News » Quarterback Jameis Winston

Quarterback Jameis Winston will be back in the Buccaneers’ starting lineup on Sunday as the team has turned back to him in the wake of Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s three interceptions in a loss to the Giants.With six games to go until the end of the season Matt Gay Jersey , Winston’s return to the first team leads to thoughts about the team’s option on his contract for next year. The $20.9 million is guaranteed for injury only, so there’s some risk involved to the Bucs if they aren’t sold on keeping Winston on the roster for another season under any circumstances.Winston was asked about the team’s commitment to him and said he only knows that “I’m committed to this team and to do my best to provide opportunity for me later.” Given the latter, Winston was also asked if he feels like he’s auditioning for the team this weekend.“I think every game to me is kind of like that just because of the standard of excellence in this league and the aspirations that I have to be the best,” Winston said, via the . “So, I’m always trying to show what I’m about, showing how I can lead and show how I can execute.”Winston said that he believes he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but knows he has to “show that consistently” in order for others to believe the same. Doing it over the next six weeks would be a good place to start.Is it Fitzmagic or the Bucs offensive system? When the schedule was released, people freaked out. When it was known quarterback Jameis Winston would miss the first three games, people freaked out some more. When journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was not going to be replaced by a guy like Teddy Bridgewater, people freaked out.Here we are now two games into the season and people want Fitzpatrick to remain the starter for a very long time.The 35-year-old quarterback has been lighting up the statsheet. In the first two games of the season, he has thrown eight touchdowns to one interception with a quarterback rating of 151.5. Crazy.It’s understandable why people would like to see the veteran signal caller continue under center and not let Winston play again until Fitz falls on his face or an injury occurs. But why not let the young 24-year-old come back anyways despite Fitzpatrick’s success?Many are using Fitzpatrick’s accuracy as their main reason for their argument. Currently throwing at a 78-percent completion rate has people wanting more Fitzmagic. But it’s more about the system and the preseason where you’ll find the answers as to why.This preseason Matt Gay Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jersey , the Buccaneers scored the most points under head coach Dirk Koetter. It also happens to be the first preseason he wasn’t calling plays and the first preseason where all three of the Bucs quarterbacks saw improvement in their completion percentages.Jameis Winston2018 - 73.2% on 41 attempts2017 - 68.1% on 47 attempts2016 - 59.1% on 44 attemptsRyan Fitzpatrick2018 - 60.7% on 28 attempts2017 - 52.5% on 40 attempts2016 - 55.2% on 29 attemptsRyan Griffin2018 - 68% on 75 attempts2017 - Injured2016 - 58.1% on 74 attemptsWinston put up that completion percentage this past preseason with a shuffled offensive line and wide receivers group. Same goes for Fitzpatrick. And with that, both were able to put up their best preseason completion percentages under Monken’s playcalling. You can say the same for Griffin.Now we see Fitzpatrick putting up his highest completion percentage of his career with an offensive line and offensive weapons that are set, not shuffled. So while Fitzpatrick is most certainly doing an excellent job so far in two games, the same opportunity should be given to Winston — that is to play with a set group of offensive personnel with the same consistent playcalling.What we have seen so far is the offense executing Monken’s game planning which is now being complimented by his game planning. Where as before, Monken’s game planning was being steered differently by play calling that came from Dirk Koetter.So while there is certainly some magic in the air, this new Buccaneers offensive system is what has allowed for the success we’ve seen so far in 2018.***UPDATE***Since people apparently seem to have memory loss on Winston connecting on deep balls and now the attention has turned to that, let’s refresh our memories.This offseason, Winston was committed to get better in that department. He did.He worked on his chemistry with DeSean Jackson and it showed in camp as he hit him deep in stride a few times. Oh, and the one time they attempted it in preseason, he hit Jackson in stride there, too. Here’s the gif: