Is The Randy Moss Effect Coming For Baker Mayfield?
May 13th, 2026
A keen Bucs observer and a friend of Todd Bowles thinks Baker Mayfield will have significant challenges this season courtesy of Mike Evans preferring to play with Brock Purdy and the 49ers.
Yes, the Bucs have a strong receiving corps, but Pat Kirwan, the former Jets linebackers coach and personnel chief says “replacing Big Mike is an issue,” so he told his SiriusXM NFL Radio audience.
Kirwan wasn’t just throwing out a one-liner, he was sharing experience.
“When you lose the presence of a guy like Mike, I remember what happened in Minnesota when Randy Moss left. Right away the quarterback was in trouble because he was seeing a hundred different coverages rather than one rolled coverage every time Randy was on the field,” Kirwan said. “And [former Vikings QB Daunte] Culpeper said to me, he goes, ‘it’s just different now when I go out under center and I look out and they’re doing all kinds of stuff because they didn’t fear anyone when Randy was gone.’
“And I think that’s gonna happen here [in Tampa]. This is gonna be a little different for Baker because people, hey’re not gonna go crazy with the stuff they had to worry about with Mike Evans. And I thought [Baker] did a great job of every time they tried to just play Evans with one, he found them and threw to him. And I don’t know how that’s gonna come. And some will say, Emeka Egbuka will do it and maybe he will.”
Kirwan was basically saying what nobody likes talking publicly about at One Buc Palace: life without No. 13.
Mayfield wasn’t joking when he said repeatedly the past few years, “the offense runs through Mike.” It did.
Still, Joe thinks Mayfield and the Bucs offense should adjust just fine assuming the offensive line stays healthy. That reality should give the Bucs a reliable running game and enough pass blocking to offset any Mayfield chaos caused by the absence of Evans.
And while Evans was a legend, Mayfield got plenty of experience without Evans and the Bucs were 4-4 last season without him, including huge wins at Seattle and at home against Evans’ beloved 49ers.
For those wondering, the Vikings improved their record a game to 9-7 in the season following Moss leaving.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:22 pm
Losing a first ballot HOFer who is built like no other guy currently playing in the NFL is a huge loss. When you have a guy who is open every single time they’re one-on-one with an opponent, it means defenses are constantly rolling coverage to help with Evans, like Kirwan said.
But man, people are acting like Godwin doesn’t exist. By the end of the year he was looking like himself – it was just hard to see that with how poorly Baker was playing.
If Zac Robinson is smart, he’s reviewing the 2024 film. If he does, what he’s going to see is that Godwin was dominating in the short passing game with a lot of slants and inside routes. That’s where Baker is at his best, when he gets into a rhythm and gets the ball out quick, and doesn’t hold it and get happy feet. It’s not a knock on Baker saying that – every team should use guys in ways that make the most of their ability, and Baker, when he can just quickly read and react, he’s a lot more accurate and less prone to dumb plays.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:25 pm
He only played five games last season. The offense will be okay, we just have to fix the defense and I think we just might have. Healthy and deeper Online is also key.
Gotta wait and see.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:25 pm
The last 2 years he is 4-8 without Evans. His first year in 2023 mike had 13 of his 28 td passes. Thats a unhealthy dependency. garbage.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:29 pm
Baker’s played without Mike before. He’ll be just fine. Mike blew all credibility when he decided Brock over Baker.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:40 pm
Are people dumb I watched Baker Still have a great 1st half of the year even without Evans an Godwin he had Tez an Emeka both looking like the real deal soon as Baker Got injured is when things went down hill an I think Teddy Hurst is faster then Evans I know he’s not even about he is more like Pickens an Higgins IMO an that’s amazing he will do just fine there are enough weapons in this offense to Replace Mike Evans an this is Exactly why the Bucs Drafted Emeka Egbuka last year at 19 an then Jmac the year before an then Hurst this year also Tez last year they are going to make sure that when Evans an when Chris wants to Retire they will be Fine I fully expect Chris to have a Huge year but the guy I think we all need to watch this year is Jmac I think he will really breakout this year sucks so bad he got hurt last year
May 13th, 2026 at 9:42 pm
This is where a better, more experienced OC comes into play.
Mitigate what the D is throwing at you with a healthy dose of motion, play action, rub routes, check options, etc.
Baker doesn’t like what he sees, check to the RB or TE leak.
We have more than enough at WR. Not saying Evans is replaced because you don’t just do that but Emeka, JMac, Chris and Hurst have the ability to run crisp routes and get open, Robinson needs to scheme it properly.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:42 pm
Get the both TE’s totally involved, use Gainwell as a receiver more , then Hurst as the X. I think the biggest challenge losing ME13 will be in the red zone. Think the Bucs have a lot of weapons and hope Zac can use them a lot better than Grizzard.
