The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2015 season did not go as well as expected, a fact emphasized by the team's current search for a new head coach. Still, it was a memorable season in a number of ways, most notably with the rapid development of rookie quarterback Jameis Winston. Thanks to Winston's exploits, and those of several other Buccaneer standouts, the 2015 campaign will also have a lasting impact on the franchise's record books.
A photo timeline of Jameis Winston's rookie year with the Buccaneers.
After a successful collegiate career, Jameis Winston declares for the NFL Draft. He threw for 7,946 yards and 65 touchdowns in two seasons at Florida State, leading his team to the national title in 2013. He was also named the Heisman Trophy winner in 2013.
For the first time since declaring for the NFL Draft, Jameis Winston meets with reporters. He expresses his interest to become a Buccaneer almost immediately. "It would be a privilege to get accepted by the Glazer family in Tampa," he says. "I think it would be a privilege to play in Tampa – period."
Winston takes the field for the NFL Scouting combine. He is particularly impressive, drawing positive reviews from the media. Coaches seem impressed with him in the meeting room, in addition to on the field. "I believe I accomplished what I needed to," Winston says. "I just came here trying to be real, be as genuine as possible."
Winston visits the Buccaneers' facilities. He meets with several members of the Bucs' staff, including Head Coach Lovie Smith and General Manager Jason Licht. "I believe (in) this place," Winston says during his visit. "I would love to be here."
Florida State holds their annual Pro Day. Winston is among the players working out for a slue of pro scouts, including those representing the Buccaneers. "The original plan was that I was going to throw 60 to 75 throws," Winston says. "And then when we started writing it down, I was at (personal coach) George (Whitfield)'s house until like 12 o'clock at night. We were just writing down things and going over things. I was like, 'Man, George, I'm a competitor, let's give them everything.'" Winston ended up throwing 102 passes and his performance is considered by many to be a success.
The Buccaneers coaches, including Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter and Quarterbacks Coach Mike Bajakian, fly out to Tallahassee for a private workout with Winston.
With the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Buccaneers select Winston. "Winston is undeniably a rare prospect on the basis of his statistics and college record alone, but the Buccaneers also believe he has the drive, work ethic and competitiveness necessary to succeed at one of the most difficult jobs in all of sports," Buccaneers.com Senior Writer Scott Smith writes that night. "The opportunity to draft a quarterback prospect of this caliber comes along very infrequently for any franchise, and the first pick in the draft is an incredibly valuable asset."
Winston arrives at the Buccaneers' facilities for the first time. He signs his contract the same day and, later that afternoon, meets with reporters for the first time as a member of the Bucs. "Earning the job and working and sacrificing your life to be a quarterback for a great franchise like this is my dream," Winston says. "Ever since I've been playing I always wanted to work hard for what I get and I plan on doing that."
Winston takes the practice field for rookie mini-camp, his first practice in a Buccaneer uniform. He arrives early, before the rest of the players, and greets his fellow rookies at the door of the facility.
Winston and the Buccaneers take the field for Organized Team Activities, or OTAs. It's the first time that Winston is able to practice with Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson and the rest of the Buccaneers' veterans.
A day before the start of training camp, Head Coach Lovie Smith names Winston the Buccaneers' starting quarterback. "A lot of things go into that (decision)," Smith said. "We've had a lot of evaluation of him. It's where we feel like he is. We brought him here to be our quarterback and we feel that he's ready to take this next step. We're not game-ready, we're not Tennessee-ready at a lot of positions but he needs to move into that role right now. Again, we all feel good about him going there."
Winston begins his first NFL training camp. The practice is like many training camp practices that summer – humid and rainy. The Buccaneers were forced to practice at the University of South Florida due to the weather.
