One of the major knocks against former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston arises from his on-field mistakes. But he’s not the only former college quarterback to enter the NFL with questions regarding his struggles with protecting the football.
Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune mentioned during Monday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio the struggles of former Pitt quarterback Dan Marino. So I looked up his college stats during the segment.
As a junior, Marino threw 37 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions. As a senior, Marino’s touchdown passes dropped by 20 -- and he threw another 23 interceptions.
Through four years at Pitt, Marino had 79 touchdown passes and 69 interceptions. To put that in perspective, Kyle Orton threw just as many interceptions in the NFL -- but 22 more touchdown passes.
Winston threw 65 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions in two college seasons, with 18 in 2014.
While it doesn’t mean Winston will be Marino, it doesn’t mean Winston is destined to fail at the next level. And, as Kaufman said during his visit to PFT Live, the Buccaneers will indeed make Winston the first overall pick in the draft, despite sudden chatter suggesting that the Bucs have changed their minds to Marcus Mariota. At this point, the only thing that will keep that from happening is an unexpected off-field issue in the next 16 days.
But nothing like that ever happens in the days preceding the draft. Just ask Reggie Bush.