May 13th, 2026 at 9:49 pm
BuccinBaker6, Says:
May 13th, 2026 at 9:40 pm
Are people dumb I watched Baker Still have a great 1st half of the year even without Evans an Godwin he had Tez an Emeka both looking like the real deal soon as Baker Got injured is when things went down hill
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What was the play where “Baker Got injured”?
May 13th, 2026 at 9:49 pm
61/99 for 615 yards the first 3 games against teams that were 1-8 at the time. Less then 150 yards Combined in the first half vs the Eagles,Lions and Rams. Yeah, S-T-U-D lol
May 13th, 2026 at 9:52 pm
Every QB misses a thousand yards WR
You’re basically losing over 25% of your passing yards
Baker Mayfield missed Mike Evans last season
Mike receiving yards took a dip, so did Baker passing yards
That’s something to be expected
May 13th, 2026 at 9:54 pm
Fans that think baker isn’t a great QB are falling for the same trap Cleveland fans fell for, and what those fans would do to have baker this past few seasons.. the dude was really hurt last year and gutted through it (same thing happened in bakers last year in Cleveland) and it was a tale of two seasons. Look at Patrick Mahomes a couple of years ago when he was hurt, not the same MVP caliber show stopper. Baker will never be on his level but he absolutely can be a top 5 QB with the right peices and we absolutely have the right peices.
May 13th, 2026 at 10:00 pm
Mike was a factor in ONE of t of the 8 he played in last year. I’m 2024, despite Baker throwing for 4600 yards, Mike barely scratched 1k yards.
He’s NOT that integral to the team
May 13th, 2026 at 10:04 pm
Evans accounted for 30% of Mayfield td passes so without him Baker has difficulty finding anybody else. It’s almost guaranteed his interceptions will go up because he can’t presnap read defenses and at the 1st sign of pressure he gets nervous and gets the happy feet like a squirrel in traffic. There’s no way he doesn’t struggle unless Egbuka and Godwin can step up and Hurst can catch on quickly
May 13th, 2026 at 10:08 pm
Mike Evans presence alone draws double teams, usually it’s the Free Safety
That alone benefits the offense a lot, it gives the other WRs opportunities
And you add in his usual 1,000 yards
His presence will be missed
May 13th, 2026 at 10:20 pm
Rod…he wasn’t hurt. That’s why he was squatting 500 pounds 2 months after the season with no procedures or surgeries. It was his 4th or 5th best season of his weak career. The squat was a accomplishment thus it was being recorded. Maybe he just took a month off and worked up too it. Squats are the most taxing lifts right up there with deadlifts.
May 13th, 2026 at 10:30 pm
Teams use to throw double coverage at Mike Evans
I don’t think they will double Emeka, JMac, Godwin, Hurst, Tez
That will free up the Free Safety to make more plays on the ball
A high powered offense always misses their WR1
May 13th, 2026 at 10:42 pm
That’s not really how defenses work at any level much less the NFL.
May 13th, 2026 at 10:49 pm
Mike, and his many talented years, are unfortunately nearing the end of his NFL career. Ultimately, the Bucs had to figure out a way to propel their offense without Mike. Now is the time for the Bucs brain-trust to figure out how and with whom.
May 13th, 2026 at 10:50 pm
I think the WR corps is going suck without Evans.
Just a hunch.
5-12 and Bowles is FINALLY fired!
May 13th, 2026 at 10:50 pm
Evans is not Moss.
May 13th, 2026 at 10:52 pm
If the offensive line can run block effectively, the passing game will come along eventually. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. Am I expecting the first 4-6 games to see Mayfield pass for 350+ yards those first few games of the season? Hell no, but I do expect the OC to make the necessary adjustments as needed and scheme guys open.
May 13th, 2026 at 11:01 pm
I really hate this trope that’s out there about how defenses play against elite WR’s. Without even understanding anything about how defenses are called, shouldn’t it be obvious that if teams were actually double covering, bracketing, rolling coverage on every snap that there’s no way they could put up the numbers they did?
May 13th, 2026 at 11:12 pm
Rod . Ram game. Just before the half. The bridgewater debacle. That’s where baker was hurt. Surprised you missed it.
May 13th, 2026 at 11:23 pm
Culpepper’s entire game was throwing up the deep ball to Moss. Two completely different situations.
Evans was the greatest Buc WR off all time and one of the best every in the NFL. But the guy has 1 or 2 decent years left max. He was constantly hobbled and had to head to the sidelines after every catch.
