Was Baker Mayfield Becoming A Star Just Psychological?
March 27th, 2025
Secret to Baker Mayfield’s success.
So Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht decided to put his shrink hat on. As a result, he may have figured out how Baker Mayfield went from the cusp of being out of the league to being a star.
Mayfield was used up by the Browns, who decided they should put all their eggs in one basket by signing a sleazy guy with tons of pervert allegations against him. Then Mayfield went to Carolina with an inept coach who couldn’t figure out how to win games with Mayfield, Christian McCaffery and D.J. Moore. He was cut loose and seemed destined for the USFL.
Then he found a Rams head coach who believed in him for only a short period of time. That led him to the Bucs, where everyone from Licht down to the players wanted and embraced Mayfield.
Next thing you know, he’s winning the MVP of the Pro Bowl and then throwing for a 71 percent completion percentage.
Licht believes the rebirth of Mayfield was as much psychological as anything, as he came to a team that wanted him and believed in him, unlike the Browns or the Stinking Panthers.
Alongside fellow general manager John Schneider, the shot-caller of the Seahawks, Licht did a sitdown with Mike Tannenbaum of BSPN, himself a former GM. There, the subject turned to quarterbacks.
“I do think that, at least, with Baker, with us, you know he went through a rough patch there early in his career,” Licht began. “But he felt like he was wanted.”
“Yes!” Schneider yelped, interrupting Licht in agreement.
“Mayfield was wanted “by the head coach, by the GM, by the coaching staff, by the players,” Licht said. “We wanted him. And I think there’s a psychological advantage to that once [a quarterback feels] like they’re at a place where everybody wants him.”
Joe isn’t going to dismiss this. Joe is sure that being a good fit has something to do with Mayfield’s success. Ever since Mayfield ran over a Vikings defender for a key first down late in the season opener at Minnesota in 2023, the Bucs fully embraced him. They all swear by him.
Camaraderie helps. But at the end of the day, no matter how nice the Bucs organization was with Mayfield, he still had to go out and perform.
Is that before he believed he was wanted and accepted? Joe cannot say that, though Joe is sure it doesn’t hurt.
.@Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht (@jasonrlicht) recently sat down at Mike Tannenbaum's 'GM Roundtable' on @ESPNNFL to discuss the evolution of the quarterback position and why it is so challenging to evaluate. pic.twitter.com/f0o5SbWYzK
— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) March 26, 2025
March 27th, 2025 at 4:08 am
Please fix the title of this article !
Perhaps your 13 yo neighbor can help you.
Thx Joe
March 27th, 2025 at 4:10 am
Yup to all that above, and it doesn’t hurt to have a mike Evans, Godwin, David, a Bucky, Wirfs, Winfield , etc etc on your squad to pitch in! There ain’t no I in TEAM.
March 27th, 2025 at 4:18 am
Geez it’s 4 am and I can’t sleep but I can still get disturbed by your writing paragraph 2 and 8. This isn’t like you Joe.
Did you turn up your microdose pen? Or were you drinkin yo granmas moonshine?
Joe was not on the fundamentals. If Greg Schiano was running this site, Joe would have been fired long ago. –Joe
March 27th, 2025 at 4:28 am
bake muyfeld became tarred foozballer because psychotherapy and twinkies
joe pass me a scooby snack with that blunt
March 27th, 2025 at 4:37 am
swap did for was in hed lol
March 27th, 2025 at 4:48 am
You have to give it up for Baker for his ability to make big plays when needed.
Much credit goes to Buc management , coaching staff, teammates, and his homelife.
March 27th, 2025 at 5:09 am
Title makes no sense
March 27th, 2025 at 5:42 am
Maybe that same reasoning can apply to Reddick bouncing back from last year. Sometimes a change of venue with a new team can make all the difference…
March 27th, 2025 at 6:00 am
Luke Goedeke said it.
“80% of this game is confidence.”
I read this beautiful quote on this site.
Thanks Joe!
Never underestimate the placebo effect or the power of the mind!
And in this case?
The power of love and loyalty!
Baker was in recruited. A walk on. A transfer because they wanted Mahomes at Texas Tech.
Thrown away by the NFL.
But Licht and fhe “family” vibe changed Bakers life.
Never underestimate the power of love!
March 27th, 2025 at 6:08 am
Baker finally got a decent TEAM around him, to include decent coaching. That’s all it took.
March 27th, 2025 at 6:23 am
One of the game telecasts last year showed Baker getting ready at his locker. Photos of the Black Mamba Kobe Bryant were up on the shelf, headphones on, dead-pan serious look on his face just staring ahead, focused on business. I think he just found a new mentality or a persona to take on compared to his previous career stops, and it’s working and I’m here for all of it.
