Rondé Barber: New Offense, New Baker Mayfield
August 26th, 2023
Talks new Bucs QB.
Joe thought yesterday he had seen the bottom of the barrel.
Conor Orr of SI.com haughtily predicted the Bucs would win but two games. Why? Every Bucs fan knows the lazy answer: Baker Mayfield (he mentioned Kyle Trask too, but for now Trask is riding the fiberglass).
Joe has monitored quite a bit of national sports feeds about Mayfield since the Bucs signed him and you would think the Bucs dragged Rob Johnson out of retirement to be quarterback.
Joe can only imagine how badly Mayfield has p!ssed off national media members for the entire industry to come down on him this badly. Good grief, Joe remembers Mayfield winning a playoff game for the Browns three seasons ago and putting the eventual AFC champions Kansas City on the ropes in Arrowhead.
When was the last time the Browns won a playoff game? When Bill Belicheat was there and Vinny Testaverde was slinging it?
By the way, how have the Browns been doing since they washed their hands of Mayfield? Joe’s curious.
Well, Bucs freshly minted Hall of Famer, Rondé Barber, cutting a video for The33rdTeam.com, believes Mayfield will have a renaissance this fall. Why? Because of Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales.
“His scheme will be more mid-wide zone,” Barber explained. “And that scheme makes it more quarterback-friendly with pocket movement that will better fit Baker Mayfield.”
Joe can’t believe how Mayfield gets shat upon across the country. Joe understands that Mayfield has had a bad year or two. Shoot, Michael Lombardi, a former NFL suit, said he believed Mayfield was the worst quarterback in the NFL last year.
A little background: Lombardi’s son Matt was an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Stinking Panthers last year. So naturally Lombardi is going to use Mayfield as a scapegoat for his son. Joe doesn’t expect Lombardi to throw his son under the bus.
It was pointed out to Joe that people give Tom Brady a pass last year for having a somewhat an unBrady-like season, in part because of “distractions” from his cryptoscam investment going under with his marriage to the model Gisele Bündchen.
Brady reportedly lost $30 million in his cryptoscam venture and who knows how many millions he lost in his divorce. The thing with Brady is, he can make up $30 million in a snap of his fingers in endorsements.
But Mayfield lost $12 million with money allegedly invested (stolen?) by family members. Who gives Mayfield a pass for that distraction? Some $12 million isn’t nearly as easy for Mayfield to recover as it is for Brady.
Brady gets a pass but Mayfield doesn’t? Yes, Joe gets it. Brady has street cred.
Why doesn’t Mayfield doesn’t get any slack? Probably because he has (had?) a habit of telling reporters off to their faces.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:08 am
Baker can shut them all up, he controls his own destiny. Would be nice to have his career resurrected in Tampa. A fan can hope.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:10 am
This is Stev all day. What an article man! Rob Johnson???? LMAO. Baker could do alright, if he’s wearing these colors, gotta pull for him! Go Bucs!
August 26th, 2023 at 12:15 am
As a Bucs fan since 75 I don’t care Who is QB. I just want us to win. That being said I don’t think that it matters this yr. I don’t want to have the 16th draft pick so Bowles can save his job!
I want to see the TRUE future of our team. If Licht whiffed on Trask then we should find out and maybe end up in the ‘Caleb Williams’ sweepstakes as Joe likes to say.
Either way I want a Bucs win EVERY Sunday. Just not as hopeful this yr.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:23 am
Brady is being sued for his relationship with FTX and his TV Ads. He could lose a lot more than $30 mil.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:57 am
Beej – HAHAHAa..
With that said, I’m down on Baker after watching his (alleged) ‘highlights’ over the last two years. He’s just not good. He was a checkdown Charlie, and got badly rattled under pressure. Yes, in Cleveland, for one year, with the best running game and a great offensive line, he played well. The issue is all the other years. Nothing in his tape makes me optimistic about him.
I’m not a Trask fanboi, but I’d rather see Trask in there since I strongly believe I know exactly what we’re going to get from Mayfield, and that is a 5-12 record.
