Jameis Winston is the favorite to win the Week One starting job with the Saints

Posted by Mike Florio on May 22, 2021, 9:49 AM EDT
Tampa Bay Buccaneers v New Orleans Saints
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Taysom Hill makes more money than Jameis Winston. Bettors will make more money if Hill ends up starting for the Saints over Jameis Winston.

Via DraftKings, the odds for Winston serving as the Week One starting quarterback for the Saints stand at -200. For Hill, the odds are +145.

Rookie Ian Book stands as the long shot, at +3300.

Last year, Hill started when Drew Brees was injured, fulfilling a promise coach Sean Payton had made to Hill. Payton also promised to give Winston a chance to compete for the job in 2021. Winston will get it.

Whoever wins the competition, Payton has proven that he (unlike most coaches) can keep the plans quiet until whenever Payton wants the rest of the world to know what they are.

If it’s Winston, consider this. Joe Barry now runs the Green Bay defense. When he served as assistant head coach/linebackers coach with the Rams in 2019, Winston and the Buccaneers put up 55 points in L.A., with Winston throwing four touchdown passes.

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30 responses to “Jameis Winston is the favorite to win the Week One starting job with the Saints”

  2. New Orleans fans better hope this is not the case. The Saints win with consistent QB play and few turnovers. They will get just the opposite from Winston. New Orleans should have kept Bridgewater if Hill wasn’t sure to be the “guy”.

  4. It’s such an odd and eclectic collection of QBs for Sean Payton….but the obvious thing is, not one of these QBs will even come close to replacing Drew Brees’ leadership and production.

  5. Brees was an outlier in so many ways, including his freakish ability to retain and draw upon massive amounts of information instantaneously. This allowed the ‘mad scientist’ in Payton to draw up countless play and formation variations, knowing that Brees could select and execute the right one at a moment’s notice. Payton and the Saints won’t have that luxury anymore, and will have to work within the limitations (no disrespect) of Winston and Hill. If Payton can somehow coax 10 or 11 wins out of either (or both) QBs, he should be coach of the year, hands down

  6. Going to miss Brees so much. Either new QB is going to be a stark difference. Winston is more of a traditional QB, even if he’s error prone. Hill is basically Tebow.

  7. Ian Book +3300 feels like a good bet given that injuries happen, Covid happens, and Taysom Hill is a package sort of QB.

    It’s not that far fetched to see Book take the first snap of the season and thus win the bet, even if he isn’t their guy for any sustained period.

  8. There is going to be a changing of the guard in the NFC. Brady is great but I bet we will see Winston vs Fields in the NFC championship game.

  9. There was a window open for awhile and now it is closed. Hill is not a starting NFL QB; Winston might be. Book is a day 3 pick

  10. Yikes… Winston went from first overall draft pick to a slight favorite to beat out a running back for the starting QB gig.

  12. Goff had 3 picks and fumble returned for a TD in that 2019 game against the Bucs. Goff handed the Bucs 28 points and most likely the Rams win the game 40-27 without Goff’s blunders.

    I would slow your roll on putting Jameis in the Hall Of Fame off that 2019 game.

  13. If Jameis Winstonnis your starting QB either your team is in big trouble or you are tanking to take a QB in the draft.

  14. Saints ain’t going no where with Winston qb. Call it another Covid season.

  15. Jameis is terrible at QB we couldn’t wait to ship him out of town here in TB

  16. I am trying to look at Winston objectively. His situation with the Bucs, where he was the top pick and was handed the job from the start, is entirely different than it is with the Saints, where he sat for a year with the opportunity to learn from Brees and Payton. Now he must earn the job. None of knows what Payton knows. Only he knows if Winston learned anything last season, particularly about protecting the ball. What we know, however, is that Winston didn’t learn a thing in Tampa Bay.

  17. Jameis Winston probably isn’t the guy, but gimmick QB Taysom Hill definitely isn’t the guy.

  19. lot of people here seem to think jameis can’t turn it around…look at tannehil he was left for dead and he doesn’t have half of the natural talent jameis has..hell he was the best saints qb in the playoffs last year lol

  20. Bruce Arians is a great coach. He thought he could fix Jameis, too. But Jameis wasn’t broken. He’s just a great athlete who can run every play in practice very well. But there’s no defense in practice. Then he runs the game the same way he does in practice, but there is a defense on game day, and he’ll throw into double or triple coverage, as if there was no defense. He was the same exact way at Florida State. He can throw for 6,000 yards and 40 TD’s, but he can also throw 30-40 interceptions. This is the real Jameis. He’s not broken. That’s just the way he’s going to play. Lots of coaches might think they can fix him, but like I said, he’s not broken. He’s made tens of millions of dollars doing it his way. Why on earth would he change? He has never played any differently. He’s no longer a young QB. I’d actually have to see him start week 1 to believe Payton is choosing him. I don’t see it.

  21. Didn’t Jameis have problems with his eyes and got surgery last off season to correct it? If the problem’s solved, with a year of taking a seat, he could be the guy. I wouldn’t write him off just yet.

  22. Winston threw for 5100 yards in 2019 with bad eyesight.
    in 2020 he had Lasik surgery, correcting his vision and depth perception.
    Also, he spent 202 as a redshirt learning year in the Saints offices.
    Winston will have spectacular season in 2021, and the Saints Offense will be a formidable Juggernaut

  23. ahzroc says:
    May 22, 2021 at 4:35 pm
    Winston threw for 5100 yards in 2019 with bad eyesight.
    in 2020 he had Lasik surgery, correcting his vision and depth perception.
    Also, he spent 202 as a redshirt learning year in the Saints offices.
    Winston will have spectacular season in 2021, and the Saints Offense will be a formidable Juggernaut

    When you have a Hall of Fame QB (Drew Brees) for so long, it really causes a fan base to live in an alternate reality.

  24. I’m confident the other 3 NFC South teams are sure hoping this becomes true..
    5 years of guaranteed multiple picks and and couple pick 6s every game will continue!
    Either way, not one of the QBs on this Saints team is any threat…
    The saints will contended with the Panthers for the NFCS basement…

    The NFCS crown will inevitably be between the Falcons and Bucs!

  25. Winston could be much improved under new coaching and better system. Even Brady looked miserable in Arians offense until they clearly modified it.

  26. The only people on here who might be worth listening to are the Bucs fans, who actually watched him for the last few years. I find it hard to believe anybody else has actually watched him play more than two full games. You mean to tell me these people all watched Pre-Brady Bucs games on Direct TV? Yeah right. Let’s see what happens, but I think he easily throws for 4500 yards and 30+ TDs, if he can do that with 15 or less picks, it’ll be 11-6 at worst.

  27. With Payton as coach and a solid running game, I think that Winston will play well. I would rather havve Winston at, I believe $8 million this year, than Dak at $40 mil plus, in addition to all of the guaranteed money.

  28. I’m in Tampa. Watched Winston lose games many times due to turnovers. The eye surgery may have changed his ability to see developments downfield more accurately and therefore result in his throwing to the right guy rather than a pick six. If that’s the case, the Saints will be a formidable team because Winston is loaded with talent, is a leader, and is a true gunslinger.

  29. Winston and the Buccaneers put up 55 points in L.A.
    ___
    This says more about how Barry the it does about winston

  30. cheeseisfattening says:
    May 23, 2021 at 12:34
    This says more about how Barry the it does about winston
    Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    This says more about how you the it does about Barry.

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