There was a guy that had been in the league for half a decade and was not retained by his original team. It was not until he got the opportunity to start for the Saints in Sean Payton's offense that he realized his potential. His name was Drew Brees.

He had never thrown for over 5000 yards before coming to the Saints. Heck, he'd never passed for 4000 yards. He only managed to complete 65% of his passes once in that half a decade (65.5%). He had never topped 27 TD's in a season and more than 17 TD's only twice.

I was going to say that that viewpoint is NUTS, but in your case I'll say hopeful Saints fan blinders. Drew was ALWAYS on an upward projection. Look, I see Winston has talent, but QB REQUIRES good and quick decision making. Drew not being retained was due to INJURY, not poor QB play. I remember watching SD games and thinking, "That Brees kid has got it." Brees and Winston were not retained for FAR different reasons. Winston always reminded me of Aaron Brooks, only not as smart.

Not as smart? The Wonderlic measures a person's ability to process information quickly. Winston scored a 27 on the test. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning both scored 28's.

Everything I've ever heard about Winston is how intelligent he is.

"Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher is not surprised by reports that quarterback Jameis Winston impressed NFL teams with the intelligence he demonstrated in interviews at the Combine.

Fisher, who has been a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator or head coach for 27 years, said he has never coached a player with the level of football intelligence that Winston possesses.

“Jameis, in football intellect, intelligence level, is as smart as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Fisher said on NFL Network. “You can do so many different things with him and he grasps it. He just doesn’t memorize plays, he understands the concepts of how to attack the coverage, how a play works, where his one-on-one matchups are. He just has a tremendous football intellect that way.”"

TESTS??? The REAL tests are the games. 5 years NFL experience. Looking at the resume' I'd give the new guy (Hill) a shot instead of a failed Winston.

Not as smart? The Wonderlic measures a person's ability to process information quickly. Winston scored a 27 on the test. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning both scored 28's.

Everything I've ever heard about Winston is how intelligent he is.

"Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher is not surprised by reports that quarterback Jameis Winston impressed NFL teams with the intelligence he demonstrated in interviews at the Combine.

Fisher, who has been a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator or head coach for 27 years, said he has never coached a player with the level of football intelligence that Winston possesses.

“Jameis, in football intellect, intelligence level, is as smart as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Fisher said on NFL Network. “You can do so many different things with him and he grasps it. He just doesn’t memorize plays, he understands the concepts of how to attack the coverage, how a play works, where his one-on-one matchups are. He just has a tremendous football intellect that way.”"

And yet you said he didn't know the playbook by week 11. ho-hum