Winston clearly face of his franchise
TAMPA — Jameis Winston asked to speak to Gerald McCoy privately in the offseason. Man- toman. Leader- to- leader.
McCoy didn’t get into specifics when he shared pieces of the story Wednesday, only to say that it focused on Winston telling McCoy what the Tampa Bay Bucs need from him, a defensive tackle and the dominant force on the other side of the ball.
“I’m not going to say, but I think it will be obvious when it happens,” McCoy said.
This is also obvious: Conversations about whether Winston deserved to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft last season have dissipated. It’s no longer about the kid with all the controversial baggage from Tallahassee. It’s about the kid in Tampa completely comfortable taking control of this team, on and off the field.
McCoy’s comments also should bury the underlying drama about a touch of jealousy from McCoy, and whether he truly buys into the kid’s coronation.
Is Jameis Winston the face of the franchise? Would that be a trick question?
“When they show commercials of the Bucs, they’re not showing Gerald,” McCoy said. “They’re showing Jameis. That’s for a reason, and I’m happy about that. If your quarterback is the face of your franchise, usually that tags to winning or going in a positive direction. I’m excited about it.”
The Bucs have been tagged as losers for far too long. The Bucs haven’t been to the postseason since 2007, when they lost a wild- card game to the New York Giants.
They had a chance at ending the streak in 2015, when they stood at 6- 6. Then they lost their last four games. Then they lost their head coach when Lovie Smith was fired.
The usual high hopes abound for the Bucs, as do every other NFL team, with the beginning of training camps across America. Think of the old Stuart Smalley Saturday Night Live skits, and the daily affirmations. “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”
We shall see when it comes to the Bucs. As for Jameis, he’s got this. The first thing he did when veterans reported to camp Wednesday was greet every player. First in line kind of deal. Same thing he did last year as a rookie.
It wasn’t a forced thing. It was Jameis being Jameis, stepping up like he did at Florida State before a rape accusation drastically changed the dynamics of the conversation.
Winston was never charged, but there was still plenty of crossfire when the Bucs made him their man, ahead of Marcus Mariota of Oregon. The Bucs didn’t whiff, just like they didn’t whiff in the 2014 draft, when they took wide receiver Mike Evans with the seventh pick despite rumblings of a play for a Texas A& M quarterback named Johnny Manziel.
“He had a very impressive interview,” General Manager Jason Licht said of Manziel at the time. “… Sharp guy.” Collective sigh, everybody. Winston struggled through the typical rookie travails last season, throwing 15 interceptions to accompany his 22 TDs. And at 22, he became the youngest player ever in the NFL to pass for 4,000 yards. Natural progression suggests he will improve on those numbers, which bodes well for the Bucs playing relevant football into December.
“Consistency is always where you want to be,” Winston said during organized team activities in May.
“You want to be consistent. We want to continue to get better. We had a great year, but we’ve got to build off that. We were fifth in the league offensively — why not be No. 1 in the league? It’s not only about the offense, it’s about everybody.”
But it starts with somebody. Jameis Winston. Nobody else.