All eyes will be on #1 draft pick Jameis Winston as he kicks off his NFL career against the Titans and Marcus Mariota. Many agree that Winston has all of the tangibles to be a successful NFL quarterback, but how will that translate in game situations.
Former Bucs CB Ronde Barber has a pretty good idea. He’s been closely watching Winston and shares his opinions that have many thinking that there are a lot of similarities to Packers great Brett Favre.
“He gives you the spectacular, but he also gives you the rookie,” Barber told CBS, via JoeBucsFan.com. “But what I will say about [Winston] is he plays with zero fear. He’ll let go of any ball. He has that confidence.
“I’ve played against guys that have supreme confidence in themselves and their ability to make plays. You can already see it. He has no fear letting the ball go.”
“I did a couple of games of Buffalo over these two years that I’ve been working at Fox, and [Manuel] is the other way,” Barber said. “He’s timid. He holds the ball. He’s scared to deliver it when he needs to.
“This guy [Winston] is the complete opposite, maybe to a detriment at times; he throws a lot of interceptions.”
“He has that ‘it,’ that bravado, that gunslinger mentality, if I could use that [tired] cliché, to be a great quarterback in this league,” Barber said. “I think the good ones have that. Now how he learns to deal with that as a pro and take care of the football and do the right things on the football field? But he has the tools.”
If Favre is what Winston will turn out to be, some folks in the other Bay might not mind. After all, Favre did bring home a Super Bowl championship to Green Bay.
[h/t Sporting News]