This week Bill Barwell of ESPN put out an article identifying the NFL’s 50 most fascinating people: Players, coaches, GMs to watch in 2018.
Coming in all the way at No. 3 on the list was Buccaneers’ quarterback Jameis Winston.
“Winston produced the best four-game stretch of his career after returning from injury last season, a run in which he completed nearly 72 percent of his passes while averaging 9.3 yards per attempt and throwing for eight touchdowns against two picks. He improved in virtually every statistical category I can find and was better than league average by the vast majority of measures.
We should be looking at a potential Pro Bowl season for Winston. Instead, he is suspended for three games after allegedly groping an Uber driver in Arizona in March 2016. This is a critical year for Winston’s development, but that has far less to do with what he does on the field than how he acts off of it. Can the Buccaneers justify giving an eight-figure contract to a quarterback who has repeatedly been accused of sexual misconduct and doesn’t appear to be learning any lessons? Should we even be asking the question?”
There is certainly a lot to follow when it comes to Winston’s 2018 season, both on and off the field. What happens with him will determine the outcome of an entire franchise.