TAMPA, Fla. _ No more touchdowns, and thankfully no more interceptions. The book is now officially closed on Jameis Winston's time in Tampa Bay. Really, the only thing left is your memories and appraisal.
On Thursday evening, it will be exactly five years since Winston was selected by the Buccaneers with the No. 1 pick in the draft. In retrospect, was that a mistake? Or, based on all the available evidence at that moment, a calculated gamble that did not ultimately meet expectations?
Personally, I'd choose the latter. There are other players from the 2015 draft who have had better starts to their careers (Todd Gurley, Amari Cooper, Marcus Peters), but a quarterback's impact on a team far exceeds any other position. That means Winston was the correct choice, even if the results and the length of his tenure ultimately fell short.
If you want to put it in perspective, there were 20 quarterbacks in the Super Bowl-era chosen with the No. 1 pick before Winston. Some were obviously great choices. Four went on to be Hall of Famers. Some were spectacular duds. Five never won a playoff game.
The rest fall somewhere in between, just like Winston.
With his legacy in Tampa Bay in mind, here is a ranking of Winston and the 20 other quarterbacks selected No. 1 overall between 1966-2015. You may nod your head, spit up your Frosted Flakes or send me a line at jromano@tampabay.com or @romano_tbtimes on Twitter to explain how I could be so very wrong.
