Scandal-tainted college football star Jameis Winston was handed the daunting task of reviving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being chosen as the top pick in the NFL draft on Thursday.
The Heisman Trophy-winning Florida State quarterback was widely expected to be chosen by the Buccaneers, who are desperate to halt a slide in fortunes that has seen them fail to reach the playoffs for the past seven seasons.
The Buccaneers have also failed to win a postseason game since their memorable triumph in the 2002 Super Bowl, and finished last year’s National Football League campaign with a dismal 2-14 record.
Winston will be saddled with the responsibility of forging a franchise-changing upturn in the club’s fortunes, but the 21-year-old, who did not attend Thursday’s event in Chicago, comes with baggage.
Winston, the youngest winner of the Heisman Trophy in 2013, has already faced his fair share of controversy.
He was accused of sexually assaulting a college student although he was never arrested or charged, and also courted controversy when he was accused of shoplifting crab legs from a supermarket.
He was banned for one game last year for shouting a sexually explicit obscenity after climbing onto a college campus table.
With player conduct the dominant issue in the NFL over the past year following a series of domestic violence scandals, the Buccaneers carried out extensive checks on the player’s character before the draft.
However the likelihood he would be chosen by the Buccaneers was all but guaranteed in March when general manager Jason Licht spoke glowingly about the player’s qualities after meeting him.
“He’s lively, he’s engaging, he’s incredibly smart, he confirmed all the things we thought about him going into this process,” Licht said.
The Buccaneers owners, the Glazer family, who also own English Premier League giants Manchester United, were also reported to be enthusiastic about recruiting Winston despite his off-the-field record.
Buccaneers veterans had also signalled that they would crack down on Winston in the locker room if he stepped out of line, suggesting they would take a dim view of his brash style.
“If we draft him and he comes into the locker room, we have 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,” star linebacker Lavonte David told The Tampa Tribune.
First round of the NFL Draft (pick number, team, player, position, college):
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jameis Winston, quarterback, Florida State
2. Tennessee Titans — Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Oregon
3. Jacksonville Jaguars — Dante Fowler, Jr., defensive end, Florida
4. Oakland Raiders — Amari Cooper, wide receiver, Alabama
5. Washington Redskins — Brandon Scherff, offensive tackle, Iowa
6. New York Jets — Leonard Williams, defensive tackle, USC
7. Chicago Bears — Kevin White, wide receiver, West Virginia
8. Atlanta Falcons — Vic Beasley, defensive end, Clemson
9. New York Giants — Ereck Flowers, offensive tackle, Miami
10. St. Louis Rams — Todd Gurley, running back, Georgia
11. Minnesota Vikings — Trace Waynes, cornerback, Michigan State
12. Cleveland Browns — Danny Shelton, defensive tackle, Washington
13. New Orleans Saints — Andrus Peat, offensive tackle, Stanford
14. Miami Dolphins — DeVante Parker, wide receiver, Louisville
15. San Diego (from San Francisco) -- Melvin Gordon, running back, Wisconsin
16. Houston Texans — Kevin Johnson, cornerback, Wake Forest
17. San Francisco (from San Diego) -- Arik Armstead, defensive end, Oregon
18. Kansas City Chiefs — Marcus Peters, cornerback, Washington
19. Cleveland Browns (from Buffalo) -- Cameron Erving, centre, Florida State
20. Philadelphia Eagles — Nelson Agholor, wide receiver, USC
21. Cincinnati Bengals — Cedric Ogbuehi, offensive tackle, Texas A&M
22. Pittsburgh Steelers — Bud Dupree, linebacker, Kentucky
23. Denver Broncos (from Detroit) -- Shane Ray, defensive end, Missouri
24. Arizona Cardinals — D.J. Humphries, offensive tackle, Florida
25. Carolina Panthers — Shaq Thompson, linebacker, Washington
26. Baltimore Ravens — Breshad Perriman, wide receiver, Central Florida
27. Dallas Cowboys — Byron Jones, cornerback, Dallas
28. Detroit Lions (from Denver) -- Laken Tomlinson, guard, Duke
29. Indianapolis Colts — Phillip Dorsett, wide receiver, Miami
30. Green Bay Packers — Damarious Randall, safety, Arizona State
31. New Orleans Saints (from Seattle) -- Stephone Anthony, linebacker, Clemson
32. New England Patriots — Malcolm Brown, defensive tackle, Texas
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