Selling: Jameis Winston is the next JaMarcus Russell
Coming out of Florida State, it was known Winston had a bit of a problem with discernment when it comes to protecting the football. Heck, we recently made predictions for all the first-round draft picks from the 2015 draft class, and we had Winston’s interception total at 24.
However, when his first NFL pass resulted in a 26-yard pick-six to Coty Sensabaugh—right after Mariota had just thrown a 52-yard touchdown strike—social media was on fire with hot takes about just how bad he will flame out in the NFL, with many comparing him to Winston.
Never mind that Brett Favre also started his career with a pick-six.
At the end of the day, Winston completed less than half his passes (16 of 33) for 210 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His quarterback rating was 64.0. It was a miserable outing for the rookie in his first action.
However, people need to realize Tennessee’s defense is being coached by Dick LeBeau, who is notoriously brutal to rookie quarterbacks.
Dick Lebeau is 26-3 against rookie quarterbacks
— chris (@CountOn7) September 13, 2015
Winston is plenty talented. His arm is as live as any of the top quarterbacks in the league. He has extraordinary anticipation, is intelligent and possesses an outstanding work ethic. He’s not going to flame out like Russell did with the Oakland Raiders.
No doubt he’ll take plenty of lumps as a rookie, but so have almost all the great quarterbacks the league has seen.