Rookie QB Jameis Winston completed 18 of 32 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions against the Saints on Sunday, leading to a single-game passer rating of 83.1. That in turn dropped his overall passer rating for the season very slightly from 85.6 to 85.4. That remains the sixth-best single-season mark in team history, and the best ever by a rookie. Winston could join Josh Freeman (2010) as the only quarterbacks in team history to start all 16 games in a season and have a passer rating of 85 or better.
Best Passer Rating, Single Season, Buccaneers
Player
Year
GP
Rating
- Brian Griese
2004
11
97.5
- Josh Freeman
2010
16
95.9
- Jeff Garcia
2007
13
94.6
- Brad Johnson
2002
13
92.9
- Jeff Garcia
2008
12
90.2
6. Jameis Winston*
2015
13
85.4
- Steve DeBerg
1987
12
85.3
- Mike Glennon
2013
13
83.9
- Trent Dilfer
1997
16
82.8
- Craig Erickson
1994
15
82.5
Winston's 182 yards against the Saints allowed him to surpass the 3,000-yard passing mark, reaching 3,057 with three games to play. That made Winston the youngest quarterback in league history to have a 3,000-yard passing season.
He is just the 13th rookie quarterback ever to surpass the 3,000-yard mark, though Tennessee's Marcus Mariota can also join the list this year with another 214 yards over the last three weeks. Here's the entire list of rookie 3,000-yard passers.
Player
Year
Tm
Yds
Andrew Luck
2012
IND
4374
Cam Newton
2011
CAR
4051
Peyton Manning
1998
IND
3739
Sam Bradford
2010
STL
3512
Matt Ryan
2008
ATL
3440
Andy Dalton
2011
CIN
3398
Brandon Weeden
2012
CLE
3385
Ryan Tannehill
2012
MIA
3294
Derek Carr
2014
OAK
3270
Robert Griffin
2012
WAS
3200
Russell Wilson
2012
SEA
3118
Jameis Winston
2015
TB
3059
Geno Smith
2013
NYJ
3046
Winston could climb rapidly up that list. While he would need to average 314 passing yards per game to join Andrew Luck and Cam Newton as the only 4,000-yard passers in NFL history – and Winston's single-game high this year is 297 – he is on pace to surpass everybody else on the list. Winston's current pace of 235.2 passing yards per game, if maintained for three more weeks, would lead to just over 3,762 yards by season's end. That would pass Peyton Manning for third best by a rookie in league history.
Winston won't break the Buccaneers' single-season record for passing yards if he doesn't up his pace to the 4,000-yard level, but he needs just a slight uptick in his per-game average to get second best. Below are the top five passing-yardage seasons in franchise history.
Most Passing Yards, Single Season, Buccaneers
Player
Year
Yards
- Josh Freeman
2012
4,065
- Brad Johnson
2003
3,811
- Josh Freeman
2011
3,592
- Doug Williams
1981
3,563
- Steve DeBerg
1984
3,554
Winston's touchdown pass against the Saints was his 18th of the season, which is one shy of Mike Glennon's Buccaneer rookie record of 19, set in 2013. Winston's total is tied for the 12th most by a rookie passer since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and he would need eight more in the final three games to break Peyton Manning's record of 26, set in 1998.
Most TD Passes, NFL Rookie, Since 1970 Merger
Player
Year
Team
TDs
Peyton Manning
1998
IND
26
Russell Wilson
2012
SEA
26
Andrew Luck
2012
IND
23
Derek Carr
2014
OAK
21
Cam Newton
2011
CAR
21
Andy Dalton
2011
CIN
20
Robert Griffin
2012
WAS
20
Dan Marino
1983
MIA
20
Mike Glennon
2013
TB
19
Marcus Mariota
2015
TEN
19
Jim Plunkett
1971
NE
19
Sam Bradford
2010
STL
18
Carson Palmer
2004
CIN
18
Jameis Winston
2015
TB
18
Winston's one touchdown pass on Sunday went to rookie WR Adam Humphries, who notched his first career NFL score. Earlier in the year, Winston also hooked up with rookie WR Donteea Dye on the latter's first NFL touchdown. Rookies have played a huge role in the Buccaneers' 2015 season, combining for a total of 56 starts. That is by far the most starts made by rookies for any team in the NFL this year.
Most Games Started by Rookies, 2015
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 56
2t. Chicago Bears: 43
2t. New Orleans Saints: 43
4t. Cleveland Browns: 36
4t. St. Louis Rams: 36
