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FAB 4. Winston’s Legacy In Tampa Bay
The year 2020 marks my 25th season covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for you, the loyal PewterReport.com reader. As I begin this milestone season, I’m going to spend the next 25 weeks telling some never-before-told Bucs stories and recalling some of my most memorable moments in my professional journey.
It’s a bit surprising that Jameis Winston hasn’t signed with another team yet, given the fact that he is 26 years old has thrown for nearly 20,000 yards and was the league’s leading passer last year, in addition to throwing a team record 33 touchdowns. Then again, 88 career interceptions including a league-high 30 last year with an NFL-record seven pick-sixes has certainly given teams pause about making Winston their starter.
Former Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Getty Images
So after a five-year career as the starter with the Bucs, Winston will likely have to take the Ryan Tannehill route and look for an attractive backup job for the time being. So what is Winston‘s legacy in Tampa Bay? I’ve seen the word “bust” thrown around because ultimately Winston flamed out as the Bucs’ starter, but Winston clearly wasn’t a bust.
I reserve the term “bust” for players that simply can’t play in the NFL. Even Josh Freeman wasn’t a bust in Tampa Bay as he threw for 13,584 yards with 80 touchdowns and 66 interceptions. Freeman just wasn’t very good in the long run and didn’t have the maturity or dedication to the game necessary to have a long career.
Winston broke all of Freeman’s passing records in Tampa Bay so that makes him clearly better than Freeman was. But where does Winston rank in terms of the Bucs quarterbacks that I have seen in my 24 years of covering the team?
When I began my career with Buccaneer Magazine in 1995 Trent Dilfer was the team’s starter. Dilfer a former first-round pick like Freeman and Winston, was actually the first Tampa Bay quarterback to make the Pro Bowl, doing so in 1997 when he helped lead the Bucs to a playoff berth.
Dilfer tried hard and wanted to win badly but he just didn’t have the sheer play-making ability that Winston had. Despite winning more games than Winston did, Dilfer wasn’t as good of a quarterback.
Shaun King, a second-round pick in 1999, had some of Winston‘s dynamic play-making ability and was 14-8 as a starter with two trips to the playoffs under his belt. But King’s 26 touchdowns and 20 interceptions prompted the team to replace him with veteran Brad Johnson in 2001. Winston was better than King.
Former Bucs QB and Super Bowl Champion Brad Johnson
Johnson lead the Bucs to the playoffs in 2001 and won a Super Bowl under Jon Gruden in 2002. During Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl season, Johnson was terrific, throwing 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions and becoming Tampa Bay’s second quarterback to make the Pro Bowl.
Johnson threw 64 touchdowns and 41 interceptions and finished with a 26-23 record as a starter. Was he a better pure passer and play-maker than Winston? No, but Johnson was a more accomplished quarterback, and his success during the Super Bowl year gives him the nod over Winston, who had just one winning season in Tampa Bay.
Johnson was replaced by Brian Griese in 2004. Griese completed 69.3 percent of his passes while throwing for 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions as a part time starter. He then went 5-1 in 2005 before a knee injury gave way to Chris Simms, the team’s third-round draft pick in 2003.
Simms finish the 2005 season with a 6-4 record as a starter, and helped the Bucs win the NFC South and make the playoffs. A spleen injury early in the 2006 campaign prematurely ended his career. Like Dilfer and Winston, Simms wanted to be great, but just lacked the necessary “it” factor to make that happen. Winston was better than both Griese and Simms.
Veteran Jeff Garcia was signed to be the Bucs’ starter in 2007 and went to the Pro Bowl that year after going 8-5 while throwing 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, he was 37 years old at the time and didn’t have as much gas left in the tank. Garcia went 6-5 as the starter next year and helped Tampa Bay finish 9-7 and has the distinction of being the only quarterback in Bucs history other than Doug Williams (1981-82) to have back-to-back winning seasons as a full-time starter.
Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden and QB Jeff Garcia – Photo by: Getty Images
Was Garcia as dynamic of a quarterback as Winston? No, but his lack of turnovers and careful play-making ability, plus his ability to lead the team to victory gives him the slight nod over Winston in my book. I wasn’t a huge fan of Garcia personally or professionally, but objectively I have to rank him second behind Johnson in the quarterbacks that I’ve covered since I began reporting on the Buccaneers in 1995.
After Freeman came Mike Glennon and then Luke McCown. Neither could hold a candle to Winston for obvious reasons.
I will admit I was surprised that Winston did not ultimately become the franchise quarterback in Tampa Bay that many – including myself – thought he would become. He was every bit the play-maker with the Buccaneers that he was for the Seminoles, but just could not stop turning the ball over at a high rate.
Wins matter more than stats in the NFL, especially at the quarterback position. That’s a big reason why Winston remains unsigned, as he only had one winning season as a starter in his five-year Tampa Bay career. And turnovers at the quarterbacks are coach-killers.
I’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks play in my near quarter century of covering the Bucs – and a lot of them were bad. Winston wasn’t bad. He just wasn’t good enough, and he’s certainly no Tom Brady, who will lead the Bucs to the playoffs in 2020 by turning the ball over far fewer times.
Winston wasn’t a bust in Tampa Bay. He just underachieved. I rooted for him to succeed for the good of the franchise, but like most of you – and the Bucs organization – I lost faith in him along the way. The Browns game and the Bengals game from 2018 stand out, along with the Panthers game in London, the Texans game and the Falcons game at the end of the 2019 campaign.
I can see why Arians and general manager Jason Licht wanted to make a switch to either Brady or Teddy Bridgewater this off-season. I too was ready for a change, but wish Winston well.
Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
When you look at the top two quarterbacks I have covered in Tampa Bay, Johnson’s six interceptions during the Super Bowl year and Garcia’s four interceptions during the Bucs’ last NFC South championship playoff season stick out to me. That is the kind of careful play teams need at the quarterback position in order to win.
And like you, I would love to see this franchise get back to its winning ways and get back to the playoffs. That wasn’t going to happen in Tampa Bay with Winston and his penchant for turning the ball over.
But it will happen with Brady, who had just eight interceptions last year. Winston ranks third out of the Bucs’ QBs I’ve covered, but if Brady comes to town and wins as expected, I hope Winston slides down to fourth on my list in a few years for obvious reasons.
Stay tuned for another Bucs story from yesteryear in next week’s SR’s Fab 5. And if you missed my previous Bucs memories from the past 24 years of covering the team, click on the links below.
