Jameis Winston = Brad Johnson?

March 5th, 2015
brad johnson

Chucky weighs in

Joe wonders if you can remember the Bucs once had a defense that was boastful, proud, brash and, oh yeah, could — in the immortal words of Mike Ditka — knock the snot out of you.

Yet the team floundered in the playoffs. Could rarely score. That’s when a young, offensive hotshot by the name of Chucky came in.

He gave the Bucs an offense, and — voila! — a Super Bowl champion was born.

The Bucs were led to the title by quarterback Brad Johnson. And Chucky, in announcing his annual TV series where he dissects college quarterbacks for BSPN, “Jon Gruden’s QB Camp,” described possible new Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston and seemed to get wistful thinking of the QB that helped him get his ring.

“Not many people do what Jameis Winston did: first year as a starter winning a National Championship, only one loss in his two years as a starter,” Chucky said. “He’s got great charisma. He’s polarizing for some people but he’s a rare talent. I can’t wait to spend some time with him. I coached the [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] with a Florida State quarterback named Brad Johnson. Things worked out alright.”

This, Joe is looking forward to.

People in the NFL rave about what kind of football IQ Winston has. Part of that was displayed when Steve Mariucci tried to trip him up at the NFL Scouting Combine breaking down plays.

Chucky vs. Winston will be solid TV.

56 Responses to “Jameis Winston = Brad Johnson?”

  1. BFFL Says:

    “trim him up”. Is that what Mariucci did? Asking Winston to describe a play he ran often at FSU. Please stop this charade.

  2. JMan Says:

    We don’t have near the defense at the moment to help carry a Brad Johnson who was good but not great and lacked the athleticism.

    He has to be bette than Brad or we should pass on him. Same with Mariota.
    We already have a Brad Johnson in Glennon.

  3. Pickgrin Says:

    Looking forward to watching both Winston and Mariota working with Gruden.

    Jameis Winston does not = Brad Johnson

    Jameis Winston = the mind of Payton Manning and the skill set of Ben Roethlisberger

  4. Luther Says:

    I expect Winston to be a rock star in Tampa. People will learn to love him in the end.

  5. JMan Says:

    @Luther

    If we draft him, I hope that’strue.

  6. ruggyup Says:

    Just one thing, one more time, who was coaching Brad Johnson? Who will be coaching JW? Thanks, I thought so.

  7. Architek Says:

    I loved Brad and I loved when he would go back at Chucky!

    Oh the good ole days!

  8. Buctebow Says:

    Equating Brad Johnson to Mike Glennon is ludicrous, Johnson was a Bull, he stood in the pocket and made all of throws he needed to and then took the hit and bounced back up. He was a real man at the QB position, maybe not the most talented, or athletic, but he had the smarts to read defenses, move in the pocket and the will to win. With Mike Glennon…I cannot say the same thing, or even close. If we had a real Brad Johnson on the team now, we would not be drafting a QB.

  9. bucs4lyfe Says:

    We already have a Brad Johnson in Glennon.

    you wish glennon was brad Johnson, he might look the part but he plays like Chris simms

  10. R.O. Says:

    Ummmm Bajakian and Koetter will be coaching JW or MM. Confused by your comment?

  11. Buccfan37 Says:

    Man oh man, what Bucs fans would give to have a defense as good as what Gruden led them to the trophy with.

  12. Pickgrin Says:

    A Brad Johnson type player is Glennon’s absolute max ceiling and he’s got a looong way to go to reach that level.

  13. robert 9 Says:

    Brad Johnson was a man, a leader and a bull

    JW is a punk, a rah rah guy-will it translate to the NFL after he threw 3 int’s in the 1st 1/2?, and damn sure not a bull…maybe a bull in a china shop

  14. Zam Says:

    That Mariucci thing is so over-rated. Would be useful if your QB didn’t get to see any plays until the game started. But as is, ridiculous theatre.

    Jaws bad review of him means much more.

