Jameis Winston: What's the Best Fit, Florida State or Stanford?

Back in September of 2010, there was a high school quarterback prospect who really caught my attention, as I remember watching some grainy highlights of the young junior and thinking to myself, this kid’s got the chance to be special.

That player was none other than Jameis Winston, who just like I thought, developed into one of the top blue-chip quarterback prospects of the 2012 recruiting class.

In his senior season at Alabama’s Hueytown High School, Winston showed all of the traits that initially led me to believe that he could become a future star at the collegiate level.

Just like any high school quarterback, Winston is still raw in certain facets of the game—mechanics and decision-making being the main ones—but the 6’4’’, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback possesses the combination of arm strength, elite athleticism and dangerous mobility to be a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses in college.

The question is, what school will get to exploit his tremendous natural physical ability?

After a long courting process that saw Winston receive offers from almost every power program in college football, including the likes of Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma, Winston has announced that he plans to play his college ball for Jimbo Fisher at Florida State.

But you have to wonder, on the day before national signing day, if his mind is actually made up at this point.

In an article written by recruiting analyst Max Olson for ESPN.com, Winston was quoted as saying that while he remains committed to Florida State, he still has an interest in the Stanford Cardinal, which is a bit surprising, considering many thought that if there was any school that could steal Winston away from the Seminoles, it would be Alabama.

But with Andrew Luck gone and his expected replacement Brett Nottingham still largely unproven, there would be room for Winston to compete right away for the starting job, something he couldn’t do at Florida State, where E.J. Manuel's entrenched as the starter.

When comparing the two offensive systems, though, it seems like the better fit for a mobile quarterback like Winston would be the Seminoles.

Winston possesses many of the same traits that current starter E.J. Manuel does, and he strongly resembles another recent former Florida State quarterback, Xavier Lee, who never managed to live up to his high school hype while in Tallahassee.

Stanford’s offensive system seems to be a more conventional, balanced attack that doesn’t exactly fit Winston’s skill set all that well, as he would have more room to make plays with his legs at a place like Florida State.

The better choice for the 5-star signal-caller appears to be Florida State, but it remains to be seen whether or not his final decision will be to ultimately sign with the Seminoles or pull a surprising last-second switch and end up in Palo Alto.