Originally posted by MadDog49er:
I agree that this guy loves football, and is a terrific on the field leader. My problem is that there seems to be a trail of smoke wherever he goes off the field, and so few of these guys in the past have success.
Also, the TD-INT ratio in the back end of last year was abominable. To me, he is a turnover machine in the NFL. So many errors in judgment.
I like Winston as a prospect, but I dunno if I buy into the hype of putting him in the same breath as Andrew Luck. To me, that's when hype and what people say start losing credibility. Andrew Luck was THE best prospect ever, literally everything about him is elite, even the things you don't need to be elite like pure athleticism from the QB position.
So I do agree with you that there are some holes in his game that don't make him a lock to be great... I just like his arm strength, fearlessness, field leadership and natural moxy. He doesn't need to "fake" or try too hard to be a leader, he just is.
And while I do also agree the character concerns are legitimate... it's IMO better for an athlete to make these mistakes and face the scrutiny BEFORE he gets a pay day and is a big pro. Meaning I would rather have a guy that has been put on blast and has had to face the embarrassment of this kind of bad pub and has the bad taste in his mouth...
...rather than the guy who did the same things but didn't get caught. If you get caught and have to pay a price for it, you're a lot more likely to learn from your mistake than the player whose just never gotten caught. THAT'S who scares me.