Bullish On Baker Mayfield
July 6th, 2025
Growing respect.
Just a couple of years ago, Baker Mayfield was thrown on the trash heap of the NFL.
The former No. 1 overall pick was discarded by the Browns in what has turned out to be maybe the worst decision in NFL history this side of the Steelers passing on Dan Marino, thinking a broken down and washed Terry Bradshaw was the way to go. Especially when you factor in who the Browns invested in to replace Mayfield.
Mayfield then went to Carolina where he flamed out. He later ended up in Los Angeles and there, Sean McVay and Liam Coen sort of gave Mayfield hope.
Now look at him. Statistically, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell, who works with football coaches and shot-callers regularly, said those who know think Mayfield has reinvented himself into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
“Baker Mayfield, around the league, is highly, highly respected,” Cosell said. “He’s a really good thrower of the football.
“I’m not sure people think about that with Baker Mayfield.”
Cosell is correct, though the tide is turning. People, that is folks outside the Tampa Bay area, are starting to give Mayfield the respect he has earned. It’s not quite there yet, but Joe can sense it and feel it.
“He’s a really, really good thrower of the football,” Cosell said. “He’s grown up, you know? He’s aggressive. So every once in a while, he’ll make a play that’s viewed as reckless.”
That happens with every aggressive quarterback. Same could have been said for Brett Favre and others (no, Joe is not comparing Favre to Mayfield).
So long as that aggressive play leads to wins, no one will care and Bucs fans will celebrate.
And as Joe has typed many times, the more Mayfield and the Bucs win, the more respect he will get from around the league.
Winning is the greatest perfume.
“Baker Mayfield around the league is highly, highly respected. He's a REALLY good thrower of the football.”@GregCosell on the latest @RossTuckerPod: pic.twitter.com/fZk4X4yApv
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) July 5, 2025
July 6th, 2025 at 8:33 am
With natural progression the Bucs have a shot of the Super Bowl this season, but 2026 season with continuity the Bucs would be a more realistic opportunity.
The Bucs are putting the right pieces together. It’s now up to the coaches and players to set the team mindset of a Super Bowl team.
July 6th, 2025 at 8:44 am
4 years in Cleveland. 1st year winless team and he goes 7-5-1. 3700 yards passing. Second and third year throws for 3800 and over 3500. That 3rd year barely loses to KC second round of playoffs. 11-5 team in 3 years. Unbelievable. 4th year tears labrum in 3rd game. Team doc says needs surgery. Mayfield plays anyway and Stefanski lets him. Remember everyone in Cleveland thinks after last year this is the Super Bowl year. Still throws for 3000 yards and can’t throw on the run left or right. Surgery at end of season and in March they sign Watson. Fifth year Carolina and LA and still throws 2500 in 10 or so games. Mayfield has been winning games and stacking film since he walked into this league. Todd Bowles and Jason Licht deserve every penny they are getting paid for knowing a football player when they see one instead of listening to others who don’t know a football player when they see one. Yeah Tampa Bay has been a great team for Baker to have the chance to lead.
July 6th, 2025 at 8:48 am
I really think the Bucs are one draft away from being dominant. No disrespect to Cade Otto, but next year Kyle Pitts will be a Free Agent. And l think he will excel in this offense. If we can get over that mid season slump…..we can easily be the top team in the NFC
That’s my opinion
This offense is built for Baker Mayfield strengths
And l think he will be better with Liam Coen gone
Liam had the tendency to go conservative in close games
We need to keep the foot on the gas, and blow teams out
July 6th, 2025 at 8:49 am
“Otton”
July 6th, 2025 at 9:25 am
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
I’d rather have Otton.
July 6th, 2025 at 9:50 am
Baker never was a bust or really on the trash heap. It was a fake news smear campaign by the Browns to counter the backlash by Browns fans to the,Watson debacle. Many of those fans are on this board now. Onielbuc and others call it irrational Baker love but that is the same tact the Browns spin control took. It is not irrational if it is true. If you threw away out the social agenda of many Watson fans and just focussed on Football it would be clear to anyone Baker was still a franchise,QB. Now we have 2 full years of Data to show Baker is a damn good QB and it is,DW who is on the trash heap. Now go force the Browns owner to sell to the Cavs owner.
July 6th, 2025 at 10:08 am
Baker has turned his career around dramatically. With the talent we have here we fans have good reasons to be optimistic. We have a “franchise quarterback” now. When was the last time we could say that?