  15. Jeagan1999 Says:

    I can’t wait to see both Mariota and Winston with Coach Gruden. So much of being a QB is “between the ears” and Gruden will help them showcase not just their physical traits, but their mental ones too! Bring on the game tapes and the chalkboard!!!

  16. Tiny Tim Says:

    BFFL Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 11:06 am

    “trim him up”. Is that what Mariucci did? Asking Winston to describe a play he ran often at FSU. Please stop this charade.

    ————————————-

    Obviously you did not watch the segment or have no idea how teams evaluate a qb’s football knowledge and comprehension. Mariucci said this was one of “my” favorite red zone plays “I” used to run before he drew up the play. Because winston is well schooled in football lingo, he understood what Mariucci was doing. He even understood the line protection jet smoke was the same line protection he and jimbo fisher used under a different name. Please, if you do not like winston, fine. But do not try and belittle his knowledge or downplay the fact he is smart on the white board. Remember, some are saying his IQ is on the level with Manning. They are not asking him about plays he ran in college which he would obviously have the answers to. They are asking him about plays they think they could possibly trip him up with and they can’t do it. Its as simple as that #lovie

  17. 87ForJameisNOMariota Says:

    Zam does this review by Jaworski mean anything to you too?

    “ESPN’s Ron Jaworski is especially high on Griffin’s NFL prospects, and Jaws was also in attendance at the Baylor workout.”

    “The throws he made were all bona fide NFL-type throws,” Jaworski said, per the Associated Press. “He’s going to be a superstar at the next level.”

  18. Jeff Says:

    Jaws also said that Geno Smith would be a great NFL qb…and look how that turned out. Not saying he’ll always be right but don’t take the taking heads analysis as gold. I’d much rather hear the opinion of true scouts and not from people who get paid to fill air space.

  19. Posey99 Says:

    “Jameis Winston = the mind of Payton Manning and the skill set of Ben
    Roethlisberger”

    Ummmmm… What??

  20. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Title should have been:

    “Jameis Winston = Brad Johnson!!!!”

    just kidding 😉

  21. Skyline Crew Says:

    Are people really defending Brad Johnson? If Winston is Brad then we need to draft Mariota.

  22. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Joe, for some reason, this one page is loading really slow for me. All the others are not, so I think an ad is the culprit. Possible memory leak?

    ON TOPIC
    I don’t think Winston is anything like Brad. At all.

    Winston is this…boom or bust. There will be no middle ground with him. He will never be a potential backup. He will either thrive…or he will blow his career out the window.

  23. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Jeff Says
    “Jaws also said that Geno Smith would be a great NFL qb…”

    Okay, people, let’s get something straight.

    Media guys ALWAYS talk players up during the draft season. ALWAYS. Just like coaches almost always talk up their team players during the season.

    People do not tune in to hear negatives. To learn the player their team took will suck. People want to hope. And the networks know this, so they pander to the masses.

    So, Jaws may have said many players would be good that were not…but his record is NO WORSE THAN ANY OTHER MEDIA GUY.

    Get real. Understand the way things are done. Media guys are told what angle to present before they even go on the air.

  24. Bucfever40 Says:

    I too can’t wait to see Gruden’s assessment of our new QB to be. If anything, Gruden will try to exploit any weakness mentally, but I think he is going to be pleasantly surprised by Winston’s football IQ, this is a trait that is God given and Winston has loads of it! There are some physically talented QB’s in this league, but have average decision making skills under pressure, but THIS kid is something special and will win fans immediately. Jameis Winston has the “it” factor written all over him, he’s a winner that refuses to lose and I believe he is going to transform this team instantly into a contender, much like Luck did in Indy……take it to the bank!!

  25. 87ForJameisNOMariota Says:

    BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    “Winston is this…boom or bust.”

    Alas we agree Bonzai. Only I think he will boom and you think he will bust.

  26. Jeff Says:

    Bonzai I agree with you that everyone has an angle that they are trying to push (esp BSPN). The point I was trying to make is that I think the true option of scouts matter more than what a taking head is told to present.

