To cap off a lackluster season, allegations were brought against Jameis Winston involving an Uber driver. With the NFL looking into the allegations, Winston could be facing a lengthy suspension. To find the precedent of how long that suspension might be, look no further than Ezekiel Elliott’s case. After a lengthy appeals process, he ultimately ended up serving a full 6-week suspension. Winston could suffer the same fate.
With the possibility of Winston being out for the first 6 weeks of the season, the results could be disastrous if we don’t have a solid player at QB. The Bucs front office is, without a doubt, planning the season without Winston to start, but the question is are they confident with the second and third string options?
Backup Ryan Fitzpatrick’s play while filling in for an injured Winston revealed a mixed bag. There were moments where he seemed to be “Fitzmagic” and others where he was “Fitzrusty”. Over his 5 game stint, he went 2-3. While a below average mark, is it enough for Licht and Co. to put faith in him through week 6 of the 2018 season?
If the answer is no, you could then turn to 5 year pro Ryan Griffin. While Griffin has not played one series in a regular season game, he did have 1 pre-season game of solid play and has spent the past 3 years under Koetter’s system. While there would be some growing pains with him due to inexperience, if you turned to him the belief would be that his time in the system would help him adjust quickly.
If the front office passes over both of those options, then they would be forced to sign a backup via free agency. With the currently expected QB pool, would you be able to sign someone who has more talent and a better record than Fitzpatrick or Griffin, but willing to play the role of backup?
In a time where it is extremely unclear if Winston will be available week 1, one thing is for sure; if the Bucs want to right their ship in 2018 they must go .500 or greater through week 6 to have a shot to take this franchise to the next level.
Edited By: Morgan Adele
