Victim Of Narratives And Odell Beckham, Jr.
September 24th, 2023
The new Baker Mayfield isn’t that new, says two legendary receivers.
The rapid rise and fall of Baker Mayfield in Cleveland is being dissected more than ever now that Mayfield is a two-game stud with the Buccaneers.
Joe was highly intrigued to hear opinionated former receiver legends Michael Irvin and Keshawn Johnson open up on the subject during an FS1 panel discussion last week.
Johnson, the former Buccaneer, was admant that Mayfield, as of today, is better than any college quarterback eligible for the 2024 NFL Draft and that he’s got extreme leadership skills that shouldn’t be doubted.
Per Johnson Mayfield simply fell on the wrong side of the media narratives in Cleveland and their locker room was too divided by Odell Beckham Jr.
Keep in mind Johnson is based in Southern California and had a strong Rams focus in his work last season, when Mayfield closed the 2022 season with the Rams.
Per Irvin, Mayfield is in the ideal situation in Tampa because he’s got much better talent.
“Now Baker has someone that he can force the ball into,” Irvin said. “noting Beckham needed to be thrown open an needed to see daylight out of his route breaks.
“Mike Evans don’t need to see no room and he gives you a bigger catch radius [than Odell Beckham Jr.],” Irvin reflected. “So now you get Baker Mayfield dropping back saying, ‘I can find him anywhere. He’s 6-5, 225 pounds, and that [sideline throw against the Bears] anybody else [other than Evans] and it’s out of bounds. This dude here is playing out of his head, Mike Evans.”
Irvin added that he’s blown away by how deeply lauded Mayfield has been by teammates and coaches so quickly.
“They just finished eating Tom Brady! They were just having Tom Brady there,” Irvin ranted. “They saw that kind of leadership. They’re saying Baker is up there with Tom.”
Johnson said he’s not surprised. “[Baker’s] never been a bad leader, though. That’s just the narrative.”
September 24th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
Good lord it’s two wins guy. Baker’s playing solid ball, but let’s not talk like he’s an MVP just yet.
September 24th, 2023 at 1:44 pm
Mayfield is now the victim. Cleveland had one if not the best running game in the league, Beckham and Landry aren’t exactly slugs, not to mention a pretty decent D. I agree with two points, coaching sucked and Mike is a big target.
September 24th, 2023 at 1:46 pm
I watched that the other day and came away with a greater hope Baker will be the answer for the Bucs for several years to come!
September 24th, 2023 at 2:06 pm
Odell is a diva. No surprise Baker is doing better here at the Bucs since there is a foundation compared to the Browns.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
I love Bake Tom trust him too abut it’s too early for this kind of nonsense. Wish him the best but if he will have a great game against the eagles and we win. Then we can start the talk. Let’s go Bucs!
September 24th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
I love Bake Tom trust him too abut it’s too early for this kind of nonsense. Wish him the best but if he will have a great game against the eagles and we win. Then we can start the talk. Let’s go Bucs!
September 24th, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Baker with the Browns is ancient history. Let’s evaluate him based on his Bucs tenure with Canales: the last two games mainly, and preseason.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:26 pm
2-0 is great but let’s not let the hype get ahead of us. The whole college football world had Colorado on top of the mountain…until yesterday.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
Ne fan, please unalive
September 24th, 2023 at 2:31 pm
NE Fan, what has Cleveland , Odell Beckham or Landry done since mayfield has left? I will wait
September 24th, 2023 at 2:35 pm
Not turning the ball over by throwing INT’s is the secret sauce in the Big McMayfield.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:37 pm
Mayfield’s doubters are not without merit, his interception stats,( most in the league ), and fumbles , are solid concerns . He has played well these last two weeks but that is hardly enough to erase completely those 5 years of accumulated doubts. Let’s wait a while and see how it goes.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Mayfield & the Browns is ancient history. The team we need to be laser-focused on is the Eagles. The NFL has always been a ‘What have you done for me lately’ league. And lately, Baker has been solid. But after seeing some of the nasty comments folks have made about Tom Brady regarding the last year of his 23-year career, it’s obvious that media & fans would turn on Mayfield in a heartbeat if he has several bad games in a row. Thus … one game at a time.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:49 pm
#99 Becham got.himself a RING!!! Next?
