Jameis Winston Has Same Faults as Jamarcus Russell, Says Anonymous Personnel Executive

Here we go. Bob McGinn of the Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel already gave us the anonymous scout take on several prospects, including a scout who tried to talk about the Second Law of Thermodynamics when it came to Jameis Winston. This year, he went ahead and separated out another Jameis Winston one just in time for draft week. It will surely cause no discussion.

"“With Jameis Winston I see JaMarcus Russell,” a longtime executive in personnel said. “Isn’t it interesting?” *** “Lack of focus by JaMarcus is what I see in Winston,” the personnel man said. “They’re physically talented, but during the course of a game they kind of lose their focus and just put the ball up for grabs. “I see the body. I see the lack of focus. I see the same coach and system. Only Winston’s not as good an athlete and his arm isn’t as strong as JaMarcus’.”"

It is interesting that an executive would see Jamarcus Russell when he looks at Jameis Winston–hey, there first names even start with the same 3 letters, it’s begging to be made–and every white receiver who has been compared to Wes Welker agrees. Look, there are plenty of concerns about Jameis Winston. I get why a team would be hesitant, and this latest dumbness with the comments to Jim Harbaugh about someone giving him free food in the Crab Legs incident (after never mentioning it anywhere else and ignoring the topic until pushed) is the latest.

But JaMarcus Russell actually didn’t throw as many interceptions in college, and put up far worse numbers otherwise. He was a scout’s lovefest at the time because of his arm strength and pro day. The comparison is a dicey one to make, and one can have concerns about Winston without invoking Russell.

The piece also says that a poll of 19 executives had Mariota rated slightly higher than Winston when they were asked to rank the quarterbacks 1-5 in this year’s draft.