QB OF THE FUTURE

There is no question that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a ruin.

They hold the first pick in the NFL draft by virtue of a 2-14 record, having found a way to get worse from the 4-12 mark they posted in the 2013 season. They are 17-47 over the last four seasons and last made the playoffs following the 2007 campaign.

Being the worst team in the league carries the privilege and curse of picking first in the draft, and it’s even more treacherous when such a team needs a quarterback and the top two prospects represent such stark polarities.

Florida State’s Jameis Winston is equipped to play in the NFL right now. Though his stats were not as good last season as they were during the previous national championship run, neither was his supporting cast. But with Winston’s skills come, well, Winston.

He was alleged to have committed a sexual assault but cleared when the state district attorney wouldn’t bring charges and the school blew away violations of the student conduct code. He pilfered crab legs from a grocery store (and did community service for it), drew a one-game suspension for shouting obscenities at a campus venue and is viewed by some as only likely to get worse when given more privilege and money.

Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, like Winston a Heisman Trophy winner, has no character issues (and you can’t believe how big that suddenly is in the NFL). But Mariota played in an offensive system unlike most in the NFL and questions abound as to how well he (or the team that chooses him) can adapt.

The guess: Tampa Bay takes Winston. He’s the better prospect. Maybe he will outgrow the foolishness of youth. This is some choice for the Bucs – a player with seemingly no common sense but the appropriate skills or a solid citizen who may not fit a NFL scheme.

It’s good to not be the Bucs.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .