NFL Columnist Not Believing In Baker Mayfield
March 27th, 2023
Low ranking.
In the mind of one NFL columnist, new Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield is a bridge all right.
A bridge to draft a quarterback in 2024 (or perhaps trade for Lamar Jackson).
Jarrett Bailey, who types for USA Today and Heavy.com, decided to rank all NFC quarterbacks he believes will start this fall.
Bailey’s rankings are not kind to Mayfield.
Yes, Bailey believes Mayfield will beat out Kyle Trask as the Bucs’ starter, but it is downhill after that. Bailey thinks Mayfield is just slightly worse than Stinking Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton but better than Jordan Love and Desmond Ritter.
Bailey has Mayfield ranked No. 14 in the NFC.
Maybe Joe is drinking the March Kool-Aid on Mayfield, but Joe has a hunch Mayfield may surprise a lot of folks.
As Joe believed the moment he learned the Bucs were going to sign Mayfield, the result will either be a small but wise investment on Mayfield betting on himself and the Bucs their starter at quarterback for the foreseeable future, or the powers that be at One Buc Palace go big-game hunting for a quarterback in 2024.
NFC QBs Ranked
1. Jalen Hurts
2. Kirk Cousins
3. Derek Carr
4. Matthew Stafford
5. Dak Prescott
6. Jared Goff
7. Geno Smith
8. Kyler Murray
9. Justin Fields
10. Daniel Jones
11. Brock Purdy
12. Jacoby Brissett
13. Andy Dalton
14. Baker Mayfield
15. Jordan Love
16. Desmond Ridder— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) March 26, 2023
March 27th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Cousins #2?
Derek Carr #3?
Both in front of Stafford? That’s not right
March 27th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
I think Dak should be a lot lower, but Baker is in the right place.
The Browns thought he was the final piece of their Stupor Bowl picture, and we know how that turned out; declining returns every year.
Then Carolina gave him an almost fresh start and at the end he had an average QBR of under 25
March 27th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
If its Mayfield as the #1 Qb then IMO is because his shoulder is fully healthy and a past concern and therefore will be a bigger surprise than most think..
March 27th, 2023 at 2:14 pm
Of course, all the experts 8 months ago predicted Jalen Hurts wo9uld not make it past week four without getting benched by the Eagles. Instead of not.
And winning the NFC.
And getting picked as best quarterback in the NFC by this dude.
Nobody knows anything, but all these writers and talking heads and publishers of fan websites and commenters think they know it all, not just none of it all.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:14 pm
LOL….everybody and their mama got their opinions on him…….
I hope he does well….but his history suggests otherwise
March 27th, 2023 at 2:15 pm
At worst Baker is a CHEAP one year solution for the Bucs.
In 2024 the Bucs will have the ability and salary cap to either sign a better free agent QB like Lamar Jackson.
Or – we only win a handful of games and are able to draft one with a top 3 or 4 pick.
The Bucs are clearing out over $75 MILLION dollars of dead cap space in 2023.
Most of us knew this was coming…
There is a small chance that Baker balls out and earns a second deal in Tampa – notice I said “small chance”.
There is also a small chance that Kyle Trask will beat out Baker for the starting QB job – notice I said “small chance”…
This will be a bumpy season but I will probably have more fun watching this team in 2023 than I had watching the Bucs implode last season and there will be nowhere to go but up in 2024 and beyond.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
He’s got Stafford, Kyler Murray, Fields, all ranked way too high. Probably Geno also. But whatever , these rankings mean about as much as a Trask fanboi declaring he should start so they can finally see what coaches and management have been seeing for the last two years.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:25 pm
I think that history has proved that if Joe really likes a QB, then we should not.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:26 pm
Joe was never fooled by Mike Glennon, in all fairness.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Now I am scared…..Jarrett Bailey from USA Today and Heavy.com just released his QB ranking…..
Como on Joe…..if you keep on with this guy and Skip Bayless you are downgrading this great site!!!!
March 27th, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Shocking the disrespect being shown Kyle Trask. He’s not even listed.
March 27th, 2023 at 2:31 pm
Ouch
March 27th, 2023 at 2:38 pm
“Goatfarmer Says:
March 27th, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Shocking the disrespect being shown Kyle Trask. He’s not even listed.”
______________
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
March 27th, 2023 at 2:52 pm
I’d rather have Ridder or Love over Mayfield, at least with them there’s a chance they might be something (Ridder, however, is a real longshot, which is why they’ll be drafting someone).