    The comment of “Jaws bad review means so much more” should be taken with a grain of salt if the talking heads are being told what to pump to the masses, which we both agree on.

  27. cmurda Says:

    BFFL Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 11:06 am
    “trim him up”. Is that what Mariucci did? Asking Winston to describe a play he ran often at FSU. Please stop this charade.

    Exactly why Jameis is the right choice. You just made all the Winston supporters argument for us. He ran that play often. Just like he ran many of the plays that are run in the NFL often. Something that can’t be said of Mariota. You won’t catch me dogging Mariota just because Winston is the guy I want. But, facts are facts and nobody, not even self-admitted Mariota, knows how Mariota will adjust to NFL offenses under center. There’s only a handful of offenses in the NFL that even run a remote version of what Marcus ran at Oregon. I’ll take the guy that will put asses in the seats at Ray Jay and has experience successfully running the type of offense we will see in Tampa.

  28. Skyline Crew Says:

    @cmurda

    Problem is we don’t know what type of offense we will see.

  29. WS99 Says:

    Jameis Winston = the mind of Payton Manning and the skill set of Ben Roethlisberger

    Nice!

  30. JoeJoes Fungi Nails Says:

    Yeah…he’ll be a back up for most of his career…then finally “get it ” with another team

  31. Lord Cornelius Says:

    I think Jaws is just obsessed with arm strength / throwing mechanics.

    It’s why he’s always been so giddy for guys like Cutler / Kaep / Rg3. He loves that strong arm; and he thought Kaep could be the best QB ever; which means he places a TON of weight into physical attributes and not much into the ability to read defenses (Kaep’s weakness).

    The ability to read & attack a defense is the #1 important trait in a QB imo. Peyton Manning has no agility and not much of an arm but is one of the best QBs of all time simply because of his mental accumen and approach to attacking defenses.

    This is why I thought Winston would be the next great NFL QB just from watching his first start vs Pitt. At 19 years old the dude was going through progressions like a master chess player of sorts and dropping dimes on every WR. Only 2 passes were incomplete and they were actually caught out of bounds; so not a single drop. That’s the kind of insane potential he has.

    He definitely struggles a bit in some games last year; mostly early; but finished his last couple games strong; and played mostly amazing in every 2nd half which is typically the more important one with the most pressure

  32. Erik with CleanAthletics.com Says:

    I think Winston is going to end up damaging alot of people’s credibility when he tanks in the NFL. We already have a pocket passer on our roster. We need a mobile guy like Lovie was trying to do by bringing in McCown. Everyone knows that Lovie loves mobility in a QB.

  33. feelthepewterpower Says:

    Does the QB camp aire early April?? Anyone know??

  34. C-rock Says:

    For some strange reason I see Warren Moon in Jameis.

  35. Tiny Tim Says:

    Skyline Crew Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    @cmurda

    Problem is we don’t know what type of offense we will see.

    ———————–

    Yes we do. Atlanta ran the offense for the past 3 years with a pocket qb.

  36. jfat Says:

    “Just like he ran many of the plays that are run in the NFL often. Something that can’t be said of Mariota”— False statement.

    The Oregon offense has plenty of plays that are used in the NFL. The pacing is the only thing that makes it “gimmicky” as people like to call it.

  37. Eric Says:

    Johnson to Jurevicius……..

    You go Joe!!!!!!!

    Amazes me how bucs fans take shots at guys who accomplished great things.

    SMH

  38. Luther Says:

    C-rock Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 2:13 pm
    For some strange reason I see Warren Moon in Jameis.

    ——————————–

    I’ll take that

  39. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    At this stage….no QB compares to Brad Johnson….and no coach compares to Jon Gruden…..they are Buc SB champions…pure and simple….all others are “potential”….

  40. ddneast Says:

    I saw the segment Three of four times Tiny Tim and you are correct in the way you described the scenario.

