NFL Draft 2015: Jameis Winston's Pro Day Was Neither Good Nor Bad and Ultimately Doesn't Matter
ByJameis Winston is not exactly getting sweeping praise for his performance at Florida State's pro day ahead of the NFL Draft, but several evaluators believe that will not matter.
Pre-draft workouts such as the combine and individual schools' pro days are not meant to affect a player's stock heavily, as teams are focusing more on game tape. Still, they are an opportunity for a player to interact with the people who are evaluating them and essentially shaping their public persona.
ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay said he was "underwhelmed" by Winston's pro day in a tweet posted during the workout based on the elite arm talent many believe the QB to have. Later that day, he posted an Insider-only piece on ESPN's website describing how Winston "threw well" despite the drills being designed to catch him off-guard.
One criticism against Winston has been his inaccuracy while throwing on the run. George Whitfield, the QB's trainer, said there would be throwing drills designed to quell those concerns, though Chase Goodbread wrote for NFL.com those drills "didn't go well."
Yet Winston managed to uncork a deep ball while throwing on the run that hit his receiver in stride en route to the end zone.
Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson and Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman were among those unimpressed by Winston's pro day performance. As Goodbread noted, Winston did not give evaluators any reason to drop him off the top of the draft board, but nor did he do anything to remedy his on-field criticisms.
Rob Rang wrote for CBS Sports that Winston's pro day was likely never going to have a major impact at all. Since he played in a pro-style offense at Florida State, evaluators already knew he is capable of several things an NFL QB should be able to do.
Rang called the workout a "formality" and suggested evaluators were more interested in everything he did that did not involve throwing a football.