During the 2015 NFL Draft, there was much debate about which quarterback should and would go first overall– Florida State’s Jameis Winston or Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. And the team with the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, decided to select Winston.
During his first year in the National Football League, Winston fared well. He started all 16 games for the Buccaneers and led them to a 6-10 record.
While starting all 16 games for Tampa Bay, Winston threw for 4,042 yards, 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Those 4,042 yards are the third-highest passing yards all-time among rookie quarterbacks, right behind Andrew Luck (4,374 yards) and Cam Newton (4,051 yards). Additionally, those numbers were good enough for Winston to win the Pepsi Rookie of the Year award.
However, looking at Winston’s first year in the NFL, he excelled in some departments and performed poorly in others. But what portions of the game did he do well and in which ones was he iffy?
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly From Jameis Winston’s Rookie Year
The Good: Winning
In 2014, Tampa Bay only won two games with quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Josh McCown. But in 2015, as already mentioned above, the Buccaneers improved to 6-10. Now six wins is slightly below average for a starting NFL quarterback, but given that Winston was a rookie and considering how he won some of those games for Tampa Bay, it is impressive.
Two of those games, the win over the Dallas Cowboys and the second win over the Atlanta Falcons, were come from behind wins. Winston also led three game-winning drives last season.
Another thing that was impressive about those six wins by Winston was that three of them were divisional wins, one being against the New Orleans Saints and two against the Falcons.
So if Winston keeps on improving, Tampa Bay may have found themselves a winner in the former Florida State product.
The Bad: Completion Percentage and Interceptions
Although Winston threw for video game numbers in his rookie season, his completion percentage was subpar. He attempted 535 passes and completed 312 of them, giving Winston a 58.3 percent completion rate. That percentage was one of the lowest among starting quarterbacks this past season.
Also, along with the poor completion percentage, Winston tossed 15 interceptions. That means he tossed one interception for every 20 completions. He will need to cut that down in the future.
The Ugly: Passing Against the Blitz
Back in 2013, Winston’s Heisman Trophy season, the quarterback was outstanding against the blitz. Winston completed 70.6 percent of his passes against the blitz that season. Not only did he complete an outstanding percentage of his throws against the blitz, he also tossed 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions as well.
However, this past year, the Buccaneers did not get that sort of play out of Winston. Winston completed an abysmal 50.7 percent of his passes against the blitz. That was second to last among starting quarterbacks in the NFL, right behind Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford, who completed 50.6 percent of his passes against the blitz.
Now granted, it was Winston’s first year in the league. So that sort of performance against the blitz is somewhat expected. However, if he wants to become an elite quarterback in the NFL, those numbers will need to improve moving forward.
Overview
To describe Winston’s first year in the league, the word to use would be solid. It was a type of season you would expect out of a rookie quarterback adjusting to the NFL. But if he can fix the bad and the ugly portions of his first year in the league, the Buccaneers may have found an elite quarterback in Winston.
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