So you have some thoughts on Jameis Winston

Here are some numbers to support (or refute) your Jameis Winston takes

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Good morning, and welcome to the Saints Insider newsletter for July 12. With a little more than two weeks until the start of training camp, let's use today to dive into a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately.

I understand that, even if you are not a fan of the Saints and you are simply reading this newsletter as a spy, you may have some spicy capital T Takes on Saints quarterback Jameis Winston.

Judging by my twitter feed and email inbox — very scientific — I have discerned there are some of you reading this who are convinced that Winston is unfairly underrated/under-appreciated/undervalued, and there are others among you who believe he is actually just underwhelming. And maybe, in spite of the overheated volume of sports discourse these days, there are some of you who fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes — undecided.

So let's try to strip some of the emotion out of it and examine some raw numbers from Winston's brief run as the Saints starter last season.

Folks, let's tone down the rhetoric and add some old-fashioned context to the good and the bad! Let's try to determine what the Saints may have learned from their half-season working with Winston a year ago to figure out the trajectory of their relationship! We can do this!

If you read that and still feel strongly that one side or another was not properly represented, please direct your all-caps digital letter to [email protected]

Not just empty words

A few months ago, shortly after he agreed to a three-year contract with the Saints, I had a private conversation with Tyrann Mathieu about what he wanted to accomplish in his return to his hometown.

The conversation drifted down a couple different avenues, but it usually found its way back to this sentiment.

“More of us can make something out of ourselves,” Mathieu says. “We don’t have to be professional athletes. There’s a spot and a place in this world for all of us. I’m hoping to get that through to the kids.”

Taking an active role in the lives of New Orleans' youth is one of Mathieu's top off-field priorities. Especially important in that is his literal physical presence, to be a living, breathing figure in children's lives.

This weekend, Mathieu got one of his first big chances to do that. His annual skills camp made a return to the Saints practice facility after a two-year pandemic-imposed hiatus. I tried to take you inside the building here as Mathieu hoped he was able to inspire a couple hundred kids.

Social post o' the day

Look, I know we all had fun last year imagining Alvin Kamara as a potential option for the Saints as an emergency quarterback, but please consider this video as promotional material for Tyrann Mathieu's campaign for the mostly imaginary title.

Lots of big plays at heart of a badger camp today. pic.twitter.com/qFEKKFbDy3

That's all we have for the day. Thanks as always for your support.

Cheers,

Luke Johnson