Can someone explain why Jameis Winston is going No. 1?How did we get here — a place where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking Jameis Winston No. 1 is barely met with any surprise or objection? A place where the selection of a guy who makes almost as many awful on-field decisions (18 INT) as off (you know all the stories) has become an accepted, undebatable fact heading into Thursday night’s draft in Chicago?This is Jameis Winston we’re talking about, the most controversial college football player since The Boz, and not a single eyebrow is raised about him going No. 1? How is that possible? The only reason we aren’t discussing Jameis Winston going No. 1 is because it’s a sure thing he’s going No. 1.Four months ago, when there was still a doubt whether it’d be Winston or Marcus Mariota or someone else at No. 1, all of Winston’s issues were constantly discussed. Did he have the mentality to become a leader in the huddle? Could Tampa be sure their investment would behave? What of all those interceptions to mediocre ACC teams that left his TD-to-INT ratio closer to one than anybody wants to see? Where did all that go?It disappeared because the Bucs decided at some point to take Winston and rather then debating certainty, hopping on the Jameis-to-Tampa bandwagon became the only move. It’s a herd mentality that makes draft night a mundane exercise in group think. At least when there are games to be played, the narratives quickly disappear as players begin to make their own stories. On draft night, there is no other story. A team picks a player and that’s it. When it’s been telegraphed for so long, no one debates it because why bother spitting into the wind? The only surprises aren’t actual surprises, they’re simply a shock to draft observers who were convinced they’d see a different outcome.When Blake Bortles went No. 3 to the Jags last year, everyone was stunned ... except the Jags. So here’s Jameis Winston, known knucklehead and possibly-average quarterback, set to go No. 1 and it’s as written in stone as when the Indianapolis Colts took Andrew Luck in 2012. Does no one see anything wrong with this picture?You should. The odds of Jameis Winston becoming an NFL success are far outweighed by him becoming an NFL failure. In college, which is basically an audition for the NFL, he put together a nice on-field resume, then essentially wore jorts and flip-flops to the job interview with all his off-field nonsense. Jameis Winston shouldn’t go anywhere close to No. 1. But because it’s happening, we’re supposed to accept it and act as if this was the proper, pre-ordained move all along. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/04/jameis-winston-top-pick-tampa-nfl-draft