Kirwan doesn’t mention the loaded WR room and a bigger focus on running the ball with Robinson calling plays.
Baker still has plenty of weapons and he can now spread the ball out to all his WRs, Otton, Bucky and Gainwell.
I’ll miss Evans for what he was, but I’ll bet he doesn’t play 14 full games this season and retires before his contract is up.
May 13th, 2026 at 11:34 pm
Like you said JOE baker got plenty of experience with Evans missing 8 games. Life without Mike happened already for half the season last year. It’s go time. Honestly he couldn’t have left at a better time. Sad he’s gone but that’s water under the bridge
May 13th, 2026 at 11:57 pm
Let ‘em bake Says:
May 13th, 2026 at 11:12 pm
Rod . Ram game. Just before the half. The bridgewater debacle. That’s where baker was hurt. Surprised you missed it.
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I thought the injury is why he was playing poorly – yet he was playing awful in the 4 games before he got hurt. Also, in that Rams game he was playing terrible before he got hurt.
It’s almost like the injury excuse is just an excuse for a really inconsistent QB.
We’ll find out this upcoming season I suppose.
May 14th, 2026 at 12:00 am
Stubby Ryan Says:
May 13th, 2026 at 10:50 pm
Evans is not Moss.
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Well, with all due respect to Jerry Rice, Moss is the greatest WR of all time.
Moss is the only receiver I ever saw give those all-time great Buccaneers defenses, which are literally the best pass defenses in the history of the NFL, any problems. Moss, when he wanted to play, was unstoppable. I mean how many times did we see Moss completely covered, then just jump straight up in the air, catch the ball, have Lynch destroy him, and that Gumby b-word just held on to the ball and was A-OK. No other guy could do that.
So, no, Mike isn’t Moss, but no one is.
May 14th, 2026 at 12:22 am
Losing Mike while keeping “someone else” will haunt the franchise like when Doug Williams left. Nauseating.
May 14th, 2026 at 12:31 am
Rod saving me a lot of keystrokes here. Well written.
May 14th, 2026 at 12:55 am
With less injuries I think our offense can be better. I think we improved at OC, RB, and I hope we see continued growth for EE and J-Mac and a fully recovered Godwin.
May 14th, 2026 at 2:21 am
Yeah Munch it’s too bad Baker was hurt so bad with so many injuries Lavonte David came out and said he couldn’t believe Baker was suiting up to play. Like he said Baker was so damaged last year. Im sure that didnt effect his play at all huh?? But that’s Baker, if the coach doesn’t have a good backup he will play hurt. He is a team guy huh!! He doesn’t care if it hurts his stats. If the team needs him, he’ll play. Heck, he played with a torn labrum and a broken shoulder half the season one year. Tough as they come.
May 14th, 2026 at 2:55 am
BBBB: squats are the most taxing lift right up there with deadlift(s). What in the world are deadlifts BBBB? I have never heard them called deadlifts. It’s Deadlift. No one, that knows anything about lifting, calls them deadlifts, come on now, no one. You might as well said bench presses are taxing. And, again, it’s not the most taxing, power cleans are much more taxing but by saying deadliftS I can tell you really never have played a sport or spent time in a weight room. Hilarious. It’s better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt BBBB. Seriously ROFLMAO
Bottom line, you really shouldn’t be on a sports blog trying to act like you know what you are talking about, because you dont, and now we all know you dont. It was bound to happen. Deadlifts…😉
May 14th, 2026 at 3:09 am
Attaboy….we can exchange emails and compare builds. I’ve literally been lifting since I was in 7th grade. Your deflecting because my point is valid. After this ” injury” we never saw and there was no procedure or surgery for, he’s squatting 500 pounds and recording it 2 months after the season.Him recording it shows it is as noteworthy and not his norm. Your angry because alot of ppl are being honest about what he is, a not very good NFL QB. The fact you would rather lose and be mediocre with Baker vs trying to be better with someone else shows where your loyalty lie..Your a Baker fan and not a Bucs fan. Both of you can kick rocks and go back to Oklahoma. He’s trash.
May 14th, 2026 at 5:24 am
BBBB, your opinion about Baker Mayfield does not fall into the category as a HATER, but does but you into the same mentality that has cemented the Baker boys and their deep feelings about Baker. I will not debate was Baker hurt or not, that would require a medical evaluation and neither of us have that pay grade. Baker must have structure and discipline to be successful, he has had little of either since entering the NFL. Lack of structure and discipline were the catalyst that led to the Bucs collapse in the second half of 2025! That collapse falls at the feet of one person who will be there long after Baker is gone. The opinion of an uneducated old person who is not one of the B-boys.