FSU quarterback Jameis Winston has declared for the 2015 NFL Draft, and there are plenty of teams circling the QB, who is seen as the second best quarterback prospect in the draft class. According to reports everybody from the Tennessee Titans — who have the second pick in the draft — to the coach-less Chicago Bears and New York Jets, as well as the St Louis Rams and Houston Texans, and even playoff teams like the Arizona Cardinals are interested in the QB, whose off-field indiscretions have plenty of analysts wary.
RELEASE: @FSU_Football Jameis Winston headed to the NFL. https://t.co/EIeX3Zrpdf pic.twitter.com/kB5kpWxDmd
— Seminoles Athletics (@Seminoles_com) January 7, 2015
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler thinks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will draft Winston, but just in case they don't, Cleveland should give the Titans a call anyway.
USA Today's Chris Strauss points out that the team most likely to snare Winston, the Tennessee Titans, owners of the second overall pick and in desperate need of a quarterback, "could certainly use a franchise quarterback to elevate the team's moribund offense." He adds that "Winston would be able to develop in Nashville without as much scrutiny he'd get in New York or another major market."
But, as Strauss points out, the Texans, who are drafting 16th, "are a decent quarterback away from being a really good team," and were he to drop to 16, or Houston trade up, he'd have a great quarterback coach in Bill O'Brien overseeing his development. The
Nate Davis of USA Today Sports adds that Cleveland Browns GM Ray Farmer "has said the team is open to drafting another quarterback after Manziel's debacle of a rookie year. And Farmer has the ammunition (and/or luxury) to do so given Cleveland is armed with multiple Round 1 selections this year."
It would make a helluva lot of sense, were St Louis try to land Winston, according to Davis, because "If the Rams do eventually bolt back to Los Angeles, wouldn't it be nice to potentially have a leading man ready for the Hollywood marquee?"
As for the the Jets, says Strauss, while Winston would "fill an obvious need" might be a stretch too far, considering they still lack a head coach and general manager.
NFL Draft: Would FSU's Jameis Winston be worth the risk for Bears at No. 7? - https://t.co/qfJAQzHGTL #BearsTalk
— Bears Talk (@CSNBears) January 8, 2015
As per the tweet above, CSN Chicago's John Mullin argues that were the Bears to pursue Winston, it would be a problem, as while they "may not be locked in long-term with Jay Cutler", the problem would be that "either Cutler or Winston will be sitting and that doesn't make a team built to win now better right now."
As for the Cards, USA Today's Strauss says Winston "might be a price worth paying for the Cardinals," while ESPN's Arizona Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss wrote a piece saying that the "physical traits" are similar to "the type of quarterback Cardinals coach Bruce Arians likes," and that Winston's able "to make plays with his feet, which Cardinals quarterbacks lacked this year." Weinfuss also pointed out that Winston is also "better than Logan Thomas, Arizona's quarterback of the future, according to Arians."
Of course, Weinfuss reports, "However, as unlikely as it is that Winston drops to 24th, it's even more unlikely that the Cardinals would draft him." After all he says, Arizona already "have four quarterbacks on their roster, three of which know Arians' offense quite well. Most likely, Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton and Logan Thomas will be the three who head into the 2015 season."
Glad we've got that cleared that up. Who would you like to see Winston begin his NFL career with?