Baker Mayfield: “We’re Trying To Dish The Rock”
August 8th, 2025
Talks tactics.
Speed is on Baker Mayfield’s mind, perhaps more than ever.
Mayfield’s “time to throw” metric last season, per official NextGen Stats (actual average time from snap to throw) was 2.70 seconds, the fifth-fastest time among full-time starters.
Talking about what he’s trying to accomplish in practice, Mayfield told SiriusXM NFL Radio yesterday that he’s all about speed — and talent.
“Eliminating quickly and how quickly can I get it into the playmakers’ hands,” Mayfield said. “And that’s what I’m trying to do. We have a great skill group. Up front, we’re great. And so there’s there’s times where we’re able to hold onto it a little bit for some shot plays, but other than that, we’re trying to dish the rock.”
Joe’s not sure how well those “shot plays” will develop without Tristan Wirfs in the lineup at left tackle, but Joe is confident new playcaller Josh Grizzard will give help to replacement left tackle Charlie Heck if needed.
Of course, devoting blocking help to Heck means more opportunity for the defense to double-team a receiver, which hurts the odds of a “shot play.”
Mayfield just needs to keep doing what he’s doing with a few less needless interceptions. “Dish that rock” has worked very well for him in Tampa. That 2.7 seconds time to throw state nearly matched the 2.71-seconds mark he had through the 2023 season.
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August 8th, 2025 at 5:21 pm
I also think it will work out well to dish the rock in the first few games, then start taking shots when Tristan gets back in the lineup – being able to change things up, while being really good at both – will keep opposing defenses honest.
August 8th, 2025 at 5:21 pm
That’s a good answer I just hope they actually do it!!
August 8th, 2025 at 5:23 pm
I know he led the league in interceptions, but I honestly don’t feel like he threw a bunch. I remember one against the Ravens that was kind of a killer. But other than that I wasn’t fazed.
But maybe, having survived the Jameis Experience in 2019, I have a higher tolerance for picks.
August 8th, 2025 at 5:34 pm
………………”having survived the Jameis Experience in 2019, I have a higher tolerance for picks.”
I was a Jameis fan, until I was not. Then Brady came and I understood how Brady would throw a pass in the dirt in the 1st or 2nd quarter knowing that the opposing defense would get tired by the 3rd and 4th quarters.
That simple knowledge was so valuable and caused our defense to be on the field so less often. A continued key to success IMO.
August 8th, 2025 at 6:13 pm
Lose the stache. You’re a QB not an adult film star.
August 8th, 2025 at 6:18 pm
Cutting down on the INTs & Fumbles is key….
I think grizz has to rely on the run game along with screens….
GO BUCS
August 8th, 2025 at 6:31 pm
His INT’s were padded due to at least two… the McMillan deflection INT (at Saints), and the Ryan Miller strip INT (vs Falcons)
August 8th, 2025 at 6:34 pm
Yeah once again, I’m sure 2 lost fumbles isn’t a bad season and Bakers 3 year interception totals of 34 as compared to Mahomes’ 37 gives the interceptions a little context, mmm 🤔
August 8th, 2025 at 6:46 pm
You have a strong running game, with three capable RBs
Why not utilize the run game more, mix with quick passes
August 8th, 2025 at 6:51 pm
deep thoughts with baker mayfield.
August 8th, 2025 at 6:54 pm
They almost always double-team Evans but he still makes the catch.
August 8th, 2025 at 7:16 pm
Watching the Browns-Panthers game and Canales comes out on the first play of the preseason and calls a… say it with me… run up the middle! Who would have seen that coming?
August 8th, 2025 at 7:25 pm
The numbers won’t show it, and highlights will make people think otherwise, but Sanders looks quite good to me – but is letdown by playing with a bunch of scrubs. I know what rookie QBs look like in their first preseason games, and he looks like a 1st round pick playing with a bunch of third stringers who are dropping passes, cutting off their routes, and unable to block. I wasn’t that high on Sanders when talk was about him going in the 1st, he looked more like a 2nd round arm talent QB, but I really don’t get the hate on the guy.
August 8th, 2025 at 7:28 pm
Gonna need to play quick against the Falcons, watching their preseason atm and they are hitting hard and trying to kill people
August 8th, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Dang it… the Panther’s McMillan is actually looking good so far – although it’s worth noting this is against the Brown’s 2nd and 3rd team defense. I want him to be a bust but I don’t think we’re going to get that lucky.
