5 most surprising NFL passing leaders in history

For most of recent history, we've seen the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning lead the NFL in passing years. However, there are always years like 2019, when Jameis Winston led the league. Who are the strangest passing leaders in NFL history?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) / Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

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3. Jameis Winston, 2019 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This 2019 Jameis Winston story was insane. He was one of the most talented players at the position with the most gun-slinger moniker we've ever seen. Every time he threw the ball, it could either be a 60-yard touchdown or a pic- six. Honestly, there wasn't much in between. A lot of it had to do with volume. Winston was asked to throw the ball 626 times. He had more than 400 yards in a game nine times that season. Of course, this season is most famous as Winston's 30-30 season (as in 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions).

There are 15 seasons where a quarterback threw for 5,000 passing yards. Winston is still in the top ten all-time for his 5,109 yards in 2019. That's more than Dan Marino's iconic 1984 season. Manning and Mahomes have only bested it once in their careers. This season in NFL history is hard to quantify, which is weird since we're literally talking about numbers.

In a vacuum, this season is usually considered a joke. The 30 interceptions wildly outweigh the 33 touchdowns and massive amount of yards. Winston did all this while taking a career-high 47 sacks. This was a putrid offensive line (that for some reason figured it out next year with Tom Brady back there).

Winston has been the butt of jokes for a while now. Whether it's crab legs or "Eat the W," it seems like he has trouble getting people to take his career seriously. That includes this season, where he threw for the 10th most yards of all time. Now, he's just struggling to get playing time four years from this performance.

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