Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston has caught a lot of flack the past couple of years, and new head coach Bruce Arians thinks a lot of it is undeserved. As the Bucs have struggled, a lot of the blame has fallen on Winston.
Arians, who just took over for Dirk Koetter this offseason, thinks that's misguided. Arians thinks the roster needed to get better before better results could be expected from Winston, he said during a recent appearance on the Jim Rome Show, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
“Put a better team around him,” Arians said. “Run the ball better. Play better defense. Don’t play from behind where he’s got to throw it 50 times and put the onus on him to win the game and make kicks. That’s been a bugaboo around here for a while. So yeah, just put a better football team around him so that he can just play quarterback. He doesn’t have to be Superman.”
Arians has a point, as the Bucs haven't had any semblance of a consistent running game the past couple of years, and the entire offense has been through the air.
Last year was a tough one for Winston, as he was benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick on multiple occasions. He's heading into the final year of his rookie deal now, and this is a make or break year for the former first overall pick.
Many people around the organization are excited about him partnering with Arians, and think it could save his career. When asked about the difference between his last team in Arizona and the one he took over in Tampa, Arians had more kind words for the Florida State product.
“Here, we’ve got a young guy that I really like,” Arians said. “I liked him in high school, I liked him in college and his work ethic is outstanding. That’s probably the biggest difference, having a quarterback in place.”
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