But hey, it doesn’t matter what I think, it’s all up to Baker now to prove everyone wrong, and I’d love to see him do it. I don’t want to be sentenced to a meaningless year where the Bucs are out of by week 7. It’s up to Baker now, and there’s only one way to shutup doubters like me.
August 26th, 2023 at 2:18 am
I hear you Rod, I haven’t been impressed with Baker either and thought Trask had the possible potential of bigger upside. Baker will have his chance to prove all the national pundits and myself wrong. I hope so.
August 26th, 2023 at 2:59 am
If Ronde knows it so do our opponents. Dinky Dunky.
August 26th, 2023 at 3:04 am
So now you know this team could have gotten Trey Lance for a fourth round pick (or something comparable) the way Dallas just did. Rah Rah Canales would have gotten the kind of take-off-and-run-30 yds QB he is used to (and a new QB whisperer challenge to fix a guy who couldn’t master a playbook in 3 seasons).
Of course, that will happen anyway in the next draft.
So for now, this team is tied tightly to the Mayfield mast, wherever the ship goes, even to the bottom. That was the plan from the get.
August 26th, 2023 at 3:08 am
The origin of Baker’s media difficulties begin with 3 people. I have to be careful how I say this because every media platform that I’ve brought this to people’s attention has been censored and completely deleted. I’m not a crackpot as the videos are out there along with the press conferences/interviews right from the sources. But they are conveniently overlooked and ignored. The gentlemen who claimed Baker should retire is the catalyst and has been dogging Baker ever since he entered the NFL. And, yes, he was told off to his face on camera in 2018. The other two are Cleveland local media … one of which is the “Queen” of Cleveland local sports media and well-known featured many times with the above gentleman mentioned. The final person is a long tenured local guy who is great friends with the “Queen”. His disparaging and insulting questions were so bad that he was banned from the Brown’s facility for a year. These two local media persons both received deserving responses from Baker. From the time of those occurrences every opportunity was made to undercut, twist, misrepresent, mislead, exaggerate everything Baker said in any press conference. The information spread as they supported each other in mutual satisfaction to control his narrative with other media and the Brown’s fanbase. I’m not kidding. All you have to do is watch his press conferences and then compare that to what they report. Easily verifiable. Later, the Browns manipulated the media (who was happy to accommodate them) to their advantage to discredit him on the way out the door as a means to bring a reluctant fanbase on board with a PR nightmare of a replacement. That can be verified, too, by former teammates. It’s allllllll out there. Peace. 🏈
August 26th, 2023 at 3:25 am
Trask will be playing after the bye
Maybe sooner.
Watch what happens against the Ravens.
August 26th, 2023 at 4:50 am
Excuses are for Liars and Losers Joe. Never heard Ronde or Brady make one either.
Just saying…
Go Bucs!
August 26th, 2023 at 6:32 am
“Because of Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales.” Exactly what I said yesterday.
August 26th, 2023 at 6:49 am
If the defense can be as strong as the defense for Mayfield in this article, then the Bucs will have a top 5 defense.
August 26th, 2023 at 6:58 am
You know, if memory serves me right, the Browns and Mayfield had a pretty good relationship until OBJ seemed to sour on Mayfield and got vocal about it and like a cancer, split the locker room. Seems like no one brings this up but I could see OBJ being a cancer ala Desean Jackson but then again, OBJ supporters would say Mayfield was the cancer.
Nonetheless, I always thought that Mayfield got a raw deal after leading the Browns to a 12-6 season with a playoff win at Pittsburgh and pushing KC to the limit. Now Cleveland faithful seem to be rewriting history and are saying Mayfield did not contribute too much to the winning season as it was all defense and run attack but he did have 26 TDs and only 8 picks and given that the Browns were 11-5 in regular season, these were not padded stats like Winston’s often were, playing from behind thanks to Mike Smith’s putrid D.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:02 am
Compare the first five years of Drew Brees career to Mayfield’s. Other than Mayfield’s stats being all around a little better, and their wim totals being IDENTICAL at 30… yes Baker, had 10 more losses, but statistically, they were very similar… I don’t see any reason whatsoever that Mayfield can’t turn his career around on a new team, new scheme, and fresh start. He’s still very young as far as QB standards are concerned.
