Jameis Winston vs. Browns: Stats, Reaction and Updated 2015 Fantasy Advice

For the third preseason game in a row, Jameis Winston looked a bit shaky under center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they took on the Cleveland Browns. While the performances are by no means worrying when added together, they illustrate the former Heisman Trophy winner could be in for a roller-coaster rookie season.

Comp./Att.	Pass Yards	TD	INT	Carries	Rush Yards	Rush TD
6/15	90	0	1	1	5	0

Recap and Reaction

The third week of the preseason is widely viewed as the closest thing to a regular-season atmosphere. Head coaches generally give their starters a lot of time on the field and treat the game with some level of importance.

With that in mind, Saturday night represented a good opportunity for Winston to show he's making some level of progress, even early on in his NFL development.

After last week's 25-11 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the first-year QB talked about how important it is to begin a game on the right foot.

"That's just the mentality we have here," Winston said, per Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. "The mentality is to start fast. We even broke it down in the huddle that way saying, 'Start fast.' That's all we have to do."

The Buccaneers didn't exactly follow those words, as they went three-and-out on the first drive of the game. Travis Benjamin returned the subsequent punt 53 yards for a touchdown.

Tampa Bay gave the ball right back to Cleveland after another three-and-out on its next possession, which included a sack on Winston for a seven-yard loss.

By the time Winston stepped back onto the field, the Bucs were staring at a 14-0 deficit. Perhaps feeling the pressure to immediately get those 14 points back, Winston threw an ugly interception on 3rd-and-11. He rolled to his right looking for Russell Shepard but only found Browns cornerback Charles Gaines.

While Winston may have turned the ball over, Kevin O'Donnell of Fox 13 in Tampa, Florida, argued a sense of urgency seems to bring the best out in the young passer:

Down 17-0 in the second quarter, Winston engineered Tampa Bay's first scoring drive of the night. His 26-yard pass to Vincent Jackson was a prelude to Doug Martin's 19-yard touchdown run, making it a 17-7 game with a little under 10 minutes until halftime.

Those were the only points the Bucs would score with Winston on the field. He helped set up a 43-yard field-goal attempt for Connor Barth, whose attempt sailed wide right.

All in all, it was a bit of a mixed bag for Winston.

Bleacher Report's Luke Easterling liked what he saw at times from the 21-year-old:

Conversely, PewterReport.com thought Winston was a bit lucky he didn't have more turnovers to his name Saturday:

While some Bucs fans may still be on the fence about whether Winston is the guy going forward, everybody can agree no QB will succeed in Tampa unless the offensive line improves. Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune identified that as a major area of concern against the Browns:

In order for Winston to hit the ground running in Week 1 of the regular season, he'll need to have time in the pocket—something he wasn't afforded Saturday.

Fantasy Outlook

Saturday night didn't do anything to help or hurt Winston's fantasy stock. If anything, it showed he's going to make some mistakes this year, because that's what rookie quarterbacks do.

The Buccaneers don't have the look of a great offensive team in 2015, which will likely lead to Winston getting shouldered with too much of the playmaking burden. He has the potential to be a great quarterback in the NFL, but his gunslinger mentality will cause him to force throws into nonexistent windows when the better decision would be to take the sack or throw the ball away.

Since Winston is all but guaranteed—barring injury—to be the Buccaneers' starting quarterback for the entirety of the year, he's worth drafting late as a backup QB if you're in a 15- to 20-team league. In standard 12-team leagues, you're better off avoiding Winston, marking him as a potential waiver-wire option down the road.

He could also have some value in daily fantasy leagues later on in the year once he starts getting used to NFL defenses and the game's speed.