Quarterback Jameis Winston isn’t a member of the Buccaneers, but he’s expected to be their pick with the top choice in the draft on Thursday night.
Linebacker Lavonte David isn’t waiting for his potential teammate to become an actual teammate before sharing some thoughts on the course of action Winston should take if he does become a member of the club. On Tuesday, David said that Winston shouldn’t let his high profile and college success make him forget that he still has a lot to learn.
“We’ve got guys in this locker room with great character and once he comes, if we draft him and he comes into the locker room, we have some guys, some veteran guys, that will pull him to the side and make him understand that there’s a role here he has to play and sometimes he may have to tone that down,” David said, via the Tampa Tribune. “Some guys may just say ‘Be yourself, that’s who you are so be yourself.’ But I don’t think [Winston] will be a distraction or anything like that. I’m sure if he comes in he’ll adapt to what we have going on in the locker room.”
Any player going from being an accomplished college player to a neophyte in the NFL is going to have to make adjustments to both their game and personality to make sure the transition goes smoothly. The issue can be more complicated with a quarterback because he needs to be a leader while making the adjustment, but one would imagine the Bucs are fairly sure Winston can handle it if they make him the first pick.