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McShay: Winston a better pro prospect than Mariota
January, 6, 2015
JAN 6
3:00
PM ET
By Rich Cimini | ESPNNewYork.com
21COMMENTS2EMAILPRINT
By winning two of their final three games to finish 4-12, the New York Jets blew any chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select the best quarterback, Oregon's Marcus Mariota.
But, wait, what if he's not the top quarterback? What if the best quarterback is Florida State's Jameis Winston, who could be available to the Jets with the sixth choice? Could the Jets get that lucky?
It's only luck if Winston is the real deal, and Todd McShay believes he is -- at least from a football standpoint. As everybody knows, Winston has off-the-field concerns, but based on pure talent, he rates ahead of Mariota, according to McShay.
"To break it down, if you’re making the decision based on what he was on tape and the football aspect of it, Jameis Winston is the better prospect," the ESPN draft analyst said Tuesday on a media conference call. "He’s the best quarterback prospect in this draft class. He’s better from inside the pocket than Marcus Mariota, which is really where the foundation of an evaluation should be.
"Can you win from inside the pocket? We’ve come from years of people getting excited about mobile quarterbacks who can run around and do all this stuff, but if you can’t win from inside the pocket with your anticipation, your pre-snap reads, your post-snap reads, throwing to spots and having excellent ball placement … we haven’t seen anyone overcome that."
Chances are, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will use the No. 1 overall pick on Mariota, who has Colin Kaepernick-type skills and a rock-solid character. He has his team in the College Football Playoff championship game. Winston, who ended with a poor game in the Rose Bowl, is polarizing because his off-the-field character has overshadowed his obvious talent.
"Jameis Winston, to me, is the better prospect," McShay said. "Marcus Mariota is still a very good prospect, but needs developing. They both have a chance to be great, but they both come with red flags. Winston's red flags are off the field."
Of course, everybody is assuming both quarterback will enter the draft. The deadlines for underclassmen to declare is Jan. 15, and there are rumblings that Winston could opt to return to school. He already has talked about playing for the Florida State baseball team in the spring, which could impact his draft preparation.
If Winston stays in the school, or gets picked before the Jets are on the clock, what then? McShay suspects they'd pick Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper -- if he lasts that long
January, 6, 2015
JAN 6
3:00
PM ET
By Rich Cimini | ESPNNewYork.com
21COMMENTS2EMAILPRINT
By winning two of their final three games to finish 4-12, the New York Jets blew any chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select the best quarterback, Oregon's Marcus Mariota.
But, wait, what if he's not the top quarterback? What if the best quarterback is Florida State's Jameis Winston, who could be available to the Jets with the sixth choice? Could the Jets get that lucky?
It's only luck if Winston is the real deal, and Todd McShay believes he is -- at least from a football standpoint. As everybody knows, Winston has off-the-field concerns, but based on pure talent, he rates ahead of Mariota, according to McShay.
"To break it down, if you’re making the decision based on what he was on tape and the football aspect of it, Jameis Winston is the better prospect," the ESPN draft analyst said Tuesday on a media conference call. "He’s the best quarterback prospect in this draft class. He’s better from inside the pocket than Marcus Mariota, which is really where the foundation of an evaluation should be.
"Can you win from inside the pocket? We’ve come from years of people getting excited about mobile quarterbacks who can run around and do all this stuff, but if you can’t win from inside the pocket with your anticipation, your pre-snap reads, your post-snap reads, throwing to spots and having excellent ball placement … we haven’t seen anyone overcome that."
Chances are, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will use the No. 1 overall pick on Mariota, who has Colin Kaepernick-type skills and a rock-solid character. He has his team in the College Football Playoff championship game. Winston, who ended with a poor game in the Rose Bowl, is polarizing because his off-the-field character has overshadowed his obvious talent.
"Jameis Winston, to me, is the better prospect," McShay said. "Marcus Mariota is still a very good prospect, but needs developing. They both have a chance to be great, but they both come with red flags. Winston's red flags are off the field."
Of course, everybody is assuming both quarterback will enter the draft. The deadlines for underclassmen to declare is Jan. 15, and there are rumblings that Winston could opt to return to school. He already has talked about playing for the Florida State baseball team in the spring, which could impact his draft preparation.
If Winston stays in the school, or gets picked before the Jets are on the clock, what then? McShay suspects they'd pick Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper -- if he lasts that long
