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Sports
Bucs G.M. Wouldn’t
Quarterback Kyler Murray Transferring From Texas A&M
KYLER MURRAY
Texas A&M freshman quar- terback Kyler Murray has elected to transfer and will not play in the Aggies' bowl game, the team confirmed Thursday.
Murray has been released from his scholarship at Texas A&M. He can transfer to any school, as long as it isn't in the SEC or a team on Texas A&M's schedule over the next four years.
Murray, who missed prac- tice Wednesday for what the team called "personal reasons," tweeted about his decision Thursday night.
Last week, Kyle Allen, a 14- game starter and another top- ranked quarterback prospect, decided to transfer from Texas A&M.
Uncertainty with the direc- tion of Texas A&M's offense, the future of the offensive coaching staff, trust issues be- tween the quarterbacks and coaches and how the quarter- backs were utilized were among the concerns that led to both Murray's and Allen's trans- fers. The Aggies had their worst offensive season statistically since coach Kevin Sumlin's debut in College Station in 2012, ranking 48th nationally in yards per game (423), 63rd in yards per play (5.64), 69th in scoring (28.3 points per game), 81st in yards per pass attempt (6.46) and 97th in red zone ef- ficiency (54.9 percent).
Jameis Winston Should Be Rookie Of The Year!
Jameis Winston and Todd Gurley
Trade Jameis Winston
For Any Other QB
There was some degree of a rally last night, but only after the Buccaneers had fallen into a deep hole.
But thinking about the big- ger picture of this season, the Bucs are still convinced they’re pointing in the right direction, and that quarterback Jameis Winston will be the guy who gets them where they want to go.
General Manager Jason Licht told Jeff Darlington of the NFL Network that Win- ston has gradually taken care of any concerns they ever had, taking his belief in this year’s No. 1 overall pick to a higher level than it was already.
“We always had confidence, but I thought there was a chance [Winston] would throw over 30 interceptions his first year,” Licht said. “I was willing to go through that, and so was Lovie. We knew
JAMEIS WINSTON
we were going to struggle at times this year, but as long as that guy’s future was bright, there was a lot of hope for us. And he’s come along a lot quicker than I expected, to be honest with you.
“I wouldn’t trade him for another quarterback in the league.”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Jameis Win- ston poses for a picture with St. Louis Rams rookie run- ningback Todd Gurley. There should be no questions who should be the Rookie Of The Year between Winston, Gurley and Tennessee Titans
rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Buccaneers picked a leader on the field and in the lockeroom. Win- ston is fun to watch with his passion on the sidelines trying to uplift a team of veterans.
Jameis Winston should be Rookie Of The Year!
Bucs Try To Salvage What’s Left Of 2015 Season
Bucs Receivers Should Take A Page From The Steelers WR Lockeroom
Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton have combined for nearly 1,500 yards in the last five games.
With the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected quarter- back Jameis Winston, a Heisman Trophy winner.
Buccaneer fans were very op- timistic about the 2015 season and knew the team would im- prove from its 2-14 2014 sea- son. In that regard, the Bucs did improve, but with two games left in their 2015 season, fans had anticipated a different outcome.
The Bucs entered last Thurs- day’s game against the St. Louis Rams with a 6-7 record, and still an outside chance of getting a playoff wild card berth. However after the 31-23 defeat at the hands of the Rams, the 6-8 Bucs now look to close out the season on a good note, facing the Chicago Bears on the 27th, then ending their season on January 3rd against the NFC South and NFL leading Carolina Pan- thers.
In Thursday night’s game, it was apparent the Bucs need to look at next year’s draft for of- fensive linemen and more depth on defense.
Winston never was able to feel comfortable while throw- ing the ball, and passed for 363 yards and a pair of touch- downs, but overthrew receivers on numerous occasions, and also threw an interception.
Although Buccaneer wide receiver Mike Evans finished the night with 9 catches for 157 yards, their wide receivers con- tinue drop passes, and have demonstrated a lack of effort in making plays. With Vincent Jackson nursing injuries, the other wide receivers have failed to step up, causing Win- ston to lose confidence in them and look elsewhere for
Jameis Winston gets crushed, but still manages to get a pass off against the Rams.
his pass attempts.
The Buccaneer defense sur-
rendered 31 points against the NFL’s 31st ranked offense, and for head coach Lovie Smith, that meant there’s still a lot of work to do on that side of the ball.
Like other NFL teams, the Bucs have been plagued by in- juries at key positions, but that’s never been used as an excuse for their inconsistent play and consistency in piling up penalty yards every game.
The Bucs will now try to fin- ish the season .500 with wins over the Bears and Panthers, then take the rest of the season off and hope the draft will help them patch up holes they have identified this season on both sides of the ball.
At the end of the season, the Bucs can at least look back and applaud the work of running back Doug Martin, who is challenging the Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Petersen for the NFL rushing title.
In spite of the Bucs losing back-to-back games, Winston will still most likely be named NFL Rookie of the Year.
PITTSBURGH -- No NFL re- ceiving corps has it rolling quite like thePittsburgh Steel- ers, who have seven perform- ances this season from a receiver gaining 130-plus yards (four from Antonio Brown). The trio of Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton has com- bined for nearly 1,500 yards in the last five games.
No playbooks allowed: The image of a well-studied foot- ball player carrying a spiral notebook to meetings doesn’t apply in Pittsburgh. The of- fense does not use a playbook. Learning is based on repeti- tion and recall, Darrius Hey- ward-Bey explains. The receivers might take some- thing that was taught in train- ing camp and roll it into the game plan in Week 15. They like it this way. “That’s really, really rare,” Heyward-Bey
said. “I think that’s also what makes us good.” Newcomers struggle at first, but eventually the system becomes part of you. “We basically know the whole offense right now,” Bryant said.
You will be fined: Steelers receivers keep track of every- thing. There’s a board in the room that lists all fines for tar- diness, for example. And that’s just a start. “You drop balls, it costs you money,” Heyward- Bey said. “You mess up on routes, it costs you money. I’m not going to talk about the [exact] money, but we get into each other’s pockets.” Wheaton recently acknow- ledged that Bryant, who has by all accounts matured since his four-game suspension for multiple failed drug tests, is being fined much less than a year ago.
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