Heady Company For Jameis
January 19th, 2016
Mind-blowing stat by America’s Quarterback.
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
Joe isn’t much of a stats guy. The term “analytics” generally causes Joe’s private places to break out into a rash. Still, Joe tries to keep an open mind.
A stat seen yesterday was so mind blowing, you could have knocked Joe over with a Bucs cheerleader calendar.
America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, ranks among the NFL elite. Yes, really. A stat retweeted by Chase Stuart of FootballPerspective.com reveals only two quarterbacks accounted for more first downs per play in 2015 than Jameis.
Factoring in number of snaps and first downs, Jameis and the Bucs’ offense (Jameis took each and every snap for the Bucs) accounted for first downs 36.05 percent of the time, third-best in the NFL.
Of the top four quarterbacks, only Jameis is not preparing for a game this weekend. In order, they are Carson Palmer, Cam Newton, Jameis and Tom Brady.
This is just insane. Again, remember, Jameis was a rookie and he moved the ball as well as the very best in the NFL.
You know what this tells Joe? Several things:
* Jameis may be further along as an NFL quarterback than Joe initially believed.
* If the Tampa Bay defense could have only gotten a couple of more stops per game, the Bucs likely would have had at least a .500 record (or better) and Lovie Smith would still be here.
* Dirk Koetter saying Jameis’ upside is still huge has merit. If Jameis did this with a weakened receiving corps, working with the likes of undrafted rookies Donteea Dye and Adam Humphries, and two fellow rookies up front, imagine what he could do with a beefed up wide receivers corps and Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet having experience?
* Jameis and the offense racked up this number despite Bucs’ receivers playing hot potato way too often.
Seriously, Joe is absolutely floored. If reminds Joe of a quote Koetter had earlier this year:
“Jameis always says he’s nobody in this league. Well, he’s going to be somebody.”
He may already be.
January 19th, 2016 at 5:18 am
Also has the second most yards through the air % wise Joe (only behind Big Ben.) Imagine if we could add a receiver that can pick up some YAC yards.
January 19th, 2016 at 5:42 am
Lots to be excited about this year, and Jameis is undoubtedly #1 in that regard … We finally got our franchise QB. With a year of NFL experience under his belt, I fully expect that his numbers will improve even more. Hopefully our OLine can also improve and we can keep our WRs, TEs and RBs healthy so he has even better weapons to work with.
Love that Dirk Koetter will still be calling plays since as HC I suspect he’ll be less conservative than Lovie was. I’d expect that he knows Jameis’ tendencies a lot better now, and that his play-calling will also lead to better stats for both Jameis and the team.
Our 2016 schedule is a LOT tougher, but if we can get our defense fixed then surely the Bucs will be able to contend with the best.
January 19th, 2016 at 5:44 am
Tasty… I am glad Koetter is still here. I hope they get that burner at W/R and get a W/R coach who, you know, PLAYED W/R before. I am glad they kept Warhop, the man did a hell of a job. I know we need pieces on defense, but man, feed the man weapons.
January 19th, 2016 at 6:21 am
“But Joe, most of those 1st downs came in in garbage time….”
– Every poster who feels the need to disregard JW’s impressive rookie stat line
I recall Brett Favre said a few times, “it’s all about moving the sticks”, or something to that ilk. Which I found interesting, because he was always thought of as a gunslinger and able to produce the big play, and not a QB that would methodically march his team down the field.
1st downs are very important; probably only behind points and protecting the ball; as that usually leads to higher Time of Possession. Thanks for this nugget Joe.
January 19th, 2016 at 6:28 am
Awesome!
Hopefully Jameis can start a fire within ASJ. It would be awesome to have Brate and ASJ as solid bookends at TEs. We need to get the future replacement of Logan and Jackson too. We are building “The Greatest Show on Grass.” Shoot them cannons!
Playoffs? Playoffs? Yes! Playoffs, Baby!!!
January 19th, 2016 at 6:38 am
It’s even more impressive winston having that high of a percentage of the first down when you consider we were a top rushing team
January 19th, 2016 at 7:32 am
You have to also consider that we were able to make all those first downs after being penalized often….
Our running game did certainly help us make more first downs…..
The future is bright…I am excited about the off-season.
January 19th, 2016 at 7:34 am
This is a team stat, not a JW stat. It includes 1st downs by rushing as well, correct? Let’s not try to heap all the praise on just one guy.
January 19th, 2016 at 7:57 am
slow down, aaron Rodgers is way down on the list, and he is a top 5 qb for sure.
January 19th, 2016 at 8:08 am
I know we need a lot of help on defense but WR Will Fuller from Notre Dame would be an excellent pick in the second round.
I truly believe Jameis will become the top QB in the NFL in the near future.
January 19th, 2016 at 8:21 am
I thought I saw that if they just isolated passing, JW3 is 5th. R Wilson and the Bangals jump ahead of him. Still does not take into account if they are in “garbage time” or not!! But, better to move the ball then go 3 and out, no matter the score!!!