August 8th, 2025 at 7:46 pm
McMillan was the best WR in the draft
Mike Evans 2.0
He’s the real deal
August 8th, 2025 at 7:46 pm
Sanders box score is going to look awful and people are going to mock him because of it, but watching this game, he looks like a guy who shouldn’t be out there with the scrubs, he looks a few classes better than anyone else on his offense.
August 8th, 2025 at 7:49 pm
LakelandBuc Says:
August 8th, 2025 at 7:46 pm
McMillan was the best WR in the draft
Mike Evans 2.0
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He looks like Mike Evans with AIDS maybe. He’s supposed to the same height, but man he is so much skinner – more like Michael Pittman Jr than Evans, which isn’t that big of an insult as I think Pittman Jr is a really good WR.
But that first catch by McMillan did look like an Evans style catch, but again it was vs a 3rd string corner.
August 8th, 2025 at 8:27 pm
Wish we would have drafted Shadure Sanders ..
August 8th, 2025 at 8:27 pm
After the Panthers took out their starters, Sanders started carving up their defense, so actually his stat line is going to look OK. But anyone talking about a slow start didn’t watch the game. Man, makes me sort of wish the Bucs had listened to me and took Sanders once he fell to the 4th – not as a starter to be sure, but as a long term developmental guy. He looks like a future NFL QB – and no, not based on stats, but just the way he is reading the defense, moving, making plays, he looks like a guy who should have been picked early – if you’ve watched enough football, you can just tell, even against the scrubs.
August 8th, 2025 at 8:34 pm
@Rod
What’s with the play by play on the panthers game? Some people may be recording these games and watching them later. 🙄
August 8th, 2025 at 8:41 pm
Yeah, Sanders has some QB talent Rod, you’re right about that. He should have gone sooner in the draft for sure. Too bad he went to Cleveland though, they’ll screw it up for sure.
August 8th, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Yeah McMillan is closer to a Drake London clone
But that’s not bad because Drake London can ball
August 8th, 2025 at 10:29 pm
Do I googled yards per attempt, Baker was also the 5th most yards per attempt ! I expected yards per attempt to be lower, cuz he was getting rid of the ball so quickly. Pretty F-ING impressive !
August 8th, 2025 at 11:54 pm
Not Says:
August 8th, 2025 at 10:29 pm
Do I googled yards per attempt, Baker was also the 5th most yards per attempt ! I expected yards per attempt to be lower, cuz he was getting rid of the ball so quickly. Pretty F-ING impressive !
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Disclaimer since the Baker Boi(s) will be triggered, the following is a break down of the stats, it’s literally nothing bad – just explaining the numbers.
In a short ball offense, yards per attempt doesn’t tell you much since you end up with a much higher completion than a deep ball offense where you’re going to have a lower completion percentage. So high completion percentage and a lot of yac inflates the numbers (and the old out of passer rating).
A better stat to look at would be completed air yards per completion – since that tells you how deep the passes were. In Bakers case last year, that number was 5.1 yards per completion, which was the 2nd lowest of his career. To compare it to something on the other end, take a look at Winston in 2019, in that Arians deep ball offense, which number was 8.6 yards per completion. One isn’t good or bad – it just shows that yes, our eyes weren’t deceiving us, the Bucs were running a short ball offense last year.
Meanwhile, going back to yards per attempt, last year Baker was at 7.9, while in 2019 Winston was at 8.2, and if you only looked at that number, you’d think they were both passing the ball about the same depth, but as we see above, Winston average depth per competition was nearly 70% higher. Again, that’s not a knock on anyone, it’s just that they ran a very different offense.
As for Baker, as I’ve said many times, just do what works. And Baker was great in the short ball offense, and when he struggled, it was generally when he was trying to throw deep and would hold the ball forever or just be inaccurate. Last year teams could not stop the Bucs in the short game, so just keep running that until they do (and of course you still need to take a few shots – just don’t kill drives with long balls if Baker isn’t hot).
August 8th, 2025 at 11:58 pm
GoneGator Says:
August 8th, 2025 at 8:34 pm
@Rod
What’s with the play by play on the panthers game? Some people may be recording these games and watching them later. 🙄
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Does the VCR crowd have internet access yet? I wasn’t aware.
August 9th, 2025 at 2:15 am
LOL I do agree the stash looks terrible.