“I Think This Is Going To Be A Bad Football Team”
August 23rd, 2023
Expects doom with Baker Mayfield.
Former Jets, Lions and Belicheats guard Damien Woody isn’t feeling it.
The BSPN talking head was on a panel discussion yesterday discussing the news that Bucs coach Todd Bowles designated Baker Mayfield starting quarterback.
The announcement of Mayfield really wasn’t stunning or controversial. But in a roundabout way, Woody thinks Bowles may have signed his head coaching death certificate.
Woody took a deep breath, looked at the floor, and sighed, “I think this is going to be a bad football team. I can only imagine what Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are thinking going from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield.”
Woody said football folks know who Mayfield is. A large body of work suggests Mayfield is a turnover machine, he added. And for that reason alone, Woody thought the Bucs should have gone with a blank page like Kyle Trask.
“We don’t know what Kyle Trask is,” Woody said. “We heard Todd Bowles talk about how he is on the come and close. So if that is the case, I would want to see what Kyle Trask can do out there.”
Ever since the Bucs signed Mayfield, Joe thought the only way a play-it-safe coach like Bowles was go with a quarterback that only had nine career pass attempts was if that quarterback, Trask, far outplayed Mayfield all summer.
Trask was significantly improved from the OTAs this spring, but he wasn’t head-and-shoulders better than Mayfield.
For a play-it-safe coach like Bowles, the unknown is a negative. Mayfield, along with his turnovers, has won a playoff game. And that’s good enough for Bowles to trust Mayfield with his head coaching career.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:07 am
Oh my gosh! Give it a rest Woody. Simple: The Bucs mortgaged the future for Brady. It wasn’t gonna last forever. The bill is now due. The Bucs have spent what little money they had available wisely. If Baker falls flat, Trask – the blank page, is still on the roster. The bye week is after week four so perfect time to switch QB’s if necessary.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:09 am
New head coach and new QB for the Bucs 2024 season.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:16 am
The theme for the season should be “Short hook, the risk of being the qb in Tampa”
Todd is coaching for his career as the head guy – he has zero room for error after the uninspiring garbage he put on the field last season and 4 consecutive losing seasons as a HC
If not for TB12, we lose at least 3 more games than we did
Wouldn’t be surprised to see all 3 QBs play at some point this season – QB3 looks more ready today than Baker or Kyle
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:18 am
From what I have seen so far with Mayfield, the assessment that he being a turnover machine may not be so far from the truth. Personally, I think Kyle Trask would have been a better choice but not necessarily the safer choice.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:22 am
Lt, Brady signed a 2 yr deal for $50MM, the same as the current premadonas get in one season. The extending of contracts and signing of bad contracts is what got the team in this hole. Bucs could have let Brady go season 3, they opted not to. This is all on the GM why this team is in the hole. You extend your debt and eventually the interest catches up to you. Many on this team primarily the D got their rings and immediately went into super star mode and got arrogant & complacent. Arians appointment of his boys and Licht & Glaizers going along with it didn’t help. This team is going to STINK for a LONG time.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:27 am
Way to go out on a limb lol. That’s like the lazy national opinion that hasn’t changed since Brady retired. Might as well just re run some clip of him saying this months ago
GO BUCS
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:30 am
Why does a young QB have to be “Head and shoulders” better than the vet who has done nothing in this league but lose? This is a losers mentality. I will never understand this train of thought. The cheerleaders keep acting like Baker is this experience super bowl winnner. LMAO. Insanity. As long as we have this weak minded scared coach we wont win a thing.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:56 am
A turnover machine? You mean like his first and last pass attempts as a Buccaneer are pick-6s? Oh wait, that was Winston. Mayfield is better than Jameis, so the Bucs are improved at QB from pre-Brady era. If Mayfield doesn’t work out, we get a chance to see what Trask can do while setting Bucs up for a high draft position. But in all actuality, if the OLine sucks then it doesn’t matter who the QB is.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:02 am
“Da Bucs Guy Says:
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:09 am
New head coach and new QB for the Bucs 2024 season.”
And If that happens and we are a worse team, then what? WIll you then become ” Da Bears Guy” Da Bills Guy” Da Broncos Guy” Da Browns Guy”???? Or will we just not see Da around Dese Parts any mo?
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:07 am
Clown show season.