Considering that our defense, running game, special teams, offensive system, and receiving options SHOULD all.be better this season, if Baker.is even average this will be a better team this season. Baker just has to be average for us to.contend in a weak division. Slightly better than average and we flirt with 10 wins. Above average and we win 10+.
I think.ww see Mayfield as above average. This team should win 10+.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:03 am
Purposely losing for a draft pick is for losers. Ask the 49ers about first round QB’s I’m sure they probably learned their lesson. The failure rate is high! Not quite as high as I thought going through the 10 year list but still very risky.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:06 am
In four seasons in Cleveland, Mayfield was 30-31 including the playoffs. .500 is nothing to brag about… unless its CLEVELAND! The dude was a miracle worker..
Nobody wins in Cleveland.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:21 am
This is game day, no? Where is the lovely lady Ravens cheer goddess?
August 26th, 2023 at 7:41 am
I think this is simply the reverse implied odds of the Brady effect. Real Buc fans know that Brady was a shell of himself last year and was part of the problem. He played extremely scared and it wasn’t all on the o line. All a d lineman had to do was look at him and he would quickly throw the ball in the dirt to avoid any contact. The national media simply thinks they went from the GOAT to a guy that has struggled for a couple years. They ignore the fact that the Bucs had pretty bad QB play last year. I think there is a very good chance the Bucs will be a surprise just like Seattle was last year, especially considering that is where out new OC just came from.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:45 am
One player does not dictate the entire outcome. Unless it’s Brady or Mahomes.
Mayfield will be fine. People should be more worried about the OL and TEs. What we have seen in the preseason games is appalling. I recognize that these games mean nothing but Leverett is awful. Mauch is slow. Goedeke is marginal. One TE can’t catch. One can’t block.
Then there is the tribute to Leftwich to start each game with a run up the middle over the top of a not very strong backup C and RG and LG who should be in the USFL or UPS. Vaughn is a joke. The best looking RB is the rookie and so they will not play him. Edmonds looks good, so he will also sit.
And finally, the question is what is Bowles going to do? Last year in Cleveland, Pitt and Carolina, he had them as motivated as a Seventh Grader writing an essay on the Age of Absolutism.
What you don’t have to worry about is Baker Mayfield hitting an open Mike Evans or Chris Godwin.
And for God’s sake stop with this mythical No risk it no biscuit crap. I’m t was the most inane and overused simpleton explanation in NFL history. I saw these guys throwing downfield in both preseason games so far. So they have not abandoned the field beyond the first down marker.
They could easily win 4 division games. Carolina is crap. Atlanta is crap. 10-7 is reachable. But this team is a year away from being SB ready. Need the new young defenders to get comfortable and they need a new C and at least one G. Re-sign the new S. Find a TE.
Baker will be fine.
August 26th, 2023 at 7:53 am
All you people think that baker will be a check down Charlie. I don’t think so at all . I put money on it that Evans will have a monster year just like when Johnny rotten chucked it up for him in college . Mayfield is not the most accurate but he does not need to be when you got the catch radius of me13..trey palmer flies down the field and all you have to do is lead him ! I know there will be big plays made game in and out . We just need to coach better and get off the field on 3rd down on defense. Go bucs !!
August 26th, 2023 at 8:06 am
#JustTank
August 26th, 2023 at 8:31 am
A career season for Mayfield.
August 26th, 2023 at 8:35 am
Super bowl champion Rams won FIVE games last year. Two of the five came in Baker’s 1 month rental
August 26th, 2023 at 8:56 am
At least give him a few games before crapping on him. Plus we need to support him as Bucs fans. Some on here already made up their minds?
