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Before the season even started, people were comparing Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. One can make a case for and against them as young rookie quarterbacks. Both of them had good seasons, but only one can come out on top for their draft class at least. However, it seems like this comparison won’t be ending anytime soon.
First up is Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. As the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, he was supposed to strive for greatness from the start. Winston had a tall order to fill the Bucs vacant quarterback spot and show his college doubters that he could be a respectable quarterback in the league. However, the stats are really where you can see what kind of quarterback Winston is. Unlike Mariota, Winston has been able to play in every single game this season and completed 268 of 459 passes with a completion percentage of 58.4 percent. Winston has thrown 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions along with three fumbles with one of those lost.
One of the biggest strengths for Winston is Tampa Bay’s stellar offense. Winston has quality receivers to throw the ball to including Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. He also has tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and running back Doug Martin completes that offense. He has had a questionable past in college, however, Winston was able to stay out of the spotlight for anything related to off the field issues.
Moving on to Marcus Mariota who was the second pick in the 2015 NFL Draft for the Tennessee Titans. He took on the role of starting quarterback over former 2014-6th round pick, Zach Mettenberger. Exactly like Winston, Mariota would have to immediately become the franchise quarterback for the Titans and try to turn around the team. Injury caused him to miss two games and most likely the remainder of the season, making Mariota unable of having a true rookie season. He completed 230 of 370 passes with a completion percentage of 62.2 percent which was slightly higher than Winston. Mariota threw for 19 touchdowns to 10 interceptions along with eight fumbles, losing two.
Unlike Winston, Mariota does not have as good of a supporting cast around him. However, he was able to get almost as many touchdowns as Winston. With weapons like Bishop Sankey and Delanie Walker, Mariota clearly didn’t have the advantage, but he was able to really become a jack of all trades so to speak, even lining up as a wide receiver and rushing for two touchdowns.
However, it comes down to who was better this season. While the stats were in Mariota’s favor, Winston had his team in somewhat of a playoff hunt. Winston had a lot of help, so the nod has to go to Mariota. That’s not to say that Winston didn’t have a pretty decent season either, but playing through injury and having to rely on a less than stellar offense, Mariota has the slight edge over Winston.