March 27th, 2025 at 6:36 am
Being from Oklahoma we didn’t have an NFL team. But I’ve been watching the best QBs in college for 60 years. Most folks know I’m an unabashed Mayfield believer. He’s the best I ever saw in college. In the biggest games he always played his best. I don’t know about the psychology angle, but Licht and Bowles were mature enough (old enough) to understand the best way to get the most out of Baker. The very young Cleveland GM(Berry) and head coach (Stefanski) wanted to point out to Baker that they were the stars of the show. They were insanely jealous that Baker got all the attention and not them. Why they haven’t been fired testifies to the ineptitude of that organization. The Tampa organization top to bottom is just what Mayfield needed. If we should win a Super Bowl this year Baker will be thought of as the best QB in the league. And if we should win a couple Baker Mayfield will be the face of the league. I believe he is an absolute future hall of famer.
March 27th, 2025 at 6:41 am
Puhleeez the guy has always been a baller and a great QB. Ain’t nothing new.
What also isn’t new is a QB looking ass on an ass team; and a QB being able to show out on a good team
March 27th, 2025 at 6:51 am
love the guy but he has to improve his record in the playoffs and get a ring, stop throwing pics and fumbling in the biggest game of the year
March 27th, 2025 at 6:56 am
This bit of text caught my eye: …”a star with a perennial playoff team.” I guess we are perennial with 5 straight play-off appearances and 4 straight South Div crowns. However, the past three seasons haven’t felt “perennial”. I do love Baker as my QB, because he literally puts his head down and gets the job done. But the team has to get better and get to the elite level of 12-13 wins. They need to dominate the division and not back pedal to a crown, maybe catch a bye week. And not come out with flat tires in a home playoff game and lose to rookie QB.
I sure don’t want to endure another patch of “getting worse to get better”, because the Bucs have a history of floundering in the tank for too many seasons.
March 27th, 2025 at 7:02 am
Baker’s last (and WORST) season in Cleveland–17 td’s, 13 picks, 3k yards. They not even had anyone approach THAT since he left
March 27th, 2025 at 7:26 am
Title would’ve been better like this:
DiD BaKeR MaYfiElD BeCoMiNg A STaR QuArteRbaCk JuSt PsYchOloGicAl?
March 27th, 2025 at 7:59 am
I’ll admit to coming to back just to see if Joe put this train wreck back on the tracks. He did. 🙂
March 27th, 2025 at 9:03 am
Baker would still be with the Rams if they hadn’t invested so heavily in Matthew Stafford. Baker’s career was never in doubt. He was badly injured for the entire 2021 season and tried to play through it. He had surgery immediately after the season. For anyone still doubting Mayfield, watch the 2018 combine tape. There hasn’t been a QB before or since who ever looked as sharp as Mayfield.
March 27th, 2025 at 9:19 am
Eliminate the mid season slumps, and win the night games. Stop losing to inferior teams. We beat the Fleagles, nearly beat the Chiefs, and then lose twice to the Fowlgoons. The mark of a great QB is consistency.
March 27th, 2025 at 9:49 am
Beeej Says:
March 27th, 2025 at 7:02 am
Baker’s last (and WORST) season in Cleveland–17 td’s, 13 picks, 3k yards. They not even had anyone approach THAT since he left
========================================You left out the part where he played the entire season with a serious shoulder injury that occurred in the 2nd game of the season.
March 27th, 2025 at 9:50 am
teacherman for the win!
March 27th, 2025 at 10:00 am
The narrative pushed by Baker Haters has usually begun with “consistency”. Sad, really, and I have no idea why he’s been so polarizing in the NFL. If anyone with any skill at research or stats would do a deeper dive they’d find out that just the opposite is true. I haven’t seen him ever have a bad game! Somebody out there show me a bad game. Losing to Washington? 15 for 18 for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns? We dropped two passes. 146 passer rating. Whoever was the genius that ciphered we should run the ball 26 times for 4 yards a carry? Now that was an example of a coach havind a bad game. Maybe it’s the OCs he’s had that were inconsistent? Nobody says Wirfs or Evans or LaVonte is inconsistent. But QBs final judgment always boils down to wins. And that is gonna shine a bright light on Baker. Because the Bucs are gonna win a ton of games the next 6 or 8 years. With at least a few championships sprinkled in. 10 straight Division Titles and 14 straight 1000 yard seasons for Evans with a couple of Super Bowls. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
March 27th, 2025 at 10:21 am
But QBs final judgment always boils down to wins. And that is gonna shine a bright light on Baker
NOT JUST W’s!!!!!…but playoff wins!!!!!!!!
hopefully baker doesnt lead the NFL in INTs and we’ll get more playoff wins….if not, light certainly will be shine on him!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
March 27th, 2025 at 10:23 am
His newfound faith may also have played a role, centering his life around something higher than football.
If your life is more than the game, the game becomes a game and not life.