August 26th, 2023 at 8:59 am
Mayfield was drafted by a winless Browns, and had a 6-7 record his rookie year. Overall, he had a 29-30 record his 4 years with the Browns, not counting a road playoff win vs. Steelers and nearly upsetting the Chiefs. This despite Cleveland’s dumpster fire of a front office and revolving door of coaches. Then last year he bounced from a dumpster fire at Carolina to a midseason stop at Rams, where he did account for 1/2 of the Rams wins. IDK if he’s the Bucs QB of the future, he’s not Tom Brady (hint:no one is). But he doesn’t suck, which was going to be Bucs other options they could sign under the cap. If the OLine can play just average, Mayfield will be OK. No miracles, prob inconsistant at times, but overall OK. If the OLine plays like crap, then it really doesn’t matter who lines up behind center, even Tom Brady.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:16 am
Brandon Says: “Compare the first five years of Drew Brees career to Mayfield’s.”
Illegitimate comparison. Their first 5 years in the NFL were 17 years apart. Very different NFL passing rules make passing easier in Mayfield’s era. And yet Mayfield’s interception percentage (INT%) ranks a lowly 37th among active quarterbacks (StatMuse).
August 26th, 2023 at 9:20 am
Thank God football is a team sport! The media actually likes some of the other Buc players! LFG!
August 26th, 2023 at 9:29 am
“People give Brady a pass for subpar play because of ‘distractions.'”
My recollection from reading JBF is that Brady got a pass mostly because of who he was playing with, who he was not playing with, the coaches, the cheerleaders, and so on.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:36 am
Brandon Says: “Compare the first five years of Drew Brees career to Mayfield’s.”
Illegitimate comparison. Their first five years in the NFL were 17 years apart. Very different NFL passing rules made passing easier in Mayfield’s modern era. Mayfield needs to be compared to his contemporaries: Mayfield’s interception percentage (INT%) ranks a lowly 37th among active quarterbacks (StatMuse).
August 26th, 2023 at 9:43 am
Make no excuses for BM! He doesn’t want them or need them! Excuses are for losers!
August 26th, 2023 at 9:52 am
Anyone who has played team sports knows you are only as good as your weakest link(s). Bucs have too many weak spots to be contenders. I hope Baker is better than his record. I hope the Oline can block effectively. I hope the pass rush is much improved. I hope the new defensive backs can hold their own. That’s a he’lla lot of hoping! Given the uncertainties, I would consider an 8/9 record a win for a rebuilding team. More than 8 wins would be outstanding and would justify making the Hillsborough River flow red and pewter for at least a weak!
August 26th, 2023 at 9:53 am
When we signed Mayfield, especially considering our cap situation, that was a huge “get” in my book. He’s still young, has experience and had to deal with a revolving door of OCs so adapting to a new OC with the weapons we have made him the best choice, regardless of the cap.
The other vets out there were Carr and Jimmy G at the top of the list. Garapolo is the best by far imo but he can’t stay on the field. Carr is another “Matty Ice” Ryan. Can put up some flashy numbers but melts when the pressure is on. They don’t have the killer instinct to win at all costs like a Brady or a Manning or a Mahomes. Maybe Baker’s “moxie” can morph into that.
I appreciate the Trask fans who have waited patiently (or not so patiently..lol) to see what he can do. The only way I think that would have happened would have been for him to be lights-out great or if we were in total tear-down & rebuild mode. With Bowles desperate to keep his job and the Glazers needing to keep seats filled that wasn’t going to happen.
If the Mayfield/Canales experiment fails this year, we might see the tear-down in the off season and we’ll see what Trask can do next year but we’ll likely lose many of our star players in the process of rebuilding. That would suck to watch so let’s hope for the best now.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:55 am
Week even, haha. Spelling is not forte.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:58 am
So Joe and Barker’s fan boys say Maybefield won a playoff game and had a great year while putting up the following numbers: It’s important to recognize part of what made the season special for Mayfield was his youth and that it was the Browns franchise. –Joe
62.8 comp % 3,563 yrds 26 TD 8 INT 8 Fum
Then turn around and say TB12 had a horrible season after putting up the following numbers: Joe has never said Brady had a horrible year. — Joe
66.8 comp % 4,694 yrds 25 TD 9 INT 5 Fum
I can see the upgrade and expect the offense to be better. Can’t understand why people don’t believe the great Barker neither 🙄🙄🤦🏽♂️🤡🗑
August 26th, 2023 at 9:58 am
Shakeandbaker Says: “They ignore the fact that the Bucs had pretty bad QB play last year.”