  41. the real Buck Bruce Says:

    It would not surprise me if teams glaser tells jameson winston NO, we will not take you number 1 he will still show up to camp he doesn’t understand the word NO just ask the girl he raped.hehehe

  42. jfat Says:

    @Tiny Tim – What Koetter ran in ATL doesn’t have much anything to do with what he will run here. He has said he will adapt his playcalls to his players’ strengths. Right OC for the job regardless of which QB gets drafted.

  43. Hawk Says:

    I find it humorous that people think the Glennon/Johnson comparison is of Johnson at the end of his career while Glennon is at the beginning of his. If you want to make fun of the comparison, look at Johnsons’ first years against Glennons’.

    It’s not really fair to compare the careers of two different players. The most important reason is that the teams they played for and played against are different.
    And in this comparison, it is very important to note that Brad had the luxury of watching and learning for 2 1/2 years before being ‘thrown’ into the starting job. He had actual mentors who mentored, and coaches who coached.
    But just to throw the facts into the conversation…
    Glennons’s first 9 games (starting)
    64.53% pass compl.
    13-5 TD/INT
    7.37 Y/A
    94.78 QBR

    Brad’s first 9 games (rookie & second season mop-up duty)
    64.45% pass compl.
    0-2 TD/INT
    5.85 Y/A
    68.4 QBR
    Lest I not be called unfair, here are the stats from Brad’s first 9 ‘starts’ (these are from his THIRD and FOURTH years in the league)
    61.77% pass compl.
    17-11 TD/INT
    7.48 Y/A
    89.57 QBR
    So, we shouldn’t have any more ‘comparisons’ because comparing Johnson to Glennon is silly enough without comparing him to someone who hasn’t even taken an NFL snap at all.

  44. Skyline Crew Says:

    @tinytim

    Seriously doubt we use the same offense that Atlanta used. If we do then we can count those as loses because the defense will know exactly what we are doing.

  45. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Greg Cosell’s recent comments on Winston:

    “I’ve watched a lot more of Winston since we spoke last week, and the more I watch him, the more I saw flaws. We know the quarterbacks are going to be drafted high, Winston and Mariota, that’s likely to happen. But I think Winston has a lot of flaws that concern me, and I’m talking about flaws on film not the other stuff. It was interesting to me that the more I watched him, the less I liked him.

    “Well the two main flaws are his decision-making within the context of his offense, and that’s the only way you can judge it. Last week we talked about Mariota mastering his offense, and Winston was not a very good decision-maker within the context of his offense. And the other thing is his accuracy is very erratic.

    “He’s an interesting thrower, Ross, because he holds the ball perfectly when he drops back, but then he drops the ball down before he throws it. He has kind of a little loop in his throw. And then he drops he the ball down and then he has to raise it back up as he brings his arm back, and oftentimes that leads to high throws. So my guess is that’s the way he throws. I’m not sure you can change that. So his accuracy tends to be a little inconsistent and a little erratic.

    “And I think when you talk about decision-making and ball placement, I think those are two really important issues as you transition a quarterback to the NFL.”

  46. "TheKevin" Says:

    So glad all you “experts” are here to go against anything someone with credibility says.

    Bunch of idiots. You can throw out all the numbers you want but add all of you morons together and you all still wouldn’t know as much as chucky.

  47. Erik with CleanAthletics.com Says:

    For the record, Chucky would pick Mariota over Winston…. And I definitely agree with that analysis by Greg Cosell. Thanks for posting, TBBF

  48. Tiny Tim Says:

    @ Jfat and Skyline

    I am sorry. I thought having Vjax and Evans is kind of like having Julio and Roddy White. I could be wrong but those players have similar skill sets. Also, how many OC or DC change their entire philosophy when they arrive at a new team due to personnel? Did Gruden change his west coast playbook because Brad Johnson was not as mobile as Montana, Young, Farve, Cunningham, or Gannon all qb’s he had the pleasure of working with prior? Believe me, we have seen Koetter’s offense before and it will be ran right here.

  49. Tiny Tim Says:

    Erik with CleanAthletics.com Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    For the record, Chucky would pick Mariota over Winston…

    ——————

    That is news to me. Please tell me where you got this information from or are you one of those posters who like to make up stories for and about mariotta?

