Massarotti: I Wouldn’t Pluck Jameis Winston With Your Pick In NFL DraftWith regard to the No. 1 overall selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, here’s how I look at it: if Jameis Winston were a woman sitting across the bar, you’d be tempted. But in the end, I wouldn’t pluck him with your pick.He’s trouble, Tampa.You too, Tennessee.T-R-O-U-B-L-E.The annual NFL flesh fair is now roughly a week away, folks, and there has been ample discussion this offseason, as always, about the quarterbacks in what is otherwise a weak class of QBs. Personally, I wouldn’t go near either of `em. But at the top of the list is Winston, the freakishly-built 6-foot-4, 230-pound behemoth who led Florida State to a 26-1 record during two seasons behind center.Ask most anyone who knows anything about the NFL – the analysts, experts and self-proclaimed gurus – and they all say the same thing about Winston: he has all the physical tools necessary to be the next great NFL QB. The one obvious questions concerns Winston’s, well, head, which is a rather sizable red flag when it comes to what is arguably the most important position in sports.A question for the Winston apologists: are you people serious? On the list of quarterbacking tools, the head is the most important. In fact, it might be Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Joe Montana didn’t have the greatest physical skills, but he was perhaps the greatest thinker the position has ever seen. Ditto for Tom Brady. Quarterback is a position about decision-making, leadership, smarts. Athleticism certainly has become more important in recent years as the NFL has turned into a glorified 7-on-7 league, but at least the quarterback still has to think.Call me crazy, but Winston doesn’t exactly strike me as our next great philosopher. During his time at Florida State, Winston has been involved in incidents including: allegations of sexual assault, shoplifting and vulgarity. The last incident might be easy to chalk up as a college prank were it not for the first two, which makes one question whether Winston has any clue about anything at all.It’s one thing to be the BMOC. It’s another thing entirely to be the starting quarterback of a successful NFL team, which is effectively a management position.This is why Johnny Manziel won’t work. And it’s why Winston is one of the great gambles at a position historically filled with them, from Jeff George to Ryan Leaf to JaMarcus Russell.Here’s something to consider: in the last 25 years, there have been 14 quarterbacks taken with the No. 1 overall selection. Excluding ones with the surname Manning, not a single one of them has won a Super Bowl. Not one. Certainly the jury is still out on some of them, from Matthew Stafford and Cam Newton to Sam Bradford and Alex Smith. And there isn’t a single one of us who wouldn’t want Andrew Luck to be the quarterback of his franchise for the next 10 years.Still, the point is obvious: there are a lot of names on that list who were taken No. 1 solely because they played quarterback and not because they truly deserved it. Tim Couch. David Carr. Meanwhile, Newton, Bradford and Stafford all have losing records in their careers, which cannot help but make one wonder whether they were ever truly worthy of being No. 1. (Luck, for his part, is 33-15, and already has more career wins than all but Stafford, who was drafted three years earlier.)Naturally, this brings us to the logic and decision-making of NFL teams, many of whom continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. (Isn’t this the definition of insanity?) In the NFL, quarterback is such a high-skill, high-intellect position that very few can play it well at the highest levels. And yet, evaluators continue to take quarterbacks first in the draft. Nobody wants to be the team that passed on the next Aaron Rodgers, and the problem may now get worse that the NFL has limited the bonus money awarded to draft picks.Now, after all, there is even less of a financial penalty for whiffing on a knucklehead like Winston. And lest there be any doubt, he is a knucklehead. At least at this stage. He has given us no reason to think anything else.And yet, almost certainly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take Winston with the first overall selection next week, clinging to the hope and idealism that comes along with the No. 1 pick. Might Winston be the next star of the league? Sure. But there seems a far better chance that he will be a colossal disappointment and worse, problem.Me?I’d trade the pick.And I’d trade it for the best haul I could get from some other sucker.***Tony Massarotti covered sports in Boston for more than 15 years for both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe, and now serves as a co-host on afternoon drive on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. He was a two-time Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year as voted by his peers and has written four books, including “Big Papi,” the New York Times-bestselling memoirs of David Ortiz. You can follow Tony @tonymassarotti. http://sports.cbslocal.com/2015/04/22/jameis-winston-nfl-draft-first-round-pick/