January 19th, 2016 at 8:50 am
Does this take into account the number of first down completions that were called back because of penalties?
Our 2016 schedule is a LOT tougher
I certainly do not dispute this observation. But I am pretty meh about it.
First of all schedules on paper never really turn out like imagined before the season.
This year I looked at what I thought was a murderers row in the middle..Philly..Dallas..and at Indy…we won two of three and should have won all three.
Teams change so much from year to year…critical injuries..and it’s the NFL..on any given Sunday!!! Philly beat N.E. Are you kidding me?
The one thing that does seem to be true is that if Cam Newton is healthy the Stinking Panthers make our division one of the toughest in the league. And so we can look forward to some epic battles between Cam and #3!
I say scrw the schedule…bring it one Cam! I’m glad the Panthers are in our division and I’m now rooting for them to win the SB.
If you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best. Looks like we’re going to have a great benchmark in our division…at least two games a year to really test ourselves and if we’re as good as we hope the Panthers won’t bring their B game.
January 19th, 2016 at 10:03 am
Funny: Aaron Rogers near the bottom.
So much for another useless stat.
January 19th, 2016 at 10:41 am
If the rest of our team played at the level Jameis did this year, we would be making a Superbowl run right now. Similar to Roethlesberger’s rookie season, except Jameis is a more prolific passer than Ben at that early stage.
Simple as that.
January 19th, 2016 at 11:09 am
Next year, Denver, even without Peyton, will be tough. That defense tho. Im sure Aquib Talib will be ready for a homecoming. @ Kansas City, they are also tough on defense and Alex Smith can pick most defense apart. San Diego struggled this year but visiting Philip River is no given. Then we get Oakland with that defense and young upand coming offense led by Carr and Cooper.
Then we also play the NFC west, @ SF is no cake walk, no game out west is for us ever. @ ARI you already know. LA, who seems to beat us up every friggin year. Idk what it is but neither Lovie nor Schiano could beat those guys, 0-4 since 2012. Then Seattle comes to town, which I actually think is winnable, but will turn into a heart breaker if we blink just once.
Then Chicago comes to us again. No excuse to lose to Jay Cutler and that floundering defense again. And at Dallas, presumably with a healthy Romo and Dez and yes, they will be mad about last year (happy birthday to me last year vs DAL) and our team better be motivated to kick their ass in Jerry world.
Then theres our division, im not too worried about it. We can beat Nawlins and we can beat the Failcants no matter how mad they are. Of course, Carolina stands in the way.
Man, I hope this team keeps momentum from the last Atl game and gets it together on defense quick. That schedule is tough and I dont see too many bright spots on it for us.
January 19th, 2016 at 11:13 am
Erik
Agree with that sentiment. The question is for those who did not was it a simple lack of talent? Not everybody is blessed with #3’s physical gifts..everybody was looking for the defects in the draft debate and rarely paid attention to his enormous phyical gifts. He has a cannon…is a big dude…and is sneaky fast and deceptively agile when he scrambles.
How much was due to a lack of heart? #3 clearly has a huge heart but so do other players…I love Kwon’s motivation..and there are others…but perhaps some do not have it inside of them
How much was coaching?
January 19th, 2016 at 11:36 am
While achieving first downs is important, the more important statistic is early down success rate, or avoiding third downs………………………..
January 19th, 2016 at 11:56 am
St Pete,
It’s difficult to quantify, but I’d say our overall shortcomings this year were about 90% defensive and 10% offensive execution… For the defensive inadequacy, I’d say 70% scheme/playcalling (coaching) & 30% lack of talent at a few key positions (really only like 1 safety, 1 CB, & 1 DE to be honest). Other than that, I think our talent and heart on that side of the ball is adequate to be successful.
January 19th, 2016 at 2:08 pm
This stat is also a testament to our running game. With Doug Martins monster season we were consistently in 3rd and manageable, sa!e with 2nd downs(pentaltys adide of course). Giving your QB good opportunities like these to move the ball is a formula that has and always will give you better chance for success.
Hopefully Koetter is smart enough to realize we need to keep our running game just as effective going forward.
January 20th, 2016 at 4:11 am
Aaron Rodgers was not as efficient this year because for the first time he did not have his supporting cast, due to injuries. There was another stat on Pro Football Reference which looked at statistics for QB’s which included their passing and running game. The stat also tried not to account for yards after the catch to base it on true passing yards. Winston was ranked at number 10. Impressive for the rookie. The concerns this year were way to many penalties and the need for another playmaker at WR. I recommend drafting WR Josh Doctson TCU (6-3 195) Great hands. Yes, great hands. His ability to make plays on jump-balls is unreal. In fact, his entire college career seems to be a highlight reel. NFL Translation? TD machine. Winston to Doctson could be the new tandum. One more thing, we need a kicker, bad.