![The Buccaneers travel to Minnesota for their first preseason game of the year. It is Winston's first game action of his NFL career. He completed nine of 19 passes for 131 yards and an interception in one half of play, while rushing for a score. "What we saw from him, facing a little adversity early on, [he] hung in there," Coach Smith says. "[I] looked into his eyes on the sideline, he was anxious to continue to get reps and as much as anything, the script we had drawn up was for him to finish strong. We feel like he did that."](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_new_photo_album_2x/t_lazy/f_auto/buccaneers/b050a7j0ey4amfpvmh9p.jpg)
The Buccaneers travel to Minnesota for their first preseason game of the year. It is Winston's first game action of his NFL career. He completed nine of 19 passes for 131 yards and an interception in one half of play, while rushing for a score. "What we saw from him, facing a little adversity early on, [he] hung in there," Coach Smith says. "[I] looked into his eyes on the sideline, he was anxious to continue to get reps and as much as anything, the script we had drawn up was for him to finish strong. We feel like he did that."
Winston makes his NFL debut against the Titans. His first pass is intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He finishes the game completing 16 of 33 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Winston's first touchdown as a pro comes on a five-yard pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins in the second quarter.
![Winston earns his first NFL win as the Buccaneers top the Saints, 26-19, in New Orleans. He completes 14 of 21 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown in the air and another on the ground. "Jameis did a really good job of hanging in there," Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter says. "He made some beautiful throw, he missed some throws. That's just where we are at [with him]. I'm probably going to be saying that for the next [14] games as we go through."](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_new_photo_album_2x/t_lazy/f_auto/buccaneers/nbm77dhr7yylqdddnior.jpg)
Winston earns his first NFL win as the Buccaneers top the Saints, 26-19, in New Orleans. He completes 14 of 21 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown in the air and another on the ground. "Jameis did a really good job of hanging in there," Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter says. "He made some beautiful throw, he missed some throws. That's just where we are at [with him]. I'm probably going to be saying that for the next [14] games as we go through."
Winston throws four interceptions as the Buccaneers fall to the Panthers, 37-23. "Confidence will never be an issue," Winston says following the loss. "I've just got to work harder. That was a wakeup call to my work ethic. I have to work harder." He does just that; the next four games, Winston isn't intercepted once.
Winston averages 11 passing yards per attempt as the Buccaneers pick up their second win of the season against the Jaguars. His 11 yards per attempt would be the most in a single game during his rookie season. It is also the Buccaneers' first home victory since the 2013 season. "It was a big win for us and that's our goal, that's my goal individually is to get better every week," Winston says. "If I hold myself to that standard I expect everyone else to hold their self to that standard – the goal to get better every single week. The more we play together, the better and better we get together as a team."
Despite putting together one of his best games of the season, Winston and the Buccaneers surrender a late lead and fall, 31-30, to the Redskins. Winston completed 21 of 29 passes, his highest completion percentage of his rookie season. He also tosses two touchdowns without an interception.
In what would become a signature moment of the 2015 season, Winston flies through the air to score on the ground. It was his only touchdown in Tampa Bay's loss to the Giants. "Anything I can do to help this team out I'm going to do it," he says.
With 54 seconds left to play, Winston runs in for a one-yard touchdown to help lift the Buccaneers past the Cowboys, 10-6. He completed 22 of 39 passes in the Bucs' victory. "The touchdown was magical, man," Winston says. "Had a great fake, a great call, found the way into the end zone."
Winston picks apart the Eagles, throwing five touchdowns and no interceptions, as the Buccaneers pick up their second win in a row. His passer rating of 131.6 is the highest of his rookie season. "Every day I step on that field, I think it's going to be a special day," Winston says. "We just turned it up and we played better than they did from an offensive line standpoint. They took control of that line of scrimmage. When you control the line of scrimmage – it's hard to beat a team that's controlling the line of scrimmage."
The Buccaneers defeat the Falcons, reaching 6-6 in the process. Winston converts a seemingly impossible third down late in the game on a 20-yard scramble to keep the Bucs' final drive alive. He then throws the game-winning touchdown to Mike Evans with 1:39 left in regulation to help the Bucs to victory.
Winston throws for a career-high 363 yards but the Buccaneers fall, 33-23, to the Rams. Tampa Bay is eliminated from playoff contention later that week.
