I see on the Sports Illustrated website that Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht was wondering out loud about the 18 interceptions Jameis Winston threw last year. In the last 20 years, only one quarterback selected in the first round has thrown more picks in his final college season. “Usually you find when a guy throws interceptions in college that doesn’t go away in the pros,” Licht says.

Marcus Mariota, on the other hand, threw only 4 interceptions in 445 attempts at Oregon last year, which is better than any quarterback selected in the first round in the last 20 years.

But is there anything to Licht’s theory? That is, is it true that if a player throws interceptions in college, that tends to carry over and continue to plague him in the pros?

Not as far as I can see.

Matt Ryan threw 19 interceptions his final year at Boston College (the most of anyone), and he hasn’t tended to be a quarterback who turns it over.

Among the other 10 quarterbacks who threw at least 11 interceptions their final year of college, I see Steve McNair, Peyton Manning, Chad Pennington and Ryan Tannehill. All were good at avoiding turnovers in the pros.

Here are the first-round quarterbacks since 1995 – the 50 selected in the first round, plus Winston and Mariota. They’re ranked in order of interception percentage their final year of college, with the best quarterbacks near the top, and the worst near the bottom.

Among guys with at least 100 pass attempts in their third season in the pros, the best 10 are in bold. The worst ten (against, 3rd year and looking at interceptions only) have a block dot in front of their name.

FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS -- INTERCEPTIONS
YearPlayerAttIntPct
2010Sam Bradford6900.00%
2015 MARCUS MARIOTA44540.90%
2014Teddy Bridgewater42740.94%
2008Joe Flacco52150.96%
2005Alex Smith31741.26%
2004Philip Rivers48371.45%
2002David Carr47671.47%
2012Robert Griffin III40661.48%
2007Brady Quinn46771.50%
2002Joey Harrington32251.55%
2010Tim Tebow31451.59%
1999Daunte Culpepper40271.74%
2006Matt Leinart43181.86%
2011• Blaine Gabbert47591.89%
2006Jay Cutler46291.95%
1999Donovan McNabb25151.99%
1997Jim Druckenmiller25052.00%
2004• Ben Roethlisberger495102.02%
2003Byron Leftwich491102.04%
2003Carson Palmer489102.04%
2009Josh Freeman38282.09%
1999Akili Smith32572.15%
2004Eli Manning441102.27%
2012• Brandon Weeden564132.30%
1998Peyton Manning477112.31%
2007• JaMarcus Russell34282.34%
2014Blake Bortles38292.36%
2003• Kyle Boller421102.38%
2012Andrew Luck404102.48%
2011Cam Newton28072.50%
2005Aaron Rodgers31682.53%
2013EJ Manuel387102.58%
2005Jason Campbell27072.59%
2009Matthew Stafford383102.61%
1995• Kerry Collins26472.65%
1998• Ryan Leaf375102.67%
2011Christian Ponder29982.68%
2011Jake Locker33292.71%
1999• Tim Couch553152.71%
2009Mark Sanchez366102.73%
2000Chad Pennington433122.77%
2012Ryan Tannehill531152.82%
2002Patrick Ramsey449132.90%
2008Matt Ryan654192.91%
2014Johnny Manziel429133.03%
2006• Vince Young325103.08%
1999Cade McNown323103.10%
1995Steve McNair530173.21%
2004J.P. Losman422143.32%
2003• Rex Grossman503173.38%
2001Michael Vick16163.73%
2015 JAMEIS WINSTON467183.85%

—Ian Allan