Up-and-Down Preseason Opener Shows Jameis Winston Still a Work in Progress

Jameis Winston was widely purported to be the most NFL-ready quarterback in the 2015 NFL draft—that’s why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the No. 1 overall pick—but his preseason debut against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday made it clear that the Florida State product still has a long way to go in his development after the 26-16 loss at TCF Bank Stadium.

At times, Winston flashed the arm talent and overall physical skill set that enticed the Buccaneers to select him with the top choice and make him their quarterback of the future. His first completion of the night, a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Vincent Jackson, was his best.

However, it was not until his seventh series—a point at which the Vikings defense had pulled most of its starters—that Winston was finally able to get into rhythm and lead the Buccaneers on a nine-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, which he capped off with an eight-yard rushing touchdown.

The deep ball to Jackson shown above, which Winston made despite taking a heavy hit to his lower body from Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson, was a great demonstration of his arm talent to throw the ball long distance with velocity and accuracy.

Winston’s end-of-half Hail Mary attempt, his final throw of his debut game, was too. Even though Vikings defenders ultimately broke it up, Winston delivered the ball more than 60 yards downfield—after moving to his left and resetting his feet—right on line to give his intended receiver, Russell Shepard, a chance to make the play.

"

Aforementioned Hail Mary attempt from Jameis Winston earlier tonight. Incomplete but great display of his arm talent: http://t.co/zx37ohGdNb

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 16, 2015"

The receiver with which Winston showed the best rapport on Saturday night was Louis Murphy, who caught a team-high four receptions for 54 yards from the rookie quarterback. Winston's best throw to Murphy came on a 2nd-and-5 in the second quarter, when he threaded a pass to the receiver nine yards downfield as he broke inside across tight coverage from Vikings cornerback Jabari Price. That play went for a 12-yard gain. 

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Another throw from Jameis that impressed me. Perfect ball placement to thread throw to Louis Murphy past coverage: http://t.co/9ds9Cq1iyo

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 16, 2015"

When Winston was at his best Saturday, he displayed the same potential as a thrower that he displayed throughout two collegiate seasons. He also showed his athleticism and mobility, as evidenced by his touchdown run—accentuated by a dive over Price at the goal line.

The problem with Winston’s first preseason game was that there were just as many lowlights as there were highlights. He completed only nine of 19 passing attempts for 131 yards and also threw an incompletion on a two-point conversion attempt following the touchdown run.

Plagued by interceptions throughout his redshirt sophomore year at Florida State, Winston threw his first in a Buccaneers uniform on Saturday when a pass intended for wide receiver Mike Evans—whom he targeted three times but failed to make a completion with—sailed a few yards past Evans and right into the hands of Vikings safety Antone Exum.

To be fair to Winston, that interception was not entirely the quarterback’s fault, as Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, trailing Evans, appeared to get away with holding that went unflagged. As ESPN’s Merril Hoge noted in the following Vine, however, Winston made the mistake of staring down his intended target for the duration of the play, allowing Exum to easily read his eyes and break on the ball.

Beyond the interception, Winston was inconsistent with his accuracy, especially early in the game. A number of his throws were not even close to reaching their targets, including his first passing attempt of the game, when he tried to force a throw to Austin Seferian-Jenkins in a 3rd-and-4 situation and ended up sailing the ball well over his tight end’s head.

The following passing chart, compiled from watching each of Winston’s 20 throws (including his two-point conversion attempt) on Saturday, breaks down his rate of success throwing to each region of the field, as well as his success on throws that came under pressure, off play action and/or on the run.

Winston’s ability to make plays under pressure was one of the reasons he emerged as the 2015 NFL draft’s top prospect, but he completed fewer than half of his throws against the rush on Saturday. Playing behind a largely inexperienced offensive line—one that could potentially be without veteran right tackle Demar Dotson after he sprained his MCL on Saturday—Winston did not yet look comfortable dealing with pressure in his new scheme.

As noted by sideline reporter Ben Leber on the Vikings broadcast of Saturday night’s game simulcast on NFL Network, one reason for Winston’s issues against the pressure was his mechanics—specifically, his elongated delivery.

One of his ugliest throws resulted from his poor mechanics. As defensive end Brian Robison closed in on him, the slow throwing motion enabled Robinson to hit Winston and force the quarterback to adjust his arm angle as he threw. That resulted in a pass that landed short of his intended target, Jackson, who would not have had a chance to catch the ball even if he had not fallen coming out of his route break.

Screenshot via NFL Game Pass

Screenshot via NFL Game Pass

Screenshot via NFL Game Pass

Screenshot via NFL Game Pass

Screenshot via NFL Game Pass

NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah, a former league scout, used a baseball analogy to describe the flaw in Winston’s throwing motion, which could continue to hinder him going forward against faster-paced NFL defenses. 

One other area that caused Winston significant problems on Saturday was the center-quarterback exchange. During his fifth series of the night, Winston bobbled a high shotgun snap from Garrett Gilkey and was forced to fall on it for a 13-yard loss on 3rd-and-4. On the very next series, Winston fumbled a snap from Gilkey under center, which ultimately led to a six-yard sack as he unsuccessfully attempted to scramble away from Vikings linebacker Gerald Hodges.

Those mishaps are justifiable, however, by the fact that he was working with Gilkey—a reserve offensive lineman who appeared to be just as much at fault as Winston on both plays—rather than Evan Smith, a more experienced center who is the regular starter at the position.

Winston took one additional sack earlier in the game, but he had minimal chance to avoid that one, as Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen beat left tackle Donovan Smith—Winston’s fellow rookie, a second-round pick—almost immediately off the snap with an inside spin move.

Altogether, Winston’s first live-game action in a Buccaneers uniform fell well short of the hype. As the first player selected in the draft, and as a player whom many draft analysts considered to be the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck in 2012, Winston was expected to be much sharper than he was in Minnesota.

It’s evident that he still needs to work on his accuracy and mechanics; meanwhile, there is reason to remain concerned that interceptions will be a problem for the passer in his rookie season.

With that being said, it’s common for rookie quarterbacks—even those selected at the top of the draft—to struggle their first time out in an NFL offense. After all, Winston’s shaky Saturday came on the heels of a similarly up-and-down performance Friday by No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota, who had turnovers on his first two possessions before leading the Tennessee Titans on his first touchdown drive, as I documented for Bleacher Report.

As Jeremiah tweeted following Winston’s half of action, the rookie was still able—despite hitting a couple of bumps in the road—to show a glimpse of his star potential:

Following the game, Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith called Winston’s first game a “starting spot” for the rest of his preseason to come.

"Everything that he did wrong, we'll correct it and hopefully he won't do it the next time,” Smith said, according to ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas. "Things didn't go exactly how we wanted to early on. But I thought he settled down and did some good things right there at the end."

Winston said "he felt he got better as the game went along," per Yasinskas.

"You pick up the game and you see how things are flying at you, you get into that mode of just playing football," Winston said. "I'm getting better every single play. That was my whole mentality—to get better every single play."

Winston’s next opportunity to correct his mistakes and continue to improve will come August 24, on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, as the Buccaneers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in their second preseason game.

All statistics courtesy of ESPN.com.

Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL Draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow @Dan_Hope