September 24th, 2023 at 2:52 pm
I like him
September 24th, 2023 at 2:53 pm
@DR – 100% ^
Baker has done exactly what we’ve needed so far. Keep playing sound football, limit turnovers, and don’t get too high or too low after a play / game, and we can keep winning.
And a loss to Philly won’t mean the sky is falling either.
Meanwhile Carr just got injured, it’s about to be Jameis time for the Saints.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:53 pm
ffs.. Unalive… Can’t say “Kill yourself”? that’s is essentially what you are typing.
It doesn’t make it any prettier..
Screw the woke garbage.
September 24th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
NE fan , you got me there but it wasn’t like the rams fought to keep him either
September 24th, 2023 at 2:58 pm
I was glad we signed Mayfield, and think is an above average QB.
I posted that here, on JoeBuc, numerous times.
Im happy to see him playing great here.
I had major doubts about Todd Bowles.
Glad to see hes making me look bad so far.
I hope they both keep exceeding expectations!
September 24th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
They didn’t fight to keep Baker, did they?
September 24th, 2023 at 3:01 pm
Don’t say what kind of leader he is after two wins against two very bad teams, what kind of leader is he after two back to back loses?
September 24th, 2023 at 3:07 pm
Actually there were plenty of reports that the rams wanted him back.. He was smart to come to the bucs with our receivers..
September 24th, 2023 at 3:16 pm
I will agree with you there #99. I like the guy just not sold him after two games. He’s great pick up for the price no matter.how the season turns out.
September 24th, 2023 at 3:50 pm
Herbert and the Chargers are killing the Vikings. The Vikings defense is awful. Our offense hasn’t had a real test yet
September 24th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
@DefenseRules. You’re right. The comments made about Brady have been awful. He was 45, and the team didn’t provide him the resources to succeed. The OC was also a question. The revisionist history of Brady’s tenure here has been awful. The was hear for three years, led the team to a SB in bye first year. He had no off-season because of the pandemic. He had a MVP season in 2021. There was obvious regression last year, but stop the slanderous comments about his stay with us
September 24th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
Let’s see what OBJ can do without his sticky gloves.
Between the two, it’s not even close. Evans is more than a one tricky pony.
September 24th, 2023 at 4:25 pm
Several Comments about Baker:
1) both the Rams and the Ravens wanted Baker as their backup… he said no, and came to TB who promised he could compete for the starting job.
2) Yes, he’s thrown 64 int’s in 5 years. 35 of those in his first 2 seasons (avg 17), and 29 in the 3 since (avg ~9). As a rookie with the Browns (who were historically BAD) he had a lot of pressure, and a lot of int’s. He’s had 6 or 7 coordinators in 5 seasons – hard to absorb all the nuances of the offense when it changes on you weekly.
3) In CLE – everyone was in love with OBJ. But OBJ freelances ALL THE TIME – never where he’s supposed to be, when he’s supposed to be. That doesn’t work great in a timing-based offense. The tape his father posted was mostly showing OBJ open AFTER the window, or when he was back-side on a play designed to the other side.
4) He pissed off Mary Jo Cabbage (the gossip queen) and Tony GROSS (useless reporter of inane trivia) and all of a sudden “he’s a cancer in the locker room, a diva, etc”. If you talked to the PLAYERS (I actually have) they LOVED him… just like TB’s locker room does. The rest was cause those two “press” people got mad that he called them out for BS.
5) Yes, he was a bit immature, but that seems to have gone by the wayside.
6) Not ready to call him the savior yet, but he’s in the best situation he’s ever been in, and getting better each week.
