’s career. However, he’s had a typical Jekyll and Hyde season.
Just when you think he’s turned a corner, he makes a maddening decision. He’s either brilliant or awful. There’s no in-between and it has continued to bite the Bucs time and again over the past few seasons.
It’s time for Licht to give Arians and Leftwich a signal-caller that they can mold into the franchise quarterback that this team has arguably never had. Luckily for the Bucs’ brain trust, the 2020 NFL Draft class is absolutely loaded with potential quarterbacks. In fact, this could be one of, if not the best classes of all time.
So let’s take a look at five names that can develop into the franchise leader that those Bucs fans have never had.