Go Bucs!!
July 6th, 2025 at 10:58 am
Baker fanboism and haterism are real things. Both groups of people are at the opposite ends of spectrum of Mayfield. They both only see what they want to see and use any kind of analytic and hyperbole to support their cause. He has never been as great or bad as they’ve screamed about, both are as irritating as a group of yammering women.
When Mayfield got to the Bucs I knew of some of his immature antics and good things he did with the Browns. As a 6th year veteran I fully expected him to beat the pants off a 3rd year backup who’d never started or really played in any regular season games but he didn’t. It took a HC trying to protect his job because he was on the hot seat gifting him the starter role and in turn he gifted Bucs fans one of the most consistently inconsistent seasons I know I’ve ever seen in my life. He could be as great as Tom Brady and as bad as Trent Dilfer all in one series. I watched him be the only qb I’ve ever seen not to be able to get his team into the endzone for an opening drive td for an entire season no matter how close we got. Even Shawn King wasn’t that bad. He disappeared for entire half of too many games Then Liam Coen came and showed us what a real OC can do with a gunslinger qb and Baker had his greatest season ever but still showed us at times what happens when he can’t handle the pressure. It wasn’t until after the Ravens beat down that I really started to believe in him. I’ve realized that he is a free range rooster. He must be allowed the space to be himself but also know his restrictions and limitations to be the great qb he can be. I can honestly say last years short comings of this team were not his fault. That fault lies at the feet of Tod Bowles. The only thing that gives me pause on Baker this season is that once again he has to once again get used to a new OC and his fbois will use that as a scapegoat if things don’t go so well this season for the Bucs.
July 6th, 2025 at 11:01 am
The problem with reckless is that the risk of turnovers increase, as in look at his interceptions last year. However, if the defense can get our opponents off the field occasionally, turnovers will not doom us. Yeah, he should be more careful with his decision making, but with this offense, I’m not particularly averse to Baker making risky plays now and then. When he does connect on those plays, it’s a thing of beauty.
July 6th, 2025 at 11:38 am
Cosell did a good breakdown of the NFC South on the Ross Tucker podcast, worth a watch.
July 6th, 2025 at 11:50 am
Bake just needs to keep progressing: win the big night games and reduce the turnovers. I expect him to improve this year.
July 6th, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Lakeland,
Devin Culp can be our Kyle Pitts-type TE and we should def keep Otton.
July 6th, 2025 at 12:33 pm
DavidBigBucsFan99. So Baker’s first year was the most consistently inconsistent season you’ve ever seen? Baker led us down the field to take the lead under a minute against Houston. Hung 35 points. And the defense let Stroud go 75 yards for a TD. A field goal wouldn’t have been enough. He did something that no other QB in history had done on the road at Green Bay. He got to the second round of the playoffs and threw 6 touchdowns in the 2 playoff games, more TD passes than any playoff QB that season. Four thousand yards, 28 touchdowns, 10 picks. Wildly inconsistent with a brand new team. You truly have no credibility David-none at all unless you’re talking to a bunch of (yammering?) women. You’ve earned the dunce cap of the day. You troll.
July 6th, 2025 at 12:52 pm
I don’t like reckless, reckless gives the opposing offense the ball back while robbing us of a scoring opportunity. 100 career starts in Mayfields’ career, reckless should be getting ironed out on your own and during your time with the team.
If Baker can be more deliberate/decisive and less reckless his status amongst the best in the business will be harder to argue against. It’s that simple in my opinion when it comes to Mayfield, if he finds away to takeaway the caveats to his game on account of his tendency to be reckless. Making a Brett Farve reference won’t alleviate that
July 6th, 2025 at 1:31 pm
comparing baker to farve is fair and until he wins the big game he’ll be thought of just like Farve
July 6th, 2025 at 2:15 pm
If memory serves…Danny Marino had drug usage rumors swirling during the time of the draft and that caused him to fall to Miami. Think Warren Sapp. Were the drug rumors true?…probably not. Were the drug rumors false information designed to cause Marino slide in the draft?…probably.
July 6th, 2025 at 2:18 pm
Now people see after smoke clears Baker grew up and got kicked in the nuts how being a true leader Leads is a sacrifice is well bud welcome Home….to Life God Bless you 🙏😎💪