Bruce Arians' "no risk it, no biscuit" offensive approach allowed Jameis Winston to throw for 33 touchdowns and 5,109 yards in 2019. He also led the NFL with 30 interceptions, leading to the Buccaneers moving on with Tom Brady in 2020, and Winston having to re-establish himself as a backup with the New Orleans Saints.
As it turns out, getting to take a step back for a year may ultimately prove to be a blessing in disguise. In a recent interview with Michael Vick, Winston said that if he had the chance to speak to the younger version of himself that was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, he'd stress at a lot of the principles that he picked up from a season of being Drew Brees' teammate.
"I'd tell myself [that] one play is not going to win the game for you - you can't win the game off of one big play. Take your completions. Let you consistency outlast everything else," Winston said. "That's one thing that I admire about Drew Brees. Drew isn't going to necessarily shock you with no-look passes...or deep bombs down the field...or scrambling to pick up a first down. But what he is going to do is be consistent. You know what you're going to get from Drew every single day. You know the decisions he's going to make.
"Drew taught me something, he always told me 'Man, do not live your career on the result. Base your career on the decision. You know that if you make the right decisions, it's going to lead to wins...it's going to lead to consistency...it's going to lead to continuity. And that's what you base it off of.' He's one of the best situational, third-down, two-minute quarterbacks that I've ever been around...that I've ever been able to lay my eyes on and learn from...seeing how he approaches every single day. His consistency wasn't just on the field, his consistency wasn't just in completions, bro, it was in his routine off the field. He was doing the same thing every day, despite battling injuries. He was doing the same thing every day, and that's where consistency starts.
"And I think, as a young me, I was so infatuated by the big play...I was so infatuated with having sparks...having flashes. But when you think deep down into it, it's about play, after play, after play, after play. It's not about the special play, it's about the right play."
Though nothing has been announced yet, the expectation is that Brees is going to retire. Potentially, that could pave the way for Winston to have a second act of his career being coached by Sean Payton, and having Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders to lean on.
To get to that point, a few things will have to be worked out. First, Brees will have to actually retire. Second, Winston will have to re-sign with the Saints, who are said to have interest in a reunion with the 27-year-old. And third, he'll have to either beat out Taysom Hill for the job in training camp, or wait for Hill to either underperform or get injured in the regular season.
One thing we do know is that the last time that Winston had a year where he could take a step back and not have to worry about playing every week was his redshirt freshman season at Florida State. Over the course of the next two seasons, Winston tossed 65 touchdown passes, won a Heisman Trophy and helped Florida State to win a National Championship. There are quite a few people around the sport eager to see what he does this time around.
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