Let’s see …
Tom Brady 2022: Q B R 52.5
Baker Mayfield 2022: Q B R 24.5
Oops … Baker’s Q B R was less than half Tom’s … Funny thing, that stat is designed to benefit mobile quarterbacks like Baker.
August 26th, 2023 at 10:25 am
“SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have traded quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick less than three years after trading three first-round picks to draft him third overall.”
Yep, let’s tank for Caleb!
August 26th, 2023 at 10:38 am
Personally, I think baker will do pretty good, given his targets stay healthy. It’s the OL, and the dreaded lawn chair 4 in the secondary that give me the willies.
If the lawn chair 4 go into that little bo peep has lost her sheep mode, it won’t matter how good baker is.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
The Cleveland Browns management and owners are to blame for the team results and not Baker Mayfield. One thing that people forget…Baker had 3 head coaches and 4 offensive coordinators during his tenure at Cleveland. Even if they had Superman at quarterback they would still manage to lose. Mark my words… Kevin Stefanski is not a good head coach….his play calling is highly questionable especially during the period when Baker was playing injured. I cannot believe how much trash Baker gets when he was the quarterback who produced a winning season for Cleveland after so many winning less seasons. What changed from year one and year two at Cleveland? Not the quarterback but the head coach and the play calling! Yes, Baker Mayfield is not a great quarterback and he doesn’t claim to be, but he is a human being who plays football and he is always trying his best to win. Let us give the guy a break and allow him to get a chance like anybody else.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Baker gets the hate because he was picked first over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, who have had success. He was doomed from the start being drafted by a cursed franchise, a bad front office, and an inconsistent coaching staff. It all comes with being the first pick. The high expectations come with the ransom a franchise had to give up to acquire/earn that pick. I liked our No 1 pick better than Baker, but you gotta win in this league to make the doubters stop.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:35 pm
If anyone has watched the Saints and the Bears, they both seem like much better teams than we are. I surely don’t think our QB will have a lot to do with it if we lose to them, period.
August 26th, 2023 at 3:33 pm
@ModHair
Mauch is slow? The other assessments were decent. Mauch though? You’re reaching and Missed big. The guy is the fastest O lineman on almost any team. The rest of it, you could be right
@frozen buc
The poor cheerleaders need help to. I’m willing to volunteer. You know, to help out the team of course. (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it 😉)
@Duane
I got to agree. The Browns are a bad Org these last 2/3 Decades. They continue to dig in deep. Eventually, they will have a Brand New History Making record to where they dig All the way to China! You’d think that by now they would have hired a high schooler that could do a better job of accidently figuring out the basics of an actual strategy.
They at least Finally got smart enough to “buy” a team when they got a #1 draft pick and surrounded him with the offense and defense that got them through two games into the playoffs in short order.. After that they ran back to the good Ole “more money than brains” philosophy and RAN back down hill. If they would have stuck with Baker and given him time to heal, they by now might be right back in the Super Bowl conversation. They feel like a team that is owned by a teenager…. with No understanding and No patience. I don’t see that changing for them until they get some new Ownership…
August 26th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
@Zabo
A ton of truth there. And you win. Baker is going to get his shot at bathing in the sunlight for what maybe his best shot “lately” And let’s face it, his last shot.
Start Demanding More front line guys that are worth it or that shot will be short lived. Never the less, his time is Now or Never! Good luck #6
If not, It’s Trask’s Time Shine! I gotta say, I think the reason Trask gets No respect has a whole lot to do with the number he’s picked for himself. Who in there “Right Mind” would pick #2 as the number to represent yourself.
The announcer…. And here comes “Number #2″ to lead this team” Umm, not a great sound to it……. ooooof!
GO BUCS!
August 26th, 2023 at 6:44 pm
Mary Kay Cabot is her name and, yes, she ran Baker out of town with fibs. I can’t imagine how she’d have pull to get anyone censored, but the mainstream sports reporters are even worse than the politicos.