Jameis Winston wins NFL Rookie of the year

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have themselves a franchise quarterback!

After of all the nay-sayers made off-base Jamarcus Russell comparisons 2015 No. 1 overall Jameis Winston is the opposite. Friday night he was named the 2015 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year, as voted by the fans, Pepsi and the NFL. Winston earned the honor by passing for over 4,000 yards and 22 touchdowns, both franchise records.

He also threw 15 interceptions on the year but for a rookie, his numbers, including a 84.2 quarterback rating, were outstanding. In Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Winston threw five touchdowns with no interceptions. Ray Buivid of the Chicago Cardinals is the only rookie QB in NFL history to accomplish that.

His 6-10 record gives his team three times as many wins as they had the year before he got there. Two those wins were via 4th-quarter comebacks and three of them were via game-winning drives. So he has already instilled that belief into his teammates that the team is not out of the game when he’s under center.

And let’s not forget he had the rookie year he had despite 2nd-year receiver Mike Evans struggling with drops. The future is bright for those Winston and Evans with the young offensive line that improved throughout the season. All the Buccaneers need to do now is re-sign running back Doug Martin and get some help for that defense.

The other finalists were Oakland Raiders WR Amari Cooper, St. Louis Rams RB Todd Gurley, Seattle Seahawks WR/KR Tyler Lockett and Kansas City Chiefs CB Marcus Peters. But Winston was the one that did the most to change the fortunes of his team as a rookie, something a franchise quarterback is supposed to do.

The Tennessee Titans have the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft after drafting Marcus Mariota.

Looks like Round 1 goes to Winston there too!