Greg Cosell's QB Study: Jameis Winston is really impressive
I watched about 200 plays from Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston’s rookie season. I saw all his third-down throws and many first-down passing attempts. Seeing that many plays one after another gives me a good sense of how good a quarterback is.
And the more I watched Winston, the more impressed I was with him. He has a very bright future ahead of him.
There’s a lot to like about Winston, and we could get a good sense of who he is as a quarterback because the Buccaneers did not run a simple offense. This was a full-throated NFL passing game last season. There was no sense that Dirk Koetter’s offense (Koetter was the Bucs’ offensive coordinator last year, and was promoted to head coach in the offseason) was geared toward a rookie who was still learning. There were a ton of concepts in the offense, both under center and from the shotgun. The offense did not seem to be simplified.
Winston handled it all well and showed he understands many of the important nuances of playing quarterback. He has an innate feel for playing quarterback from the pocket. He has a natural sense of anticipation and throws the ball in rhythm. His ability to read coverage, and hold and move safeties with his eyes, stood out.
Here are two great examples of Winston manipulating safeties. You don’t see this too often from a rookie. Both of these plays came against a single-high safety who was located on the hash mark opposite tight end Cameron Brate. When Winston takes the snap, he looks at the safety right away to freeze him there. That gives Brate room to get open, then Winston makes anticipation throws to him.
Here’s the first one, against Atlanta.
And another one against the Colts.
Brate ran different routes, but Winston understood the routes, froze the safety and threw with anticipation. That’s impressive. Both plays went for touchdowns.
The Buccaneers’ coaching staff also did a great job using various concepts to help out Winston. Koetter is outstanding with passing game concepts, and that’s a reason the team didn’t want Koetter to leave. He puts Winston in good positions with easily defined reads from sound route combinations.
When the Buccaneers call a shot play (deep pass) on first down, it’s often with a three-level stretch concept. The three-level stretch has routes at the short, intermediate and deep levels, which stress the coverage and often force a defender to commit to covering one receiver or another. Here’s a good example of it, on Louis Murphy’s 29-yard gain against the Washington Redskins. When outside linebacker Trent Murphy commits to the short route, the intermediate route to Murphy opens. That’s a defined, clear read for the quarterback.
Here’s another concept the Buccaneers like. It’s a “96” combination, in which the slot receiver runs a vertical, or “9,” route and the outside receiver runs a dig, or “6,” route. You want the “9” route to clear the safety. The route defines the coverage and then Winston has an easy read.
Here’s a 30-yard gain to Mike Evans against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17 on the “96” combination.
Winston also has tremendous talent. He made a ridiculous throw to Vincent Jackson for a 15-yard touchdown against the New Orleans Saints. Keep in mind this came in Week 2, his second career game. It speaks to his anticipation and willingness to turn it loose – which is in a QB’s DNA, either a guy throws this pass or he won’t – and it’s phenomenal ball placement.
Winston isn’t a finished product, even though there were great signs from him as a rookie. Winston has put in a lot of time on his footwork, which wasn’t good last year. He’s an odd combination – he’s deceptively good when he’s outside of the pocket and throwing on the move, but he wasn’t very good with his movement inside the pocket.
Winston, who lost weight this offseason, is off to a good start and should continue to improve. He understands how to play quarterback, and there’s a sense of timing and rhythm to his play. When you study Winston’s rookie season it’s easy to see that he has a lot of the traits you’ll find in many of the game’s best quarterbacks.
Previously on Greg Cosell’s QB Study
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
