When the magazine comes out, Jameis Winston's lofty ranking might surprise some readers. But while his season-long numbers weren't terribly impressive, recall that he suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined or limited him for six games. When fully healthy, he was awfully productive. But sounds like he'll need to be moved down a little due to a suspension.
Winston is apparently facing a suspension due to a March 2016 Uber incident; the wheels of punishment moves slowly at times. The report indicates the suspension isn't likely to be more than three games, and perhaps only one. Big difference; drafting a quarterback as a starter who will miss one game is not a huge issue, but three is a healthy enough chunk that you'd need to spend another decent pick on a quarterback to cover his absence.
When Winston was on the field and fully healthy a year ago, he was a top-10 fantasy quarterback. Even counting the three games he played in but was either knocked out of or clearly impaired by his shoulder injury, he was the 13th-ranked fantasy quarterback, based on per-game numbers (minimum 5 starts).
| QUARTERBACKS, FANTASY POINTS PER START, 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | PYd | RYd | TD | Pts |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 6 | 266.2 | 42.2 | 3.33 | 32.2 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 248.9 | 36.6 | 2.31 | 26.0 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 13 | 253.5 | 23.0 | 2.54 | 25.7 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 15 | 269.5 | 23.7 | 1.80 | 23.2 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 7 | 239.3 | 18.0 | 2.29 | 22.9 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 16 | 206.4 | 47.1 | 1.75 | 22.9 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 286.1 | 1.8 | 2.00 | 22.7 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 15 | 283.4 | 3.1 | 1.87 | 22.2 |
| Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 16 | 255.8 | 11.2 | 1.94 | 22.2 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 16 | 277.9 | 6.1 | 1.81 | 22.0 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 5 | 308.4 | 1.4 | 1.40 | 21.6 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 16 | 282.2 | -.1 | 1.75 | 21.1 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 13 | 269.5 | 10.4 | 1.54 | 21.0 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 15 | 253.6 | 3.4 | 1.93 | 20.9 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 16 | 207.8 | 22.3 | 1.75 | 20.4 |
| C.J. Beathard, S.F. | 5 | 237.0 | 24.4 | 1.20 | 20.3 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 270.9 | .8 | 1.56 | 20.1 |
| Josh McCown, NYJ | 13 | 225.1 | 9.5 | 1.77 | 20.1 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 16 | 230.4 | 20.1 | 1.44 | 19.9 |
| Case Keenum, Minn. | 14 | 243.4 | 9.9 | 1.57 | 19.7 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 7 | 282.6 | 1.7 | 1.29 | 19.4 |
| Brett Hundley, G.B. | 9 | 204.0 | 30.0 | 1.22 | 18.8 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 255.9 | 8.9 | 1.25 | 18.7 |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 15 | 215.5 | 20.8 | 1.20 | 18.3 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 15 | 233.1 | 4.4 | 1.47 | 18.2 |
| Blaine Gabbert, Ariz. | 5 | 217.2 | 16.4 | 1.20 | 17.7 |
| DeShone Kizer, Clev. | 15 | 192.9 | 27.9 | 1.07 | 17.4 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 16 | 207.5 | 6.2 | 1.56 | 17.2 |
| Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 14 | 188.6 | 27.8 | 1.14 | 17.2 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 15 | 231.2 | 1.7 | 1.33 | 17.2 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 15 | 203.1 | 17.3 | 1.13 | 17.0 |
| Trevor Siemian, Den. | 11 | 207.7 | 11.5 | 1.18 | 16.5 |
| Jay Cutler, Mia. | 14 | 190.4 | 2.3 | 1.36 | 15.2 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 16 | 196.3 | 3.4 | 1.19 | 15.2 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 12 | 182.8 | 20.7 | .75 | 14.7 |
| Brian Hoyer, S.F. | 6 | 207.5 | 1.2 | .83 | 14.2 |
| Tom Savage, Hou. | 7 | 201.7 | .3 | .71 | 13.0 |
When he's on the field, Winston should be a high-quality fantasy quarterback. Those who select him will just need to hope the expected suspension is short, and have a backup plan for those weeks.
--Andy Richardson