Winston passes Peyton Manning for the third-most yards by a rookie quarterback in NFL history. The Buccaneers finish with a 6-10 record and Winston finished with the 4,042 passing yards, the second-most ever by a Buccaneer quarterback in a single season. Winston addresses the media one last time. "We are going to create a mindset this offseason, I guarantee it," he says. "We are going to create a winning mindset, a mindset that you would never give up... a relentless mindset of being able to persevere over adversity. We are going to have that next year."
The Bucs believe Winston is the top candidate for this year's Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year award after he became just the third rookie quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards. That was obviously a new standard for Tampa Bay rookies, and it nearly set a new single-season record for any Buccaneer quarterback, rookie or not.
Below is a closer look at that mark plus other single-season Buccaneer records that were broken or nearly broken in 2015. We also note a few records the team would have preferred not to set, plus a handful of others that have a good chance to fall in 2016.
**Broke It
**
- Most net yards, team: 6,014
- Highest average yards per play, team: 5.91
RB Doug Martin led the NFL in rushes over 20 yards. Check out his 20+ yard gains in ascending order.
In terms of yards, Winston led the most prolific offense in franchise history, breaking the mark of 5,820 set in 2012. Beyond those two clubs, no other Buccaneer team has even cracked 5,500 yards in a season.
While it's true that offensive numbers continue to rise league-wide – the NFL set a new record for yards per game in 2015 for the sixth time in the last seven years – that doesn't diminish the Bucs' accomplishment in relation to its own history. Tampa Bay's per-game average was 6.52% better than the league average, the team's second-best mark ever in relation to the rest of the NFL. In 2003, the Bucs gained 340.8 yards per game and were 7.07% better than the league average. In addition, Tampa Bay ranked fifth in the NFL in yards per game in 2015, its highest finish ever on that list.
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The Bucs also shot well past their old yards-per-play record, which was previously set at 5.61 in 2010. The 2015 squad also ranked third in the NFL in that category, just ahead of Seattle and New Orleans.
- Yards per carry, team: 4.75
Tampa Bay's rushing attack was consistently good throughout the 2015 season, and probably would have ranked even higher than fifth if the team had enjoyed second-half leads in more of its games. On a per-carry basis, the Buccaneers have never been better as a team.
Photos of running back Doug Martin from the 2015 season.
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
(1 Receiving Touchdown)
The '15 Bucs averaged 4.75 yards per carry, breaking the record of 4.64 set in 2010. Those are the only two seasons in franchise history in which the team has a whole picked up more than 4.5 yards per tote. The backfield tandem of Doug Martin and Charles Sims combined to average 4.89 yards per carry on 395 of the team's 455 runs. In the NFL in 2015, the Bucs were second in this category only to the Buffalo Bills, who averaged 4.78 yards per tote.
- Most combined yards passing and rushing, season, individual: Jameis Winston, 4,255
Winston didn't quite break the Bucs' single-season passing yardage record (more on that below), but he did do more with his arms and legs combined than any other previous Tampa Bay quarterback. Three years ago, Josh Freeman became the first Buccaneer to pass for over 4,000 yards, with 4,065, and he added 139 rushing yards. That total of 4,204 combined passing and rushing yards was at the time a team record, but Winston surpassed it as a rookie.
Winston threw for 4,042 yards and ran for 213, for a combined total of 4,255, allowing Freeman's record to stand for just three years. Winston was a surprisingly vital threat on the ground throughout his rookie campaign, scoring six rushing touchdowns.
- Passing yards, individual, rookie: Jameis Winston, 4,042
- Touchdown passes, individual: rookie: Jameis Winston, 22
These two accomplishments broke records that had only been in place for two years, as Mike Glennon had set new standards for both in 2013 with 2,608 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2013. There's no doubt that opportunity played a big role in this record falling twice in rapid succession; Glennon had been the first Buccaneer rookie quarterback to start as many as 13 games, and Winston is now the first one to start all 16. Still, as noted above, Winston is just the third rookie quarterback in NFL history to break the 4,000-yard mark.
- Lowest punt return average allowed, team: 5.2 yards per return
Jacob Schum quietly posted the third-best single-season net punting average in franchise history, at 38.0, and he can certainly share the credit with the Bucs' coverage team.'