March 27th, 2023 at 2:54 pm
I just naturally looked at the bottom of that list first, but LOL! What a joke of a list. Carr at #3? Goff at #6? I’m gonna go full 80s here and say this guy must be smoking crack. What an idiot.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Wow – that’s almost shocking seeing the NFC QBs listed in print like that.
There’s not one superstar perennial Allpro type in the bunch.
AFC has Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert….
Even the AFC’s “2nd tier” QBs like Jackson, Watson, Russell Wilson and Trevor Lawrence would all be near or at the top of the NFC rankings if any were to switch conferences.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:06 pm
The Bucs and Baker could be good, if everything falls right. I take these lists as seriously as I do “redrafts” or anything Peter King says.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
Prediction, because we’ve all seen it happen many times before:
Mayfield wins the job and performs inconsistently. He gets an injury and is replaced by Trask – who has the odds stacked against him by the time point he takes over – but shows just enough to get penciled in as a starter in 2024. When of course they draft another QB in round 1 who they hope shows enough to win the job in training camp next season.
I don’t know if that a nightmare scenario or not – but it’s the most realistic one I see happening.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:15 pm
****
Duane Says:
March 27th, 2023 at 2:14 pm
Of course, all the experts 8 months ago predicted Jalen Hurts wo9uld not make it past week four without getting benched by the Eagles. Instead of not.
And winning the NFC.
****
Nobody made that prediction outside of your imagination. Nobody.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:17 pm
TheBucsAnthem Says:
March 27th, 2023 at 2:14 pm
LOL….everybody and their mama got their opinions on him…….
I hope he does well….but his history suggests otherwise
——————————————————————————–
History suggested otherwise for Geno Smith as well and we know how that turned out. How a QB performs is to a large degree dependent upon his coaches and the other 10 players on the field beside him. He’s got some great WRs and I believe our new OC will put Mayfield into the best possible situation to succeed. What’s unknown at this point is what kind of protection he’ll get from the o-line and how good our running game will be. He the O-line can’t give him time and the defense knows he’ll be passing because our running game sucks then it’s not likely to end well for him. Many QBs would struggle under those circumstances so it’s now a knock on Mayfield. He got Cleveland to the playoffs some years back and I believe he can do that here in Tampa as well if he has sufficient support.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:18 pm
^^^^^IF the O-line can’t give him time…
March 27th, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Dude is gonna have a massive chip on his shoulder.
Good.
The entire team needs chips on their shoulders.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:29 pm
Trask is an NFL mystery to date. Mayfield has several years of tape under his belt. I think IF Mayfield is motivated and becomes consistent within games and throughout the season, he might be decent.
I’d say the biggest unknown for me is How will Mayfield, Canales, and Bowles mesh philosophically and get on the same page, united towards winning games. Will they form an identity as leaders?
Those are my questions/thoughts. Until the lights come on, we shall have to wait and see.
As for Trask, the consensus seems to be he won’t beat out Mayfield, but I say it’s too early to speculate on that aspect. If he does beat Baker, then we have us a good/decent QB for next few years.
Lots of unknowns and questions this offseason.
GO BUCS!!!
March 27th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
Wouldn’t it be something though? None of the major sports shows or networks are talking about Baker. Its like they know we are Doomed. You never know guys. Baker might truly be feeling this is his last hurrah. He might..Play his A.. off. That would be something special.
March 27th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
1 Stafford
2 Hurts
3 Cousins
4 Prescott
5 Goff
6 Purdy
7 Jones
8 Carr
9 Smith
10 Murray
March 27th, 2023 at 3:57 pm
Dude, the entire list of NFC quarterbacks is unimpressive lol
March 27th, 2023 at 4:00 pm
If the Bucs improve the run game and Mayfield works on costly turnovers then he’ll be in the middle of that pack. He’s motivated to prove himself and with good coaching he has the skills to improve. Still and upgrade from Trask.
March 27th, 2023 at 4:35 pm
My immediate takeaway from that list was “holy chit, the NFC does not have very many good QBs” LOL!
March 27th, 2023 at 4:56 pm
TOP TO BOTTOM
That’s a horrible list. There isn’t one legit franchise QB on that list. I’m surprised Lamar doesn’t have a line out the door. With Rodgers and TB12 out, the AFC has all the good QBs.
March 27th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Give Baker a solid running game and decent offensive play calling and I think he could be rated an 8 or 9 next year. Agree with weebs10, the NFC QB list looks pretty weak (assuming Rodgers moves to the Jets).
