It seems the growing chorus of NFL pundits connecting Jameis Winston to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first-overall selection in the first-round of the 2015 NFL Draft may need to rethink their assumptions - at least partially.
According to a report from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, Bucs head coach Lovie Smith and GM Jason Licht still have fairly major concerns about Winston's pro prospects and, as such, haven't ruled out the possibility of taking former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota instead.
"While the Buccaneers are overwhelmingly expected to take Jameis Winston with the No. 1-overall pick, there is some thinking and consideration about Marcus Mariota and ultimately, whether off-field issues regarding Winston will eventually push the Buccaneers to take Mariota instead of Winston," Cole reports.
The Bucs brass traveled to view both prospects this week, heading to Oregon on Tuesday to see Mariota and Wednesday, Tallahassee to visit with Winston. Per Cole, that was for a specific reason.
"According to sources I've talked to, what the Buccaneers are attempting to do in this situation is to get as close as live look as they possibly can at both players on back-to-back days to ensure they have it fresh in their minds what these two players look like, how they handle themselves, how they conduct themselves."
While that in itself isn't really groundbreaking stuff, it is interesting when combined with the notion that Mariota remains in play for Tampa Bay despite the presumption that Winston will be their guy.
It was reported last week that some in the NFL and specifically the Bucs organization were "scared" of Winston due to the notion that he sometimes acts "like a 10-year-old."
Wednesday, HNGN passed along a report from Gil Arcia of The Bay Cave, that Winston was pushing the Bucs to offer him "confirmation" that he would, in fact, be their first-round selection in late April.
Interestingly, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock updated his pre-draft prospect rankings on Wednesday and moved Winston out of the top spot in favor of Mariota.
What all this amounts to could potentially be nothing.
Winston's off-the-field issues are as well-documented as his on-field exploits - he's considered the top prospect in the 2015 NFL Draft for a reason.
The fact that the Bucs have yet to commit to him this far along in the process, is however, cause for pause.