March 27th, 2025 at 10:25 am
Losing to Washington? 15 for 18 for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns? We dropped two passes. 146 passer rating.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!
baker going 15-18 185 2tds 146 passer rating got us an L….WHY?….because he fumbled lol….
when you include the good stats you gotta include the bad lol…..
baker had several good games indeed, but the stats prove he had several bad games as well…..leading the league in INTs and getting bounced in the 1st round at because of your fumble proves that!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
March 27th, 2025 at 12:17 pm
“Gipper Says:
========================================You left out the part where he played the entire season with a serious shoulder injury that occurred in the 2nd game of the season.”
Yeah, knew that, but the point I was making is NO ONE they’ve brought in since they kicked him to the curb has remotely approached Baker’s worst season. (The fact they’ve financially wrecked the team is just icing on the cake)
March 27th, 2025 at 12:26 pm
I’m guffawing at Bucky Buc’s re-written title. Hilarious (and a bit of work, too.)
March 27th, 2025 at 2:43 pm
Some people never learn. I guess the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink is still relevant today. For the umpteenth time if you don’t know much about the down and dirty of football quit embarrassing yourself about Baker fumbling. It was a rookie mistake by a rookie named McMillan. Hell, don’t take my word on the matter take a little initiative and watch any number of them on you tube, there are only 4 million videos of it being run correctly. There is even one of the veteran Sterling Shepard running it correctly a couple of games before. And if you are going to say Baker should have done this or that, that play isn’t designed for changes at the last minute. It is a play designed to be run very quickly to catch the defense off guard, thus the name “jet” sweep. There is no time for anything. It has to be run 100% correct because you have a runner that runs a 4.4 40 running full speed at you.
If you are tired of embarrassing yourself and you are going to finally look it up on you tube pay attention to how close the runner runs to the quaterback and how the quaterback turns and hands off. There is no reaching like Baker had to do. If McMillan would have been half a yard closer he would have got the ball right in the gut not the oblique but he wasn’t, he was too deep. Anybody that knows the most basic things about football knows you have to be right on the quaterbacks heels. Thats why the people at PFT and a coach all agreed it was McMillan that made the error of being too deep. So if you are the type to think you know more about football than a professional football coach than get after it.
Baker immediately took it on because not to would have caused an issue with the team during the game and he knew that would be worse so he did what all good leaders do, took the hit for the team and a young rookie. Just be glad you have a quarterback like him leading the way.
March 27th, 2025 at 2:48 pm
Yes 813 you proved it all right but you didn’t prove what you thought you proved….
March 27th, 2025 at 2:52 pm
And we lost because Washington’s offense imposed their will and game plan on our defense the whole game by keeping Baker and the offense off the field, that’s why we lost.
March 27th, 2025 at 3:00 pm
And that’s why Baker only threw the ball 18 times that game, they intentionally kept him and our high flying offense off the field, and it worked. It was a brilliant strategy and it was carried out to perfection.
March 27th, 2025 at 3:10 pm
813 Boi. I tried to point out to you the Wash. fumble was not Mayfield’s fault and he took the blame to take the heat off the “sweep” runner. DaveyBoy has tried another way. I expect none of this will change your outlook and we’ll see the same B.S. from you tomorrow. Responding to your posts is like responding to a rock in the road.
March 27th, 2025 at 4:45 pm
DAVY & BUCSORE
you clowns make up any excuse for baker lol….
im sure you have 16 excuses why bakers league leading INTs werent his fault either lol….
please tell me all 16 reasons why you cant put bakers INTs on him lol
according to you clowns baker didnt throw a pick or fumble the ball all season lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!!
March 27th, 2025 at 6:11 pm
813, you haters always do the same thing when you have nothing. Please tell me how we have made up any excuse for Baker. Find a post like that. I’ve said all along Baker needs to find a way to cut down on his interceptions. But according to your “accurate” accounts we make up any excuse. Line me out, where have I done what you said I have done. Your problem is you are desperate to find anything on Baker but you can’t so you say stupid things about his supporters. Whose the clown??
March 27th, 2025 at 6:28 pm
813, you said we lost the Washington game because of the fumble. Try this on, we get to the red zone in 5 & 6 plays a lot. Now, if they kept Baker and the offense off the field to the tune of 17 less passes in that game than the season average, what do you think the score would have been, just on averages. That is an extra 2 or 3 possessions. If we would have just kicked 2 field goals out of those we would have won. Or just 1 touchdown. Do you really think it was the fumble??
March 27th, 2025 at 6:39 pm
Jayden Daniels threw and ran the ball 48 times. Baker 25. Thats basically twice as many. No one can win at that difference. It’s amazing we only lost by 3!!!
March 27th, 2025 at 6:58 pm
I think the lows of Cleveland & Carolina were just as much a part of it, as was feeling wanted by Tampa Bay. Baker was served some humble pie and it gave him some new perspective on how to approach things.