Baker sucks.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:12 am
Another guy I’m unclear deserves expert status. Woody is the national Ian Beckles. Just a loud guy at the bar.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:15 am
If any of the Bucs players have a hair on their a$$, they will use the criticism and disrespect as motivation to do everything in their power to prove everyone wrong.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:19 am
I think the cap issues have some impact on decisions, but I think if Licht and the team felt that Derek Carr was worth his going rate they would have found a way to add a bunch of void years to more contracts and get him here. Saints have been doing it for a long time. My hunch is Carr was the best option on the street (outside of trading serious draft capital for Rodgers or Lamar) and he’s the definition of average. So why strain your cap more when you can get slightly below average Baker for pennies on the dollar? And there’s the nonzero probability that the dumpster fires that are Cleveland and Carolina had a big effect on Baker’s performance (throwing out LA due to circumstances).
Baker is the right high ceiling gamble till the bye week and reassess. Throw in Trask for 4 weeks to see what he’s got and if it’s still looking glum, toss in Wolford the rest of the way and let’s get a high draft pick & much cleaner cap for 2024. Woody is just projecting his experience with the Lions and Jets on us and has his allegiance with Brady, so naturally the QB wasn’t the problem last year in his eyes.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:20 am
Woody has a point about Bowles being an idiot. But Woody is an idiot.
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:23 am
Gurgle gurgle swallow Brady fan boi
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:26 am
All comes down to the offensive line, lets pick up Jonathan Taylor and call it a day. When’s the last time we had a great 1st round pick?? no loss!! Defenses would have to game plan to stop him, just a thought….
August 23rd, 2023 at 9:33 am
Anyone else sick of former players saying that if you don’t agree with their opinion, then “you don’t know football”?
Or in this case the idea that “folks that know football agree with me”. Can we just retire that phrase please as an excuse for someone’s opinion?
August 23rd, 2023 at 10:04 am
Woody is spot on, even if the competition was even you have to go with Trask based on the assumption that he will only improve with more snaps. Mayfield has had five years under center, he’s hit his ceiling. Trask has not had a single snap with the starting unit under the big lights and has gone toe to toe or outplayed Mayfield.
August 23rd, 2023 at 10:13 am
That would be a typical TB move, giving away high picks for a player coming off ankle surgery! Plus, where would $ come?
August 23rd, 2023 at 10:16 am
Baker isn’t the only one with his neck on the block. Bowles will never get another HC job if he stinks it up this year. It’s a symbiotic relationship. One dies, they both die.
August 23rd, 2023 at 10:16 am
That would be a typical TB move, giving away high picks for a player coming off ankle surgery! Plus, where would $ come from? Just let the season play out!
August 23rd, 2023 at 10:56 am
All I want for Christmas is a new Head Coach, a New Head Coach
One who wants this team to succeed, not one who just wants to keep his job
August 23rd, 2023 at 11:08 am
Still don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility the Canales is the next Bucs HC. While he’s young and lacks coordinator experience, he has an “it” factor along the lines of a Gruden, McVay, O’Connell, or Taylor. Players gravitate towards his energy, he’s an excellent communicator, and he seems organized and driven. Can definitely see him leading the Bucs with a young QB next season, if not before.
August 23rd, 2023 at 11:09 am
Lazy Take
“They are going to be bad because of Baker.” Huh?
The Bucs are about making the playoffs …
1. Name a 6 QBs in the NFC that are significantly better?
2. Name 6 teams in the NFC with a better defense?
Carolina looks horrible. Atlanta looks injury prone. Saints look okay. Baker’s stats are exactly 1/2 Carr’s. They are the same QB. This is a gonna be a close race for the NFCS. I think the Bucs have enough to win.
August 23rd, 2023 at 11:17 am
So about Baker, has he hit his ceiling?
If his ceiling was year three where he went to the playoffs and gnarly lost against the Chiefs that would be fine. That is a player that with the rest of the talent on this roster assuming the offensive line can gel I think can be a division winner.
He had a good touchdown to interception ratio that year and if the offense the Dave Canales is putting into place can thrive like it did in Seattle I think we have the defense to complement it.
The unknown is are we going to see that Baker Mayfield or the one that played hurt the following year or the one who last year did not do very well but was also thrown into some bad circumstances?
If Todd Bowles is smart then the thing to do here is give Baker Mayfield a four-game audition at the beginning of the season. If his performance is good then you can continue with him after the bye week. Otherwise if he does not look good where we get off to a very bad start then that is the time to pull him and see what we have in Kyle Trask so that we could start planning for next year.
August 23rd, 2023 at 11:40 am
“I Think This Is Going To Be A Bad Football Team”
YEP!… me too…. ever since the minute Todd (can’t HC for crap) Bowles was moved to Bucs Hc!
August 23rd, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Does anybody ever go back and look at what all these blowhard predictions werelast year?!
