Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jameis Winston’s welcome to the NFL moment came on his first career pass, which was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, has settled down and is starting to post respectable numbers.

He's the 20th rated quarterback in the NFL, according to profootballfocus.com.

Winston is just behind Philadelphia’s Sam Bradford and ahead of Miami’s Ryan Tannehill. He’s even ahead of veteran quarterbacks such as Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, New York Giants’ Eli Manning, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.

Winston has played 415 snaps and has dropped back 210 times. He’s run out of the pocket 17 times and has thrown the ball away 13 times.

Overall, he’s completed 107 of 181 passes for 1,472 yards with nine touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

Winston has been sacked 15 times and has an overall passer rating of 85.7, which is 24th in the NFL.

“We’ve been very impressed with what we’ve seen on film so far,” Falcons defensive coordinator Richard Smith said. “The quarterback is improving each week. He’s a big guy. I think he plays with a lot of confidence. He’s got great arm strength. He’s not a guy who gets flustered in the pocket and looks to run. He’s tries to remain a passer.”

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Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus (left) sacks Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Bruce Kluckhohn/AP)

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