Promising Breakdown Of Baker Mayfield
July 10th, 2025
Checkdowns studied.
It appears Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield is no Checkdown Charlie.
Mayfield, per the football thinktank @fball_insights, had the 12th-highest percentage of checkdown passes in the game last season.
The graphic below demonstrates the amount of time after the snap when quarterbacks bailed and checked down. The majority of Mayfield’s checkdowns (18 percent) came four seconds or longer after the snap.
This tells Joe several things. First, Mayfield is patient, allowing receivers to get open before giving up on a play. It also tells Joe that Mayfield can afford to be patient. He’s getting damn good protection.
And Joe thinks it is fair to suggest if Bucs receivers are not open four seconds after the snap, they likely aren’t going to get open.
Joe thinks it is reasonable to conclude that more often than not, Bucs receivers were getting open quicker than four seconds. Given the fact Liam Coen liked a quick, dink-and-dunk offense, that also suggests guys were open quickly.
And it’s also likely Mayfield trusts the guys that he is hitting on checkdowns. You know, it’s nice to have a pair of targets in the backfield like Bucky Irving and Rachaad White.
Checkdowns by time to throw @FantasyPtsData pic.twitter.com/M7phUnAw4B
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) July 10, 2025
July 10th, 2025 at 10:45 am
He is a little bit unique, I’d say. I’m glad we have him.
July 10th, 2025 at 11:12 am
You’ve got to have multiple reads to have a checkdown as an option, but if you’re play design calls for the ball being out of your hands a.s.a.p. to an RB or TE then the “checkdown” is your first/primary option.
Rachaad White for example, has had 2 back to back 1,000 yard recieving seasons, BUT by way of the design of the offense he’s
July 10th, 2025 at 11:17 am
^^^disregard, hit enter instead of backspace.
Chaad didn’t have 2 back to back 1000 yard seasons, but what I was trying to say was he would have a combined for > 1,000 yards receiving the last 2 seasons had it not been for the -185 yds he lost catching passes behind the LOS. Which is by design and the reason his usage as a reciever out of the backfield has steadily increased. Huge role in our offense considering he accounted for 41 combined first downs & 9 TDs the last 2 years.
July 10th, 2025 at 11:48 am
I think Egbuka will have a strong season operating out of the slot
July 10th, 2025 at 11:53 am
His chart shows a nice progression. I read that as a QB who’s good at going through his reads and has the patience & willingness to let the play develop.
July 10th, 2025 at 11:56 am
Give me more checkdowns to the backs! The passes are safe with a very high completion percentage, low risk of sacks, and low risk of INTs. All three of our backs are great in YAC. Bill Walsh would have loved this offense.
July 10th, 2025 at 12:19 pm
Idk how great our protection really is.
If Mayfield wasn’t a wizard at avoiding sacks, we might have had the most sacks in the league against us.
What isn’t mentioned is that on most of those checkdowns when 4 seconds had elapsed, Mayfield already maneuvered and avoided multiple sacks on said play.
Mayfield has the best pocket presence/pocket awareness and escapability in the NFL.
July 10th, 2025 at 1:36 pm
Erik
Great points about Baker’s game. I do think the improved OL helped him but you’re correct Baker made many plays on his own.
IMO the major contribution of the OL was actually in the running game. I haven’t seen the Bucs run the ball like that in quite awhile and yes Bucky is a huge reason but RW had a good year because there were actually holes to run through.
Tristan’s loss in a perverse way could serve the Bucs down the road. During the portion without TW Grizz will have to absolutely figure out how to offset the loss.
It’s a great cram course in playcalling and will have some bumps but I suspect successes as well.
And then when it counts…which just gets magnified as the season goes on…down the stretch…important…playoffs…the entire ball of wax…TW should be well rested!
July 10th, 2025 at 3:19 pm
Baker Did run for his life A LOT last year. I wasn’t as impressed with the flowers the O line received considering that fact.
I was looking for a much better performance from them this year “as a whole” now that they have a full season under their belts as a unit.
With Wirfs a giant ???’s as to when he’ll be back and back in Pro football shape, as well as getting a load of “Heck” and his SERIOUS “lack of” in the pass pro, well let’s say my confidence is slipping fast. Seems a quick release is going to Have To Be Mayfields Best Friend until Wirfs comes back in playing shape…
Let’s hope they can Coach Heck up enough to at least be an average tackle because from what I saw he’s “less than” at this point. 9 weeks to go! Heck can Surely get be coached up to be at least serviceable (fingers crossed) by then..
Get better Wirfs, WE NEED YOU!
July 10th, 2025 at 5:36 pm
Baker does not like to give up on plays. It’s a plus @ times but a problem @ others.
The dude just does not like to give up on a pass down field to take check downs or throw the ball away. The stat makes sense from that point of view.
Love Baker and his game but there are times I wish he’d check down to RW or Bucky instead of forcing the issue and trying to hit someone who’s covered. Then again he’s worked magic @ times with extended scrambles leading to big pass plays so it’s a dual edged sword.
Reminiscent of Favre in so many ways
July 10th, 2025 at 6:19 pm
GoneGator. You are right, I think it kills Baker to give up. It’s why he was the first walk-on in history to win the Heisman. It’s the dawg in him. And it’s good and bad both. I think in the end it’s more good for sure. Hopefully, he will/can correct the bad parts without hurting his game.
July 10th, 2025 at 8:20 pm
If he can cut his INTs in half he could be MVP. One of most exciting players to watch in NFL, I think. Went to just one game last year but got to see him stiff arm Bosa. Wow that was cool!
July 10th, 2025 at 10:40 pm
Tez is going to be exciting. He will be like a big cat out there making cuts DB’s can’t handle–Dangerous
July 10th, 2025 at 10:50 pm
If Grizz can use the talent he has inherited to its fullest, this offense is going to be so much fun to watch. And looking at what he did with 3rd downs last year, I bet we are in the top 1 or 2 in offensive scoring–untouchable.