A photo of a shirtless Jameis Winston has the NFL world a buzz about his apparent lack of conditioning. The photo, which appeared on Twitter Saturday, shows Winston working out with a plus-sized belly. In other news, that may be the first time "plus-sized belly" has ever been used in a sports article.
The validity of the photo is unknown at this point, but this is not the type of thing Winston wants NFL teams focusing on with the NFL draft right around the corner. For what it's worth, QB coach George Whitfield - who is working one-on-one with Winston in preparation for the combine - is not worried.
"The photo of Jameis was taken in early-mid January," Whitfield said to Jason McIntyre of TheBigLead.com.
"If people are saying he looks out of shape - well, did they notice he had the leash tight around his waist? That may have had something to do with it," Whitfield said, laughing.
"Jameis is in shape and doing great. Anyone saying he's out of shape, they can check him out at the combine this week."
Whatever type of shape Winston is in will be revealed soon enough. What won't become apparent is if he has put all of his off-field issues behind him.
"If you base things purely off of Winston's game tape, he is the clear-cut No. 1 prospect in this class and the best quarterback I've evaluated the past decade not named Andrew Luck," ESPN NFL Draft Insider Todd McShay wrote. "Winston has very good arm strength and excels from the pocket, showing the ability to anticipate throws and make NFL-style reads. He also appears to be a very good on-field leader. The risk with Winston has to do with his well-documented off-field behavioral issues, and teams that consider drafting him will have to be comfortable with him from a character and psychological standpoint before taking him to be the face of the franchise."