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Buccaneer opponents averaged 5.2 yards per punt return on 27 attempts, the fourth-lowest total in the NFL in 2015. That was also the lowest average any Tampa Bay team has ever allowed, narrowly beating out the record of 5.3 on 22 returns in 1992.
Almost Got It
- First downs, team: 336
- Passing first downs, team: 201
- Penalty first downs, team: 36
The Buccaneers had a really good run of offensive third-down efficiency from Weeks 4-13, which helped the offense put up some record-breaking numbers overall. Sustaining drives allowed the team to pile up first downs at a rate it had almost never done before. However, the franchise records in a variety of first-down categories still stand.
The Bucs got closest in the three categories listed above. Their 336 first downs overall was second in team history, and a lot closer to first (344 in 1984) than third (307 in 2003). The total of 201 passing first downs fell just eight short of the 209 recorded by that 1984 squad; no other Buc team has reached 200. And with 36 first downs as the result of penalties, the Bucs fell just one shy of their record of 37 set in 2013.
- Yards per carry allowed, team: 3.44
In addition to excelling on a per-carry basis on offense, the 2015 Buccaneers also did a great job in the same category on defense. Tampa Bay allowed opponents to gain just 3.45 yards per carry, second in the NFL only to the 3.28 allowed by the Denver Broncos. Tampa Bay was the only team to rank in the league's top 10 in rushing average on both offense and defense, and only Baltimore joined them in the top 10 on both lists.
That was not quite a Buccaneer record, however. The 1978 team originally set the mark at 3.44 and that stood for a decade until the 1988 held opponents to 3.24 yards per carry. The rushing average allowed by the Bucs last season is their third-best ever.
- Rushing yards, individual: Doug Martin, 1,402
- Yards per carry, individual: Charles Sims (4.94) and Doug Martin (4.87)
Through the first 14 games of the season, Martin had 1,305 rushing yards, which at the time put him on pace for 1,491. Given that projection, he actually needed to up his per-game total over the last two weeks in order to surpass James Wilder's long-standing team record of 1,544 rushing yards, set in 1984.
Alas, game situations limited Martin's impact in the last two weeks and he finished with 1,402 yards. That was still the third-best single-season total in franchise history, behind Wilder's 1984 campaign and Martin's own 1,454-yard rookie debut in 2012.
Martin got past the 1,400-yard mark on just 288 carries, 31 fewer than he had in 2012 and 119 fewer than Wilder had in 1984. He is the first player in team history to average more than 4.75 yards per carry in a season in which he carried the ball at least 250 times. In 2012, he had become the first Buc to average 4.5 or better in a season with 250 totes.
Martin did not lead the team in that category, however, as long as one lowers the minimum to 100 carries. Sims barely out-did him on 107 carries, and between them they posted two of the top three per-carry campaigns in franchise history. Only LeGarrette Blount's average of 5.01 yards on 201 carries in 2010 is better.
- Passing yards, individual: Winston, 4,042
- Net passing yards, team: 3,852
As mentioned earlier, Winston didn't quite catch Josh Freeman's 2012 team record of 4,065 passing yards, falling 23 yards short despite a strong finish in which he averaged 32.7 per game over the final three weeks. Winston's total is still the second-best in team history, and he seems poised to break that mark several times over in the years to come.
Winston threw ever pass for Tampa Bay in 2015 – the first time any Buc quarterback has done that for an entire season – so it stands to reason that the team as a whole would threaten some of its aerial records. That was definitely the case, as the Buccaneers got their second-highest net passing yardage total ever. The record of 3,983 was set in 2012, of course, breaking the previous mark of 3,805 set in 2003.
**Didn't Want It
**
- Most penalties, team: 143
- Most penalty yards, team: 1,195
- Most opposing penalty first downs: 39
Penalties were an obvious trouble spot for the Buccaneers in 2015, a consistent problem throughout the season. Tampa Bay was penalized 10 or more times in six of its games. By season's end, the Bucs had been penalized 143 times for 1,195 yards, the former tying Buffalo for the most in the league and the latter trailing only the Bills' mark of 1,249.
