Last year, the Buccaneers not surprisingly made a former Florida State quarterback the first overall pick in the draft. This year, the Bucs surprisingly used a second-round pick to acquire kicker Roberto Aguayo.
“It’s special to have another Seminole on the roster,” quarterback Jameis Winston told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot of Gators on this roster so I’m glad we’ve got Roberto with me.”
So why is Aguayo such an attractive option?
“Other than he’s automatic, he’s competitive as well,” Winston said. “He’s always having fun out there. He has a different swagger for a kicker. He’s always focused but he likes to have fun doing it.”
This doesn’t change the fact that the Bucs are bring criticized for taking Aguayo so high in the process.
“Opinions are always going to be out there,” Winston said. “I’m just happy to have Roberto on this team. Just like a lot of people had opinions about me when I first came out and first started the season, like Roberto’s going to do, he’s going to shut them up. . . . We came in together at Florida State so we always were close. I always knew he was good because we always used to say that Florida State 2012 class was the best class to ever come through Florida State, so we always stood by that. We always were good buddies.”
Winston’s comments come a day after the man who put that recruiting class together once again said “never say never” about making the leap to the NFL. With team ownership showing increasing impatience with the team’s inability to contend on a regular basis, there may eventually be one more addition to the Tallahassee reunion.