September 24th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
Rod, no one is comparing Odell with Evan’s today. In his prime he was pretty good, too many injuries.
September 24th, 2023 at 4:42 pm
Well, it’s early, and it would be a blessing if Mayfield (or even Trask) became the franchise QB the team has coveted outside the Brady years.
That would really open up the draft.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:15 pm
What nothing else going on when Brady won’t let you cup his balls huh
September 24th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
NE Fan ie “Die hard Brady fan not wanting the Bucs to do better than they did with Brady last year”: I honestly don’t know why you are on here. Why don’t you go back to your New England websites? It’s not normal for a fan of another team to constantly hate on a team you don’t care about. It’s weird.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:23 pm
Baker was a victim of his own bad play
September 24th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Love how the talking heads slowly change the narrative. Immature, gunslinger, turnover machine who had 3 teams give up on him and this is his last chance . That was the lazy media was spewing in their echo chamber….now all of a sudden people are digging a little…no qb has ever had to play for more qb/OCs at the start of his career? What? Everyone who has ever been in bakers orbit LOVES him except for obj and objs dad. What? His best weapons were obj who would often run the wrong route and Landry who runs a good 7 yd route. Cleveland is worse with watson then they were with baker? What?
September 24th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
If you absolutely must hate on teams, they should be in the AFC East or at least the AFC… I’ve spent the past 30 years teaching, coaching, and mentoring young people. I assure you that you’ll be a much happier person if you start cheering or critiquing your own team and life instead of concentrating your efforts on a team that has absolutely nothing to do with you now that the GOAT has retired.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:03 pm
We’re all going to pretend last year didn’t happen?
Stop.
Baker is doing decently in the first two games. Not setting the world on fire but playing decently. Let’s not run naked through the streets just yet.
The tough part of the schedule begins this week.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:15 pm
Until he was injured in 2021, Baker had a LOT more good games than bad. I watched him very closely during his time there. Baker inherited a terrible team that was 1-34 before he played his first game, and a team that hadn’t made the playoffs for almost 30 years. He literally changed the downward spiral of the Browns’ franchise, was 11-5 with a 2020 playoff win against the Steelers, and came within one play of making it to the AFC Championship game. Unfortunately, his injury in 2021 and his stubborn courage to put his team before himself, was the beginning of the end of his playing days in Cleveland. Kevin Stenfanski, Baker’s head coach said numerous times that he wanted Baker back, but he as overruled by the GM and ownership. I realize it’s only 2 games, but believe me, Baker is for real.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:20 pm
The browns front office turned on him when he questioned sttafanski missing a critical team meeting so he could have a one on one meeting with miles Garrett. Stefani and gm berry won’t last much longer.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
O’Dell is the biggest 😢 🍼 in the game, I don’t need “narratives” or someone else to tell me that it’s on tape it’s on the film all you gotta do is watch, remember this is the guy that got beat up by the kickers net this is the guy that when it’s not his play he doesn’t finish the route, if it’s a run he’s not blocking he’s a bad teammate and all except for 1 highlight catch has been absolutely worthless to the end goal of winning
September 24th, 2023 at 7:01 pm
I aspire to one day regurgitate days old information and benefit off it.
September 25th, 2023 at 12:19 am
If I had any restect for either one of these guys. I might buy in.
So I am lefft with my own perceptions. Which are that Baker has played very well and has made it a point to bond with team mates. He has, largely played error free football. No turnovers and one sack…Although he should have a few more but for his pocket presence and quick feet. A plus for our still “gelling” offensive line.
Big, Big test for him, the O line and Canales this week.
Go Bucs!
September 25th, 2023 at 1:36 am
If Baker ever wins the Big game, would love to see him host SNL.
September 25th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
All i know is up here in Ohio, sportswriters noticed a significant uptick in Mayfield’s numbers when the Diva was hurt. Significant enough it caught their attention