If Bruce Arians can’t turn Jameis Winston around, nobody can

Bruce Arians is reportedly wrapping up a deal to make him the next head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

This hire has been in the works for some time now, and it really should be great news for Jameis Winston.

Winston came into the league with plenty of talent, and he’s had stretches where he has shown himself to be worthy of the “franchise quarterback” label. Unfortunately, he’s all too often reverted back to the same flaw that concerned some NFL scouts coming out of Florida State — he just cannot stop turning the ball over.

In 56 career games, Winston has thrown 58 interceptions and has fumbled the ball 38 times. He has a huge arm, and like many quarterbacks blessed with arm talent he all too often thinks he can fit passes into windows that are not only too tight, they are shut altogether. He has also shown a tendency to make some unbelievably bone-headed plays (like this), and over the course of his career these decisions have kept him from reaching his true potential on the field.

But if there’s anyone who can fix this young quarterback, it’s Arians.

Though Arians subscribes to an offensive philosophy that is always attacking downfield, he’s managed to do this without his quarterback becoming turnover machines.

From 2007-11 when Arians was the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger threw 113 touchdowns and 57 interceptions. The year before Arians was calling plays, Big Ben threw 23 picks.

Then when he took over in Arizona, Arians brought Carson Palmer with him to the desert. That first year was brutal, as Palmer threw 22 interceptions compared to 24 touchdowns. But after that initial season, he mended his ways, throwing 81 touchdowns and 35 interceptions the next four seasons.

So, Buccaneers fans should have some hope that Arians can help Winston to improve in this area.

But if he can’t do it, then probably nobody can.