From the first Sunday in February to the last week of April, executives and general managers in the NFL focus exclusively on the incoming talents in the NFL draft. Scouts for every NFL team are specifically hired for the three days where every team has the opportunity to rewrite their season, the opportunity to draft the next Tom Brady, the next Ray Lewis, and must avoid making the mistake of drafting the next Ryan Leaf,a high esteemed former number one overall pick who served no purpose in the NFL besides a place holder. Every scout is terrified of missing a sleeper, and even more petrified about selecting a bust. They have player evaluation broken down to a science to avoid such catastrophes, each team having their specific player traits that they regard highly.

Scouts look at potential, NFL readiness, composure and work ethic, but one thing the sciences cannot measure are the intangibles, the impossible to define characteristics that make every other attribute look minuscule. Among the most important traits is perhaps the most simple: the ability to win. When the game is on the line, speed, fundamentals, and mechanics all go out the window, and all that really matters is do they have what it takes to put their team on top at the end of the day. No prospect showed this trait better than Florida State phenom Quarterback Jameis Winston, who only lost a single game in two years as a college quarterback in an elite conference. He has off field questions, he runs like there are nails in his feet, and has a loud mouth, but he loves the game as much as anyone and regardless of how the first 55 minutes went, you know that in crunch-time, Winston will produce.

His passion is what truly separates him from the rest of the field, he loves football and every time he steps onto the field, he makes damn-well sure that every one of his teammates is excited to play. Every great athlete needs some sort of motivation, for players like Ray Lewis it is anger, for players like Tom Brady it is the possibility of being the greatest to ever walk onto the field, but Jameis suits up every game simply because he loves to play and more than that, he loves to win. Winston loves football so much he is willing to put in the work that no one else will, at the age of 13, he made a playbook analyzing every possible situation and read he should make in a game scenario. Passion is an unparalleled tool essential to being successful at a high level in any aspect of life, but this passion is rendered useless if the passion causes you to lose composure and make stupid decisions. Many spectators of the sport do not realize just how smart he is, at any given moment he will make an ugly or unselfish play if it gives his team the highest possibility of winning.

Despite his on field genius, many NFL scouts were concerned with his off-field maturity that presents him as a less than intelligent human being.Despite the risks, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Winston first overall as was highly expected. He may be a character and somewhat of a wild-card, but Jameis brings the x-factor that every NFL franchise needs.