We aren’t appreciating Jameis Winston in his own time

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing on the Jameis Winston ship in the Gulf Coast, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is must-watch TV in 2019.

Since Jameis Winston first came on the national scene as a Heisman Trophy winner and a BCS National Champion as a member of the 2013 Florida State Seminoles, he has been one of the most captivating signal-callers in football at any level.

Winston lost one game in his two years as the Seminoles’ starter and has been the most prolific passer in Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise history since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2015. Though he hasn’t captained Tampa Bay to a playoff berth in his five years on the Gulf Coast, he is poised to be the first Buccaneers signal-caller to rightfully earn a second contract with them.

There are obvious upsides to Winston as an NFL quarterback. He is relentless in his pursuit of throwing the ball down the field, he plays the quarterback position in a way that he never feels his team is out of it and he has given the Buccaneers’ passing game more life than at any point in the history of this offensively moribund franchise. He is a loose cannon with the football in his hand.

That being said, there are also obvious criticisms of him. Is he the best bad quarterback in the NFL or is he the worst good quarterback in the league? Winston has never seen a passing window he didn’t like and throws interceptions like no other quarterback in the league because of it. His off-field issues and maturity concerns often undermine his football talents.

So entering the 2019 season, the Buccaneers were at a crossroad with Winston, should he stay or should he go? While his fellow draft classmate and Heisman Trophy fraternity brother Marcus Mariota is likely done with the Tennessee Titans after this year, this season for Winston has been such a thrilling roller coaster joy ride that he has to come back to Tampa Bay in 2020.

In 14 starts this season, Winston has completed 61.7 percent of passes for 4,573 yards, 30 touchdowns and 24 interceptions, with the latter three being career-highs for him. More importantly, Winston has captained the Buccaneers to a 7-7 record under a new coaching staff.

With Bruce Arians coming out of the FOX booth and back to an NFL sideline, he, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and general manager Jason Licht made a wise decision to let Winston let it rip this year. They wanted to see every possible passing attempt out of Winston to see if he’s good enough to be brought back on a second contract with the team.

This has led to him playing a fun, carefree brand of quarterbacking. Sure, you have to accept the rampant interceptions and the fumbles, but Winston is the modern NFL gunslinger we just love to see what happens every fall Sunday as a poor version of a Brett Favre, or better yet, his generation’s version of Jeff George. The talent is clearly there, but will the maturity ever arrive?

It’s not just the Buccaneers being a solid team this year that will have Winston back in Tampa Bay on a second contract, there are two other reasons for this. The first is Arians took this job in large part due to Winston. He plays the quarterback position akin to what he had for years as Ben Roethlisberger’s offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The picks don’t bother him.

The other reason Winston will be back with the Buccaneers in 2020 is who will be a more confident player than him on either the free-agent market or available in the NFL Draft? There won’t be any free-agent quarterback who will be clearly better than Winston and it’s not like the Buccaneers will be in a position to draft either Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovailoa this spring anyway.

At the end of the day, we need to appreciate Winston for who he is as a starting quarterback. He’ll throw a dumb pick to a linebacker and then will bounce back with a marvelous drive, resulting in a Mike Evans aerial strike to pay dirt. Five years in, he’s still raw and inherently reckless. Arians may be able to refine him, but Winston will always be a wild stallion and that’s good enough for Tampa.

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The most important thing in all of this is the Buccaneers organization knows exactly what it’s getting out of Winston every fall Sunday. It’s a combination of boneheadedness and brilliance that makes him such a rivetting quarterback. He’s not a genius and he’s not a simpleton, he’s just the best quarterback Tampa Bay has ever had. For better or worse, just enjoy the beautiful ride.