Jameis Winston: Devonta Freeman will get you three scores weekly1h agoVaughn McClure, ESPN Staff Writer
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Jameis Winston doesn't play fantasy football, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie quarterback is aware of the fantasy numbers being put up by former Florida State teammate Devonta Freeman in Atlanta.Freeman, the NFL's leading scorer with 42 points, has three rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games and has all seven of his touchdowns in the last three games."(Fantasy owners) need to go with him,'' Winston said. "He's going to get three touchdowns every game. I know he's going to always show up.''Freeman's second-year success is no surprise to Winston, who won a national championship with "Free'' while with the Seminoles. In college, Freeman had 30 rushing touchdowns in three seasons before declaring for the draft."He's a baller,'' Winston said. "Anything you ask him to do, he's going to handle it and do it great. His passion for the game is there. Day in and day out, just seeing his eyes and looking in his eyes before you broke the huddle, you just knew, that guy, he's arrived.''Winston couldn't pinpoint one game as Freeman's breakthrough performance. In a 34-31 win over Auburn for the national title, Freeman had a 3-yard touchdown run and finished with 94 all-purpose yards."Every game was a good game for him because that's how he prepared for a game,'' Winston said. "He wants to go out and show out and perform every game. When I was quarterback, we never had a game where we thought our running game wasn't on top of it. He always was balling.''There had been talk of Freeman being underrated and under-appreciated on a Florida State team which included the Heisman Trophy winner Winston along with wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, a first-round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers. Freeman shared carries with two other backs (James Wilder Jr., Karlos Williams) and still had a 1,000-yard season. He went on to be a fourth-round draft pick of the Falcons and carries a chip on his shoulder because of it."I think probably socially, no one knew about him, I guess, in the football world,'' Winston said, "but he was definitely appreciated in Tallahassee. They loved him. We loved him. Where he went, we went. He established that run game early. We knew we needed him on the field to put us in the best possible situation to win.''Freeman continues to show his ability to double as a pass-catcher as well with 17 catches for 196 yards in four games. That's no surprise to Winston."It's real big when you find a back who can run like he can run, and then he can come out of the backfield and not only make plays after the catch, but catch the ball and is tough,'' Winston said.The rest of the NFL world is starting to see all those qualities in Freeman firsthand.We'll see if Freeman continues his hot start this Sunday against a Washington team that has allowed just one rushing touchdown through the first four games. The Redskins are second in the league against the run in allowing just 78 rushing yards per game.
