Size, arm strength, athleticism. Check, check, check. Physically, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has the measureables and skills that project well to the next level.

Instincts, recognition skills, situational awareness. Check, check, check. Mentally, the game of football appears to come easy to him as a passer, runner and leader in the huddle.

On the field, Winston checks a lot of necessary boxes, both physically and mentally, for his transition to the NFL. But it’s the discouraging pattern of off-field choices that raise significant red flags for scouts and will keep Winston from being the no-brainer No. 1 overall pick his skills suggest.

Winston’s ill-advised decisions off the field kept him from suiting up for the Seminoles on Saturday night, although Florida State was able to defeat ACC-rival Clemson in overtime, 23-17, and stay undefeated. Winston, who originally was in full uniform pre-game before the coaches told him to remove his pads and change, was the Seminoles’ biggest and loudest cheerleader on the sideline and acted as another coach, especially for his replacement Sean Maguire. Despite the victory, Winston and his actions away from football seemed to drive the conversation before, during and after the game.

Is it insecurity? Immaturity? Lack of judgment? Probably all of the above. That’s the conundrum that NFL teams face with Winston as a pro prospect. A quarterback in the NFL can’t survive on physical traits alone. Will he mature and grow up?

NFL scouts are equal parts private detectives and talent evaluators these days and just like an investigation, every piece of evidence or information is crucial to a player’s scouting report. It’s a puzzle, and every piece matters, especially considering the current climate of the NFL and the microscope on player conduct.

Winston is hardly the first quarterback prospect with strong maturity concerns to make it tough on NFL evaluators. Cam Newton was kicked out of the University of Florida for stealing a laptop from another student and was the central figure of a booster scandal at Auburn. Johnny Manziel was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors as a freshman at Texas A&M and his juvenile escapades off the field are well documented.

Boys will be boys. College kids will be college kids. But Winston’s situation doesn’t have that same feel. The act has worn thin. His class clown routine demonstrates extremely poor judgment, leading to six different incidents since he enrolled at Florida State that have embarrassed himself, his teammates and everything and everyone he represents.

Winston jumping on a table and yelling something obscene is obviously immature, but that single act isn’t why he was suspended for Saturday’s contest – it’s the pattern of poor decisions.

When the Winston shouting incident became public on Tuesday, I texted an NFL scout and told him about it, asking his feedback. He didn’t believe me, saying it must have been a “made up Tweeter rumor” because there was “no way he is that dumb.” A few hours later, Florida State announced that Winston would sit out for the first half and the scout sent me a text that read, “That’s the one and only time I’ll let JW make me feel naive.”

Then late Friday night, Florida State sent out a release stating that Winston would be suspended for the full Clemson game. Unprompted, I received another text from that same scout: “I can’t wait to ask Jameis for his 2014 Clemson game tape…”

Winston has spoken out and apologized for his actions time and time again, but the mistakes keep piling up – can anyone believe what he says?

Anticipating the amount of Winston-Manziel comparisons that will likely be thrown out there, I asked the scout if he saw any correlation between the two, regarding their off-field transgressions and NFL projection. He responded with an emphatic “no,” because Winston’s issues were “much more troubling and serious.”

The scout said Newton was a better comparison, but even that wasn’t very accurate. I asked him if he would drop Winston down his team’s draft board if it were up to him and told me that this isn’t a “drop him down draft boards” issue, but rather “should he be on our draft board” issue. And that makes sense. Several teams will decide that Winston isn’t a fit for their culture while others will be more tolerant and willing to roll the dice on his immense talent.

Regarding his ability on the field, Winston has a talented toolbox. He looks the part and has all the arm strength needed to make every throw along with the soft touch to deliver catchable passes to his targets. Winston sees the field well and does a nice job recognizing favorable match-ups, showing preparation skills that come from film study.

He has smooth footwork in the pocket to maneuver around the noise while keeping his eyes downfield, tucking and picking up chunk yards with his legs if needed. Winston has the build that makes him tough to tackle and he plays with the toughness to be a finisher in any situation.

His work ethic and commitment to the game have never been in question and he has the full support of the coaching staff with Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher continuing to speak highly of Winston’s character.

Winston still has room to improve on the field, mostly with his eye discipline and anticipation reading defenses. He has an elongated delivery that is less than ideal and he tends to hold onto the ball too long, allowing windows to get smaller and rushers to be one step closer.

Bottom line, Winston has the physical skill-set to be a franchise signal caller, but the toughest part of the evaluation process is projecting how a young man’s maturity level transitions to the next level. The NFL has seen a number of talented players selected high in the draft, only to fizzle because their maturity and personality didn’t fit what the NFL game requires. But NFL teams will continue to take chances on those types of talents because of the potential reward.

Newton had maturity and character concerns out of Auburn, but the Panthers stayed true to their evaluation and so far Newton has been to two Pro Bowls and is about to ink a lucrative long-term contract to stay in Carolina.

While Newton is leading touchdown drives on Sundays, is anyone thinking about his college mistakes? Of course not. And the NFL franchise that drafts Winston, probably in the top 10 overall picks, will hope for a similar outcome.

(Dane Brugler is an analyst for www.NFLDraftScout.com, a property of The Sports Xchange distributed in partnership with CBSSports.com)