Jameis Winston breezes through NFL combine interviews

By Charles Rahrig V | Feb 21, 2015

Feb 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston throws a pass during the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is having no trouble in his interview with NFL teams

The annual NFL Scouting Combine isn’t just about how draft prospects perform on the field, there’s a mental aspect too. Before players take the field in Indianapolis to participate in drills for scouts, they take part in interviews with NFL teams that included coaches, general managers and other team personnel.

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Jameis Winston, who many feel could go No. 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is easily the most talked about prospect at the combine.

Many wondered if Winston would participate in the drills, as some players choose to participate in a more comfortable environment such as their school’s pro day.

Winston taking part in drills surely earned good graces from teams worried about his maturity. Another thing that probably helped, Winston apparently did quite the job in his interviews with teams interested in drafting him in April.

According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, some execs dubbed Winston the smartest player they ever interviewed.

"Before the 40s and the jumping and the throwing, Jameis Winston went through interviews with a number of teams. The results were, well, allow me to let one team’s personnel man who was in the room with Winston explain.“I think he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever interviewed,” he told me.Ever?“Ever,” he responded. “Football IQ as good as I’ve ever seen.”"

Now that certainly doesn’t sound the like the quarterback caught taking crab legs and standing on a table shouting profanities in the middle of the campus at Florida State.

Winston is a charismatic guy much like Johnny Manziel was last year during his interviews. Manziel, of course, had a disaster first year with the Cleveland Browns, and has since entered rehab for his alcoholism.

However it sounds like those that were deceived by Manziel last year in the interview process, aren’t worried about Winston doing the same.

"But I’m told by three different sources who interviewed Winston, including someone who was part of the Manziel interview process last year, that Winston is no Manziel."

In fact, Winston did such a good job in his interviews, that some scouts were even comparing him to Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos great Peyton Manning.

You might need to take a seat.

"One scout described how Winston was so impressive with his knowledge of X’s and O’s that “there was a moment where we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, okay, wow.'”The comparison I heard several times was Peyton Manning."

So while many had concerns about Winston heading into the combine because of off-field issues and the shape he is in, it appears that Winston is doing everything in his power to put an end to those concerns. The former Heisman winner is showing teams interested in him that he is mature and can be the guy to the lead their team.

If Winston does indeed go No. 1 overall, he will have the added pressure of living up to his draft stock. Despite everything we have heard about Jameis thus far in his football career, he has shown us no reason why he can’t be successful.

[H/T: BleacherReport]

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