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Jameis Winston Named 2015 Pepsi Rookie Of The Year
- Updated: February 5, 2016
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston was named 2015 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year, Pepsi and the NFL announced today.
Winston was selected among five finalists, including Oakland Raiders WR Amari Cooper, Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley, Seattle Seahawks WR-PR-KR Tyler Lockett and Kansas City CB Marcus Peters.
“It feels great to receive this honor from the fans,” Winston said. “My goal coming into my rookie season was to come in and do whatever it took to help us win games and compete. As great as this individual accomplishment is, it is really a reflection of how well our entire offense did this season. The fans are what make our sport so great and getting this kind of recognition based on their votes is very special to me.”
Each week, five nominees were chosen for the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week and NFL fans voted for the winner on NFL.com. Those results were used to help determine the finalists. Winston won three Pepsi Rookie of the Week awards (Weeks 2, 5 & 11). In Week 11, Winston threw five touchdowns with no interceptions and joined Ray Buivid (December 5, 1937) as the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
Winston started all 16 games for Tampa Bay, throwing for 4,042 yards and 22 touchdown passes, with six rushing touchdowns, all team rookie records. The 2015 No. 1 overall pick posted the third-most passing yards by a rookie in NFL history (4,042) and the second-most ever by a Buccaneers quarterback. His 22 touchdown passes were the fourth-most by a rookie in NFL history and tied for the fourth-most in a single season by a Buccaneers quarterback. His combined 28 touchdowns (22 passing, six rushing) were the most by a quarterback in Buccaneers history and tied for the third-most by a rookie in NFL history.
“As I have said before, I truly believe Jameis deserved to be honored as rookie of the year,” Buccaneers Head Coach Dirk Koetter said. “There were many fine candidates, but taking every snap at the most difficult position on the football field and producing one of the greatest statistical seasons by a rookie in NFL history speaks volumes to the type of player and competitor Jameis is. Beyond that, he provided leadership and intangibles that made immeasurable differences to our football team. I am very happy for Jameis and look forward to working with him to build on an outstanding rookie season.”
Winston was the first Buccaneers quarterback to earn a Pro Bowl selection since 2007 (Jeff Garcia), the first rookie quarterback to do so in team history, and the first rookie quarterback named to the contest since 2012 (Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck & Russell Wilson).
