It’s the middle of June during an offseason wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic, so excuse us for dipping into absurd and mostly meaningless stats during this post.
But this feels worthy of mention: Somehow, Jameis Winston has thrown more career interceptions than Aaron Rodgers.
Let’s run it all down:
Winston, the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, has thrown 88 career interceptions. Rodgers, the 24th overall pick in the 2005 draft, has thrown 84.
Winston has played in 71 career games. Rodgers has played in 181.
Winston has attempted 2,543 career passes. Rodgers has attempted 6,061.
In 2019, Winston threw an NFL-high 30 interceptions. Over the last five seasons, or since Winston joined the NFL in 2015, Rodgers has thrown 27 total interceptions. Winston’s 30 interceptions represent over a third of Rodgers’ career total.
Over the last two seasons, Winston tossed an NFL-high eight pick-sixes. Rodgers had six total interceptions the last two seasons and only two career pick-sixes.
Winston averaged 17.6 interceptions per season during his five seasons as the Buccaneers starter, while Rodgers has never thrown more than 13 interceptions in a single season (2008, his first season as the starter).
Winston became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in a single season, while Rodgers holds the NFL record for touchdown-to-interception ratio. Winston’s career interception percentage is almost three times as high as Rodgers’.
Winston has thrown at least 10 interceptions five straight seasons to start his NFL career, while Rodgers is riding a streak of nine straight seasons with eight or fewer interceptions. The last time Rodgers threw double-digit interceptions in a season was 2010, when Winston was 16 years old and a high school player in Alabama.
It goes without saying, but Rodgers and Winston are polar opposites when it comes to throwing interceptions.
The Buccaneers moved on from Winston this offseason, choosing to sign Tom Brady over bringing back the No. 1 overall pick from 2015. Winston later signed a one-year deal to join the New Orleans Saints.