  50. jfat Says:

    @Tiny Tim – Not saying the entire philosophy will change, just saying he wont require a “pocket passer” to make the offense work.

  51. Barry Says:

    He’s not as smart as peoples make him out to be. Anyone who runs out onto the field fully dressed when they’ve been suspended and the coach has to tell him to go back into the locker and get into street clothes isn’t a very smart person. #CompleteembarrassmentToFSU

  52. lurker Says:

    barry
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToHisParents
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToLogic
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToHumankind
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToJBF
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToDecency
    #CompleteEmbarrassmentToCarThieves

  53. lurker Says:

    “Please tell me where you got this information from ”

    he pulled it from his a$$, like most things he says

  54. 2nd Gen TampaNative Says:

    I’ve been thinking this since combine and I hope Joe takes a hard look at this statement: Jameis Winston = JaMarcus Russell. As a lifetime bucs fan, I hope I’m wrong. I won’t go into the similarities, but rather see if anyone bites on this. No, I’m not trolling, I hope to get some good opinions from some of the longtime site members, and Joe himself. I might drop this comment in a newer post if I font see much response.

  55. Tiny Tim Says:

    jfat Says:
    March 5th, 2015 at 6:28 pm
    @Tiny Tim – Not saying the entire philosophy will change, just saying he wont require a “pocket passer” to make the offense work.

    ———

    He may not “require” a pocket passer, but he wants a qb that he does not have to start from scratch with. Matt ryan was pro ready regardless of his 19 INTS. Thats why I believe, Jameis is pro ready regardless of his 18 INTs. Plus the bucs do not have the personnel to run a spread offense. Their personnel is tailored made for Jameis and what Koetter did in ATL.

  56. Caleb Says:

    Jamies winston= the mind of an immature kid and nothing but trouble if the Bucs draft him.

    But you know what, you guys are right, we should be like the raiders. I guess there’s gotta be some dumbass teams is the league that always make the mistakes. If we draft jamies Winston might as well just call us Radier nation as well.

    I’m a realist though and accept that that’s what we’re probably going to do, so I guess if that’s what happens then I’ll support him just like I have every other guy. I will say this though, if we don’t do something to fix the O-line he’s going to get smashed just like Josh and Mike did last year. Glennon I think a lot of you underestimate because of the shit show he’s been thrown into the two years they gave him a shot.

    First year, the freeman drama, gets thrown in as a rookie with no O-line, the run game non-existent to help him out, but yet he still did pretty damn good considering.

    Second year, gets thrown in behind an even wors O-line with an even less effective run game and still threw more TDs than INTs. A lot better than what I can say of McCown.

    I think if we focused on the real problem (O-line) it would not only make our running game more effective but it would take all the pressure off the QB to do everything, and we as fans sit he and get mad because we ran the ball got negative yards then expect the QB (Glennon) to throw us out of it every time behind an O-line that barely blocks one guy on every play.

    Open your eyes people, the problem isn’t the QB. Do you all remember when josh freeman had that really good year in 2010. Yeah, well the o-line was blocking really well, we also had a 1,000 yard rusher to take the pressure off and since we could run the ball that year behind a good O-line it force the to respect the run game and the WR were in single coverage on the outside a lot with no safety help. Makes thing much easier on the QB to throw a guy open when only one guy is guarding him.

    Prediction for the next years season an on. We fix the O-line in the free agency period, draft Winston, he does well behind a good O-line, have almost 2 1,000 rushers in Martin and Sims. But yet Winston will get all the credit for turning things around because people over look the most important part of football. BLOCKING!!! But to continue Winston will get his ass in trouble at some point he’ll fade out probably sometime down the road. Then we’ll be forced to start Glennon if we’re lucky enough to still have him on the roster and he’ll do just as well if not better. Then this #1 pick will be a story of a wasted pick just like so many others.

    #defense wins championships!