March 27th, 2023 at 5:04 pm
Lmao. Carr is 63-79. What is new other than the Saints paid $40 M “chump” change to get him.
March 27th, 2023 at 5:38 pm
Truly, the NFC is a quarterback desert. After I thought about how no one deserves to be top of that list, I was like , Oh…cause they all suck.
March 27th, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Only one disagree about is Jordan Love at 15 and if Rodgers wasn’t going to the Jets I wish they would have made a run at him. He’s going to surprise many people and put him easily in the top ten. I can’t believe we haven’t made a run at a RB and you can say what you want about RoJo, but look at what he was behind in KC? If Andy Reid wants you on his team that’s a compliment and got Mike Edwards, but need a big and strong guy who’s got speed and not scared to take it up the middle. If I was Baker I would have stayed in LA and waited for Stafford to get hurt because with this O Line and Todd as the coach he might make it to week 6
March 27th, 2023 at 6:27 pm
Hurts at top, Ridder and Dalton at the bottom, and everyone else in the middle. He could wind up being #2 or 3.
March 27th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
You think Packers fans were hollering about Danny Etling beating our Jordan Love to sit behind Aaron Rodgers last season? 🤔
March 27th, 2023 at 6:56 pm
We’re going to have a good year, whoever is back there.
March 27th, 2023 at 7:16 pm
The NFC is bad at QB. Wow.
March 27th, 2023 at 7:21 pm
Former Browns fan here.
His Rookie year, Baker was unbelievable – especially with that coaching staff. They fired Hue, and hired the clown Freddy to replace him – I don’t count either of those against Baker – that was just organizational dysfunction, period. First year with Stefanski, he was phenomenal. Should have beaten the Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl, except for a completely BLOWN call by the refs as Rashard Higgins was targeted helmet-to-helmet going into the end zone.
The next season he busted a shoulder. Should have had the surgery, but didn’t. That season they also had O-Line injuries out the wazoo… Against the Jets they started 5 guards. And they still were not terrible.
Then Cleveland decided to stack up money to pay the Pervert (who, BTW, didn’t even out-perform Jacoby Brisset), and banished Baker to Carolina. Carolina never even TRIED to run an offense compatible with Baker (no motion, no play action, no real running game despite having a GREAT running back). So, they decided to tank, and benched him, and he smartly asked to be released. Playing for a really depleted Rams team, but with a coach who knew how to use him, he looked great again.
Not saying he’s Tom Brady (no body is), but if Canales gives him an offense even mildly tailored to his talents, and they find a left tackle, he can be really good.
March 27th, 2023 at 7:59 pm
Weebs10 and Optimistic both hit the nail on the head. As I was reviewing the list I kept finding myself asking what about Joe Burrow, what about Trevor Lawrence, what about Josh Allen? And my response back to myself was..”he’s AFC stupid.” (I did not ask the same stupid question about Patrick Mahomes). Clearly there is an extreme difference in QB talent in favor of the AFC. IMO, that makes the NFC more unpredictable and more interesting. Think about it. Jalen Hurts is a legitimate #1. But, Kirk Cousins #2? And, Derek Carr #3? How many readers truly believe that it wil to shake out that way?
I say that Jalen Hurts is the only top 5 NFL QB in the NFC. Is there anyone that disagrees?
March 27th, 2023 at 8:25 pm
LANshark – good feedback, thanks for posting that. I hope you’re right on being positive. From the last two years, watching his film, he looks terrible, however. He’s fine if he has all day to throw the ball, and it doesn’t get batted down, but otherwise he looks like a backup who is playing out there. I hope, however, that you’re correct and the coaches are building the offense around those talents.
With that said, if they go all in on Mayfield, that would seem to be an issue for Trask as they’re completely different types of QBs. What I fear is that they’ll just settle on something on the middle, which doesn’t really play to anyone’s strengths. That would be the pre-Brady Bucs way of doing things.
March 27th, 2023 at 10:32 pm
LANshark, excellent perspective. Of course there are Trask fanbois on here that screech “foul play” because Baker has actually won games, he’ll he’s even l,aged in some! But a guy they’ve not seen perform since college, except for a few train wreck outings, is their favorite, because he’s been “jobbed.” How exactly is a mystery, some in the Trask Suppression Conspiracy club think he’s been shackled in the Bowels of The Stadium on Dale Mabry, forced to watch endless NFL video of all the other failed Gator quarterbacks. It’s a long list.
March 27th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
*even played in some games