Week one could feature Jameis Winston vs. Marcus Mariota

By foxsports
Published

By Andrew Juge

The topic has been danced around here and there, but post draft the table is now set for the possibility of the top two drafted players facing off in a week 1 season opener. That would of course be two quarterbacks, Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (drafted from Florida State) and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota (Oregon). Indeed the Bucs are scheduled to host the Titans in week 1 at 4:25 EST on Sunday, September 13th. Much still needs to happen for either player to start on 9/13, though, and the most significant road blocks are Mike Glennon and Zach Mettenberger. One has to assume the NFL schedule makers paired this matchup for week 1 with the idea of Mariota vs. Winston being a distinct possibility, though. And you can imagine the national interest should both players end preseason atop their respective depth charts.

Should they start, it will be fun to see how they perform against each other head to head when you consider how much they’ve been compared to each other for the better part of the last year. Prized 1st round rookie quarterbacks in their first start tend to be protected with a conservative gameplan, so it will be interesting to see how this game is called. And while the ceiling for these two players is sky high, game one performance expectations should be tempered.

Here’s a look at how other 1st round rookie quarterbacks since 2010 fared when starting for the first time in their rookie season:

As you can see, the first time performances since 2010 have been quite poor. So while the media will push Winston vs. Mariota (if it happens) as must see TV, don’t expect an electrifying performance. The storyline is compelling but the play is unlikely to be. Since 2010, 1st round pick quarterbacks have combined for a woeful 2-11 record with 13 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions. Only three of the 13 listed above delivered a performance that can be considered impressive in their debut (Bridgewater, Newton, Griffin) and only two of those were able to win.

More from This Given Sunday: