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http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/17/jameis-winston-nfl-combine-draft/
Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated/The MMQB
Jameis Winston Is Ready for His Combine Closeup
The Florida State star has spent time in San Diego with quarterback guru George Whitfield to prepare for this week. From off-field issues to on-field interceptions, the questions NFL teams have about Winston will begin getting answered in Indy
By Peter King
The big story of the NFL combine will happen early. Jameis Winston, the Florida State quarterback who has as much to prove this week as Johnny Manziel did last year, will arrive Wednesday in Indianapolis. He’ll have a slew of timed 15-minute get-to-know-you meetings with teams Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. Winston also will meet the media in a controlled 15-minute mob session Thursday, work out on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf Saturday afternoon, then depart from town Saturday evening.
Winston has spent three weeks in San Diego with quarterback guru George Whitfield and a fitness team—along with eight football interns to play offense and defense with him—to prep him for what awaits at the combine. And there’s so much for Winston to answer, as we all know.
But here’s Whitfield on his pupil. Whitfield and Winston have worked together on and off since Winston performed at the Elite 11 camp for quarterbacks after his junior year in high school, so Whitfield knows him pretty well. “To me, Jameis is a savant,” Whitfield said. “He’s not an Olympian, not an RG3 [Robert Griffin III] type athlete. He doesn’t have a Matthew Stafford cannon.
But some organizations in the NFL are anchored by a singular figure at quarterback. Then there are organizations, more of them, with guys trying to be that singular figure at quarterback. Jameis is the former, and he’s got the great pocket awareness NFL quarterbacks have to have. I have no reservations about him. Teams will do their due diligence, and we will see.”
Due diligence. That’s going to be important. Winston, at Florida State, was investigated for sexual assault but not charged. He was charged with stealing $32 worth of crablegs from a supermarket, and ordered to perform community service for it. He was suspended for a half, and then the full game, after screaming an obscenity in FSU’s student union.
Then there’s the matter of his 18 interceptions last season. As Mike Mayock told me in my Monday column: “I’m scared to death of Jameis Winston off the field, and I’m scared to death of how many interceptions he throws. He threw seven interceptions against Louisville and Florida, and could have been 12 or 13 if the other team could catch the ball.”
To be fair, Mayock thinks Winston is a strong prospect—for his precocious play from the pocket in an NFL scheme at Florida State, and for his ability to play so well from behind. That’s going to be important because it’s likely Winston will be playing from behind a lot with the Bucs or Jets or Rams or Browns or whoever.
Whitfield said he used the three weeks he’s spent with Winston since the college football season ended getting him healthy (he had a high ankle sprain late in the season) and in better shape (he’s dropped 12 pounds), and increasing his urgency in the pocket and in his motion. Whitfield used the eight interns to form the back end of a defense, and to drop and play NFL coverages. “Florida State had a 400-level NFL curriculum,” said Whitfield, “and it was very hard for us to confuse him out there.”
About the off-field problems and questions he’ll face, Whitfield told Winston to come clean. “We’ve be on that, over and over,” Whitfield said, “and the only way to handle it is to be honest. Admit what happened. Don’t hide from it. Tell them what you were thinking. Discuss everything openly.”
Last year, Whitfield’s client, Manziel, was given the same advice. Manziel was able, time after time and with team after team and reporter after reporter, to say the same. He told the same stories, and convinced teams he was on a better path. Of course, he wasn’t able to stay on that path during the season, and there may be a lesson in that for teams. But you can be sure Winston will be the focus of investigations by teams that have even the slightest interest.
About the interceptions, Whitfield said it developed from a “trust issue” with some of his young receivers last year. “After the trust he had with Kelvin Benjamin, and then Kelvin left, he had some trouble developing that with some of the younger guys this last year,” Whitfield said.
Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated/The MMQB
Jameis Winston Is Ready for His Combine Closeup
The Florida State star has spent time in San Diego with quarterback guru George Whitfield to prepare for this week. From off-field issues to on-field interceptions, the questions NFL teams have about Winston will begin getting answered in Indy
By Peter King
The big story of the NFL combine will happen early. Jameis Winston, the Florida State quarterback who has as much to prove this week as Johnny Manziel did last year, will arrive Wednesday in Indianapolis. He’ll have a slew of timed 15-minute get-to-know-you meetings with teams Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. Winston also will meet the media in a controlled 15-minute mob session Thursday, work out on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf Saturday afternoon, then depart from town Saturday evening.
Winston has spent three weeks in San Diego with quarterback guru George Whitfield and a fitness team—along with eight football interns to play offense and defense with him—to prep him for what awaits at the combine. And there’s so much for Winston to answer, as we all know.
But here’s Whitfield on his pupil. Whitfield and Winston have worked together on and off since Winston performed at the Elite 11 camp for quarterbacks after his junior year in high school, so Whitfield knows him pretty well. “To me, Jameis is a savant,” Whitfield said. “He’s not an Olympian, not an RG3 [Robert Griffin III] type athlete. He doesn’t have a Matthew Stafford cannon.
But some organizations in the NFL are anchored by a singular figure at quarterback. Then there are organizations, more of them, with guys trying to be that singular figure at quarterback. Jameis is the former, and he’s got the great pocket awareness NFL quarterbacks have to have. I have no reservations about him. Teams will do their due diligence, and we will see.”
Due diligence. That’s going to be important. Winston, at Florida State, was investigated for sexual assault but not charged. He was charged with stealing $32 worth of crablegs from a supermarket, and ordered to perform community service for it. He was suspended for a half, and then the full game, after screaming an obscenity in FSU’s student union.
Then there’s the matter of his 18 interceptions last season. As Mike Mayock told me in my Monday column: “I’m scared to death of Jameis Winston off the field, and I’m scared to death of how many interceptions he throws. He threw seven interceptions against Louisville and Florida, and could have been 12 or 13 if the other team could catch the ball.”
To be fair, Mayock thinks Winston is a strong prospect—for his precocious play from the pocket in an NFL scheme at Florida State, and for his ability to play so well from behind. That’s going to be important because it’s likely Winston will be playing from behind a lot with the Bucs or Jets or Rams or Browns or whoever.
Whitfield said he used the three weeks he’s spent with Winston since the college football season ended getting him healthy (he had a high ankle sprain late in the season) and in better shape (he’s dropped 12 pounds), and increasing his urgency in the pocket and in his motion. Whitfield used the eight interns to form the back end of a defense, and to drop and play NFL coverages. “Florida State had a 400-level NFL curriculum,” said Whitfield, “and it was very hard for us to confuse him out there.”
About the off-field problems and questions he’ll face, Whitfield told Winston to come clean. “We’ve be on that, over and over,” Whitfield said, “and the only way to handle it is to be honest. Admit what happened. Don’t hide from it. Tell them what you were thinking. Discuss everything openly.”
Last year, Whitfield’s client, Manziel, was given the same advice. Manziel was able, time after time and with team after team and reporter after reporter, to say the same. He told the same stories, and convinced teams he was on a better path. Of course, he wasn’t able to stay on that path during the season, and there may be a lesson in that for teams. But you can be sure Winston will be the focus of investigations by teams that have even the slightest interest.
About the interceptions, Whitfield said it developed from a “trust issue” with some of his young receivers last year. “After the trust he had with Kelvin Benjamin, and then Kelvin left, he had some trouble developing that with some of the younger guys this last year,” Whitfield said.