Those were the highest single-season marks in both categories in team annals, though the previous records hadn't stood long. The 2005 team had held the penalties record at 131, while the 2013 team lost 1,136 yards on flags. The third new record listed above obviously follows right along; too many flags meant too many free first downs. The 39 penalty first downs enjoyed by Buccaneer opponents tied for the most in a single-season against Tampa Bay, equaling the mark set in 2013.
- Highest opponent passer rating, team: 102.5 (97.4, 2014)
- Highest opponent completion percentage, team: 70.0% (68.7%, 2014)
While the aforementioned yards-per-carry figure speaks well for Tampa Bay's run defense, there is obviously work to be done on the pass defense. The two unwanted records set above actually broke the marks set just a year ago by the 2014 squad: 97.4 passer rating and 68.7% completion percentage. Those two statistics go hand in hand, of course; completion percentage is one of the four elements that goes into calculating passer rating. Allow fewer completions and that rating will come down, though the team will need to allow fewer TD throws and pick off more passes, too, to make really substantive gains.
**Maybe Next Year
**
- Points, team
- Points, individual
The Buccaneers' offense set a new team record for yards but didn't really challenge its 2012 mark of 389 points scored. Tampa Bay's 342 points scored was well short of that mark, though still the fifth-highest single-season total in franchise annals. Since the Buccaneers' promising offense is chock full of young players likely to get even better, there's real reason to hope that the yards will translate into more points in 2016.
Six potential candidates for the Buccaneers' head coaching position, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
If the Buccaneers do start creating, and capitalizing on, more scoring opportunities next fall, that will be good news for their kicker, presumably Connor Barth. Barth had 123 points as the kicker for that 2012 team that set the single-season scoring mark, which was only eight behind the team record of 131 set by Matt Bryant in 2008.
Yards per pass attempt, individual (7.83)Touchdown passes, individual300-yard passing games, individual
All of this is basically just optimism about Winston. The rookie averaged 7.56 yards per pass attempt in 2015, which was the fourth-best mark in team history, and that was without a strong first season in terms of throwing the ball downfield. Winston made his mark with impressive accuracy on difficult mid-range passes, such as deep outs. His scouting report coming into the NFL, however, suggested that he would be a very good deep-ball quarterback, so one could reasonably expect that part of his game to develop. If it does so in 2016, Winston could easily make the jump from 7.56 to 7.83, which was the Bucs' single-season record set by Brian Griese in 2004.*It is also not a leap to expect a passer who threw 22 touchdowns as a rookie to jump up by five or six more in his sophomore campaign. Josh Freeman holds the team record with his 27 TD passes in 2012. And while Winston had just two 300-yard games in his debut season, both came in the final three weeks of the season and he had three other games where he finished between 287 and 297 yards. *
- Most receiving yards, individual
- Most Receiving Yards, running back
Mike Evans has 2,257 receiving yards already, the ninth-highest total for any player in NFL history through his first two NFL seasons. Evans and Randy Moss are the only two players in league annals to have a pair of 1,000-yard receiving seasons under their belt before turning 23 years old.
Photos of quarterback Jameis Winston from his rookie season.
In other words, there are seeds of greatness there. Evans has been very good so far, but he has room for improvement. He also has the advantage of growing up together with Winston in the years to come. Mark Carrier's team record of 1,422 receiving yards has stood for a long time, since 1989, despite the likes of Keyshawn Johnson, Joey Galloway, Antonio Bryant and Vincent Jackson taking turns threatening it. Evans will probably topple that record eventually, and it wouldn't be a shock to see it happen next fall.
Charles Sims proved the Bucs' brain trust right in 2015, his second season, topping 1,000 yards from scrimmage and lead in the NFL in yards per scrimmage touch by a running back. Jason Licht and company pointed to Sims's outstanding pass-catching ability when they drafted the running back in 2014, and that came to the fore in 2015 when he caught 51 passes for 561 yards. That's the fourth-best mark for a running back in team history, but the record of 685 yards by James Wilder in 1984 isn't far off. It would certainly be surprising to see Sims's playing time diminish in 2015; rather, his overall numbers should improve.
