This is a place for actual thoughts about Winston... rather than just moronic cut downs. Here are a few:
1. I have been disappointed in Winston this season.
2. I have been disappointed in the Bucs for years.
3. Winston was considered the best QB coming out of college since Luck. Winston was rated higher, coming out of college, than anyone who has been drafted since him. Winston's only ding at that time was concerning his character. As it turned out, the DA in Tallahassee (who was a Gator's alum) essentially all but called Winston's accuser a liar (go back and watch his press conference from back then). Since he has been in the league, the only scandal was the uber incident. Was that a terrible moment? Yes. Should it disqualify him? That's your call. I don't think so. Big Ben got a second chance, and he was involved in something far worse. Ray Lewis was involved in something far worse, and he got a second chance. Both of those guys, by the way, completely became model citizens. They are not only leaders in their communities but leaders in their local churches (media doesn't mention that). Assuming Winston did what he was accused of on that uber ride... it was two and a half years ago, and there hasn't been anything since (if there were anything, it would have come out).
4. So, looking back on Winston's first two seasons, was he a disappointment. My answer is resoundingly no. He was a pro-style QB, and most pro-style QB's take a while to adjust to NFL D's. Beyond that... how often was Winston placed in no-win situations? You guys remember the moments, right? The Bucs were behind in the 4th quarter... then there was a false start... then we tried to run the ball, ineffectively... and all of a sudden it is 3rd and 16. Winston drops back... there is immediately a defender barring down on him... and as he is running for his life, he sees that there is nobody open. In that moment, what was he supposed to do? Take a sack? No. Throw the ball away? No (by the throwing the ball away he would be conceding the game). Try to run for it? No (he isn't that kind of QB). His only choice is to throw the ball into double coverage and hope that somehow Evans is able to make a spectacular catch. And... unsurprisingly, about half the time Winston was in that situation, he threw interceptions. If we are honest, we have all seen Brady, Manning, and Rogers face that same kind of no-win situation and have the same results. The issue, during those first couple of seasons, is that Winston faced that situation more often than QB's on good teams face it. NOW... I am the first to admit that Winston also made some terrible throws that he had no excuse for. But again, if you take away all of those no-win situations, then I think the "normal" bad interception numbers go way down.
5. Last year Winston was hurt. Anyone could see that he played hurt for a couple of games. Once he came back, we got a glimpse of what he can be. He was an elite QB once we came back from injury last season.
6. This season has been bad... but over the last two weeks, we have begun to hear some conflicting stories that may explain some of it. First, we began reading stories relating Jackson to interceptions. The story pointed out that throwing to Jackson, for both Fitz and Winston, has resulted in a higher percentage of interceptions. Then, I don't know if you heard Barber during the telecast during last week's game, but he basically, in a very nice way, blamed some of the interceptions on play calling. He accused the Bucs play callers of being far too aggressive, thus causing the QB's to take unnecessarily risky throws. Barber was very subtle in how he said it. I think his logic was as follows: a) Bucs have the most passing yards per game than any other team. b) Bucs throw the highest number of long throws than any other team. c) Bucs, therefore, put themselves in more risk of interceptions than any other team.
7. A couple of weeks ago, I was shocked that Koetter benched Winston. I mean, that was crazy. I couldn't even understand the motive. I am still shocked by that move. At the time, people speculated that Winston had lost the locker room. Well, maybe that was true to some extent. I think he lost Jackson for sure. But, this week Evans advocated for Winston... and my guess is that Evans has far more respect in the locker room than Jackson.
When I think through all of this, it makes sense to me that we should still be optimistic about the future with Winston. It is easy to look over his career and say "he's not a winner" and "he throws too many picks." But again, take away those no-win situations. Take away the games when there was no threat of a running game. Take away the games when he was running for his life. Take away the absurd number of deep balls that our QB's (Both QB's) have been asked to throw this year. I still have hope!
