16. Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston – 2015-current

By Trevor Sikkema

Winston played both football and baseball growing up in Alabama. As a quarterback, he was considered the best dual-threat quarterback recruit in the nation by Rivals.com, and the best overall quarterback recruit by ESPN. Additionally, Winston earned the Gatorade Player of the Year recognition for the state of Alabama after leading his team to a state championship during his junior year.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston and Florida State RB Dalvin Cook – Photo by: Getty Images

After high school, Winston attended Florida State University where he was granted the chance to continue playing both football and baseball. On the football field, Winston’s accolades are well documented. After redshirting his freshman year, he took over as the starting quarterback and elf his team to an undefeated, National Championship season, in which he also won the Heisman Trophy. Winston’s only loss of his football career came at the hands of Oregon the following year in the Rose Bowl.

After a stellar two year at FSU, the Buccaneers drafted Winston No. 1 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. Winston set franchise rookie records in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. Winston finished his rookie season with 4,042 passing yards, finishing 23 yards short of the franchise record – set by Josh Freeman in 2012. He also became the third rookie quarterback to pass over 4,000 yards in a season.

In 2016, Winston led the Buccaneers to their first winning season in six years after defeating the Carolina Panthers in the regular season finale, during which he broke the franchise records for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season. He also became the first quarterback in NFL history to start his career with consecutive seasons of 4,000 yards passing.

Sikkema’s Take: “Winston has been a star at every level of the game he as played on. He was a champion in high school, in which he was the nation’s Player of the Year; he was a champion in college, in which he was a Heisman Trophy winner. Now, all that’s left is to be a champion in the pros, and likely a future MVP, if it happens. That time might be a long way off, but, on the other hand, it might be closer than we think. Regardless, the reason Winston is already on this list two years in is because in the franchise’s entire 41-year history to this point, no signal caller has had the accomplishments and the talent that Winston brings in the here and now.”

The Greatest All-Time Buccaneers 11-15 will be released tomorrow on PewterReport.com.