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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jameis Winston Youngest Ever to 3,000 Yards

Winston is the youngest QB in NFL history to throw for 3,000 yards.

Dec 15, 2015 at 02:45 AM
Smith_Scott_2
Scott Smith

Senior Writer/Editor

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

  1. Brian Griese

2004

11

97.5

  1. Josh Freeman

2010

16

95.9

  1. Jeff Garcia

2007

13

94.6

  1. Brad Johnson

2002

13

92.9

  1. Jeff Garcia

2008

12

90.2

6. Jameis Winston*

2015

13

85.4

  1. Steve DeBerg

1987

12

85.3

  1. Mike Glennon

2013

13

83.9

  1. Trent Dilfer

1997

16

82.8

  1. 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

  1. Josh Freeman

2012

4,065

  1. Brad Johnson

2003

3,811

  1. Josh Freeman

2011

3,592

  1. Doug Williams

1981

3,563

  1. 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

  1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 56
    2t. Chicago Bears: 43
    2t. New Orleans Saints: 43
    4t. Cleveland Browns: 36
    4t. St. Louis Rams: 36
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