NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock recently emerged from the film room to release his first set of position-by-position rankings on prospects just ahead of next week's NFL Scouting Combine.
To few people's surprise, Florida State's Jameis Winston was on top of the group of quarterbacks vying to get selected in the 2015 NFL Draft. Winston is considered to be more pro-ready than counterparts such as Oregon's Marcus Mariota and is certainly a candidate to go No. 1 overall to the QB-needy Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Appearing on NFL Total Access on Thursday night, Mayock dived deep on his rankings and brought up an interesting pro comparison for Winston.
"I've got Jameis Winston No. 1. The reason is, in his offense, I can see everything you want out of a quarterback. He has a big arm, he throws with anticipation, he understands timing -- he gets the whole pocket awareness thing," Mayock said. "Now, I don't like all of the interceptions he throws, he reminds me a little bit of a Jay Cutler coming out of Vanderbilt. He has no conscience whatsoever. He'll let it rip, but he has the physical skill-set to play and succeed in the NFL at the highest level."
Winston has been compared to a number of current or former pro quarterbacks, but this is one of the few times Cutler has been brought up, and that's probably due to Winston's interception total climbing significantly from his redshirt freshman year to last season.
In route to winning the Heisman Trophy in 2013, Winston put up a remarkable 40-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio as he led FSU to the national title. Things didn't go quite as smoothly a year later, when his ratio was 25-18, with Winston noticeably forcing more throws into coverage.
Cutler threw 13 interceptions for his high-water mark in that category at Vanderbilt and even had one season when he tossed just five interceptions for the Commodores. However, as Chicago Bears fans will tell you, he has gotten a little loose with the football under center during his pro career.
As Winston heads to Indianapolis in a few days to meet with teams that need somebody at his position, he will probably have to shake off such a label and convince franchises that his interception total during his final season in college was more an aberration than reality.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