August 23rd, 2023 at 12:09 pm
Was Tom Brady really that good last year? Yes he is the GOAT, but was just average last season.
August 23rd, 2023 at 12:09 pm
Fear not friends, last year’s take was a Super Bowl squad at this same time last year. How’d that go?? There is good talent at different positions and some HOF guys around. It seems like an easy, lazy look at the Bucs.
August 23rd, 2023 at 12:52 pm
Baker is trash. Fans that think hes going to have a resurrection here are delusional. Worst starting QB in the league last year. 4 teams in 2 years. Leads league in INT’s since entering the league. If he was any good he would of landed a bigger contract. But we are suppose to be impressed by this “experience” and his “moxie”. Trask will probably be in Week 5 the earliest and Week 8 the latest after the TNF game vs the Bills.
Not only did we substantially downgrade at QB but the offensive line got worse this year too. We exchanged Donavan Smith and Shaq Mason for Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch. Those are both downgrades even with Smith having a terrible year last year. Hainsey will start at C again and Feiler replacing Leverett is a wash. We also don’t have Brady bailing us out with his quick decision making which will make the O-Lines job even harder.
The lack of cap space this year also made the team’s depth very poor. We have so much dead cap this year that we’ve had to build the team on a budget that is going to end up having to rely on a lot of unproven players. 17 games is a long season and this team doesn’t have depth to be competitive in a week in week out basis come November and December during the grind of the season The early week 5 bye doesn’t help either. Oh and Todd Bowels is the head coach still lol. Lots of reasons this team to end up picking in the top 5 in 2024. Just got to hope it’s in the top 2
August 23rd, 2023 at 1:45 pm
If Licht had a crystal ball and saw how Trask was playing this summer – I think he would have passed on Mayfield and gone another direction at QB.
But he doesn’t so Mayfield is signed – this is politics – Licht knows he may need to sign QBs or other veteran players to bridge / prove it contracts in the future. If he goes with Trask as the starter – every agent will remind Licht of this move. Add in the fact that Trask wasn’t lights out better than Mayfield – you play the politics and start Mayfield.
Plus, this allows you to get your offensive line set and new offensive coordinator going with a veteran QB…but I do hope if Mayfield is playing…well….like Mayfield…we do move to the blank slate Trask / John Wolford possibly after our week 4 bye-week.
Go Bucs!!
August 23rd, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Watch out saying Brady sucked last year, which HE DID.
We have a die hard on Brady fan on this site now, who just won’t stand for that.
He disguised his name as NE Fan but we all know the truth.
Does nothing but talk about how the Bucs will stink for years etc.
Probably still sucking the crap out of his teeth from losing Brady to us for a SB win and sucking for 3 years.
I’ll bet you right now the Bucs are better than the Patriots, who might not sniff the playoffs for years. Mac Jones is never gonna take your team anywhere.
Belicheats only hope is an Alabama QB because he doesn’t know offensive schemes at all. Your homeboy is GONE. You should think about retiring too.
August 23rd, 2023 at 2:58 pm
I mean we did draft him in the second round 🤷🏾♂️ even Roberto got a chance. What a waist on a second rounder. “Hey Joe what other players were drafted in the 2nd and beyond that are factors in todays game ?”
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:47 pm
Only 17 QBs in NFL history have had at least one season with over 3500 yards passing and over 25 TDs with less than 10 INTs. Baker Mayfield is one of the QBs who comprise this list. He’s the sole reason the current Cleveland Browns have won a playoff game in their entire history. Based on this, it seems someone who calls him a ‘turnover machine’ is on crack. That is all.
August 23rd, 2023 at 8:13 pm
The fans whom fallow Baker are the ones on crack if they still think somehow he is going to be the same Baker who took Browns to playoff.
Please go read Baker’s stats. He led NFL in intersections for the past three years.
Now who is on crack ?
August 24th, 2023 at 8:54 am
National media is always hating on the Bucs. We have a solid roster with a strong core of young players. I like the offensive coordinator we have there now and the energy he is bringing to the offense. If the defense plays well like they are capable of and we don’t turn the ball over we can beat who ever. Baker looked good when he left Cleveland with the rams for a bit and has mobility that Brady didn’t have give him a chance if he plays like crap insert trask. All these media folks are idiots and don’t know any football and are all Buc Haters 💯
August 24th, 2023 at 8:59 am
We still have Super Bowl champions on this roster that know what it takes they gotta rally around each other and prove these new media dummies wrong again. Tom Brady came to this team previously for a reason when he had choices we still have a solid roster and hopefully Bowles can light a fire under himself this year somehow as well.