5 NFL Stats to Know Through Week 8

Jameis Winston Had -0.19 Passing Net Expected Points per Drop Back

The 2018 campaign is a season that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston will want to forget in a hurry. After missing the start of the season due to suspension and having to wait for the chance to return to the lineup thanks to the form of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Winston found himself benched during the team's Week 8 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Coming into the week, Winston had thrown multiple interceptions in his three previous games, and against the Bengals, he was taken out of the game after his fourth pick of the day. It marked the end of a day in which Winston put in one of the worst quarterbacking performances of the season, according to our in-house metrics.

Winston's mark of -0.19 Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per drop back was the second-lowest among all quarterbacks with at least 30 attempts from Week 8, besting only Derek Anderson (-0.31). Winston's clip for the season is 0.05.

By contrast, in relief of Winston in Week 8, Fitzpatrick amassed 0.89 Passing NEP per drop back, the third-highest among players with at least 10 pass attempts. Fitz's season-long clip is 0.42. Quite simply -- Fitzpatrick has been much better than Winston this season, and the well-traveled veteran deserves to start.

Fitzpatrick should be in for a fairly decent time of it in Week 9, at least from a fantasy point of view, as the Buccaneers take on the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers have allowed multiple touchdown passes in each of their last six games.