‘CAN’T-MISS’ QBS DO EXACTLY THAT

Neither Bucs’ Winston nor Titans’ Mariota has lived up to 2015 draft expectations

Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, can’t-miss quarterbacks, were selected 1-2 overall in the 2015 NFL draft.

Remember all the pre-draft hype back then? They were gonna rip up the league. They were gonna change the league with their strong-armed, dual-threat abilities.

Indeed, Winston and Mariota seemed as likely to become stars as any top five QBs drafted this decade.

Here we are, though, 4½ years later, and their careers, independently, have reached a crossroads at the same time. These can’t-miss prospects who have, well, missed.

Both were eligible after 2017 for a monster second contract from their respective clubs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans.

Neither got one right away. Nor after spring or summer last year. Nor during last season. Nor this past off-season. Nor this past spring or summer. Nor up to the present moment.

Each’s rookie contract is set to expire in March.

While no quarterback or athlete ever improves on a straight upward line, here we are now more than one-third into their fifth NFL seasons, and neither Winston nor Mariota is any closer to landing that coveted monster second deal.

It’s actually worse than that. Following their awful performances in equally dispiriting losses on Sunday, calls for their benchings are as loud as ever. For Mariota, benching might be imminent.

But first Winston. He had thrown only two interceptions in Tampa Bay’s previous four games before Sunday. Praise had been pouring in, including from my laptop.

“Winston no longer forces the football!”

“He’s better now! Smarter now!”

“His new head coach, Bruce Arians, has finally coached all those reckless turnovers out of him!”

Not.

What did Winston do on the game’s first play in the Bucs’ “home” 37-26 loss to Carolina at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England?

Yup. Picked off.

He was intercepted once more before halftime, albeit on a tipped pass. And on back-to-back plays late in the second quarter Winston was stripped of the football, after holding it in the pocket either way too carelessly, or way too long. The Bucs recovered the first fumble, the Panthers the second.

Winston threw another interception in the third quarter, and two more in the fourth. Winston personally finished with six turnovers (a career-worst five interceptions and the lost fumble) in the Buccaneers’ ugly loss, which kicked off Sunday’s quadruple-header of NFL action.

“Why the turnovers?” Arians said at his Monday news conference back in Florida. “I think it’s a collection of receivers, offensive line, tight ends, running backs and quarterback. All had a hand in every single one. Running back, protection-wise … we’ve got to do a better job of finding our guys and blocking them next time. It’s not all on the quarterback. A lot of it is. I’m not going to shy away from that either.”

Arians said such a performance as Winston’s on Sunday does not compel him to consider turning to a backup. The Bucs’ backup is sixth-year journeyman Ryan Griffin.

“No, I look at the reasons why. What happened,” Arians said.

“If it happens again? Yeah it’d concern the hell out of me. There were three or four sacks (where Winston) sacked himself. And incompletions don’t get you beat. Sacks and sack-fumbles get you beat … This was one of those games where (Winston) tried to make something out of nothing and it comes back to bite ya.”

Winston, 25, continues to insist on puncturing defences deeper down the field with receivers, including Mike Evans, who aren’t as open nearly as often as Winston believes.

That is going to be his undoing, it appears.

Compare Winston to the QB he played against on Sunday. Little-known Kyle Allen — a 23-year-old, undrafted free agent in his second year as a pro — improved to 4-0 as a starter, in relief of injured Cam Newton. Allen is completing 66 per cent of his throws for seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

That second Bucs contract for Winston now seems as far away as ever. Same with Mariota, who might be benched at any moment.

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on Monday not only refused to confirm Mariota as his starter this week against the Los Angeles Chargers, but said that after conferring with GM Jon Robinson he’d announce either Monday evening or today whether Mariota starts this week, or is benched for backup Ryan Tannehill, the Miami Dolphins’ starter from 2012-18.

“I just want to make sure we are going through everything that we need to go through, and what we are doing offensively, and not use the emotion of the game to make a decision,” Vrabel said.

Mariota, who turns 26 on Oct. 30, was yanked in the third quarter of Sunday’s 16-0 loss in Denver after performing about as poorly as any NFL QB could. He completed just 7-of-18 for 63 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked three times.

Since blowing out the self-destructive Cleveland Browns 43-13 in Week 1, the Titans’ only win has come against the Atlanta Falcons, possessors of probably the worst defence in the league; Tennessee won 24-10.

Tennessee’s surprisingly awful offensive line isn’t doing Mariota any favours. He holds the ball too long already, and that combo has seen him sacked 25 times in just over 5½ games.

Tannehill instantly shot energy into the Titans’ attack, completing 13-of-16 for 144 yards. But he was sacked four times and threw a bad, forced interception near the end.

Look, if you’re strongly considering turning to Tannehill as an emergency midseason replacement, your QB situation is a mess. Please bear all this in mind between now and late April, every time you read and hear breathless observations about the next superstar quarterback saviours coming out of the college ranks.

Some can’t-miss QBs do indeed miss.

To show how dominant the Patriots have been so far, only three other teams have a point differential better than +42.

Namely: Baltimore (+44, at 4-2), Minnesota (+57, at 4-2) and San Francisco (+83, at 5-0).

New England is +142, at 6-0.