Take the temperature of Bucs followers, NFL followers and school soccer followers – and it’ll learn that quarterback Baker Mayfield is a polarizing determine. There’s no in between with Mayfield. Followers both love him or hate him.
Those that love Mayfield admire his fiery demeanor on recreation day. He wears his coronary heart on his sleeve and when then competitors rises, so does Mayfield’s aggressiveness. It’s what made him a family title at Oklahoma, a Heisman Trophy winner and the primary total decide in 2018. That character additionally delivered him an enormous pay day with plenty of commercials as nicely.
Sure, Mayfield has been humbled lately from being benched, traded and waived at numerous factors of his profession, however he’s additionally nonetheless obtained loads of swagger, as he demonstrated within the Bucs’ Week 1 win at Minnesota.
Baker Mayfield Has The Offense Rallying Round Him
Baker Mayfield’s depth was observed instantly in Bucs coaching camp. Early on he was dubbed as one of many greatest trash talkers on the Bucs’ roster. His dedication to bonding together with his teammates in any respect completely different positions has gone a great distance and helped him win the beginning function at quarterback.
It was additional on show in Week 1. The Bucs are going to win in gritty trend this season, and Mayfield is the epitome of it. At occasions, it seems like Baker Mayfield must get hit to essentially begin taking part in nicely. It’s a concern for coaches, understandably, however that additionally makes each teammate purchase in.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph by: USA In the present day
Baker Mayfield and your entire Bucs offense was abysmal within the first quarter at Minnesota, beginning the sport with 5 straight three-and-outs and just one first down. However, when it mattered most, it was Mayfield who delivered an enormous stiff arm and received himself the primary “Indignant Run” of the season on NFL Community’s Good Morning Soccer present, partially for his trash speak after.
Mayfield was the one who took the hit on a QB keeper on fourth-and-1, and he additionally scrambled for a key first down late within the recreation. And it was Mayfield whom the Bucs trusted on a third-and-10 with beneath two minutes to go to ship the ultimate knockout blow on an 11-yard completion to Chris Godwin.
Gritty. Gutsy. That’s Bucs’ new beginning quarterback.
“He’s a quarterback with an offensive lineman’s mentality,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles mentioned. “You don’t need your quarterback doing it an excessive amount of, however he’ll make the yards when he has to make the yards – when the sport is on the road. He performs very good. That doesn’t imply he’s a renegade by any means, it simply implies that he’s prepared to go the additional mile to place his face within the fan when the state of affairs requires it. Hopefully he doesn’t have to do this an excessive amount of the place he can get banged up, however offensive linemen feed off of that – he turns into one in every of them. It’s a rallying cry for the offense.”
Understandably, the Bucs don’t need Mayfield to take too many hits, as his profession reveals he has been damage susceptible. However it’s these varieties of hard-nosed scrambles that may additionally assist the crew win when well-timed.
Bucs Have A Likelihood To Acquire Extra Respect In The Weeks Coming Up
Whereas Baker Mayfield has felt missed at occasions in his profession, your entire Bucs crew has felt disrespected heading into the 2023 season. Whether or not they selected to acknowledge it or not, many know the way most nationwide reporters really feel about Tampa Bay’s possibilities. No person likes listening to that they’re not ok. That’s additionally why the sport isn’t performed on paper.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and WR Trey Palmer – Photograph by: USA In the present day
The Bucs proved many doubters incorrect with a win over the Vikings. They’ll change opinions of extra by a rout of the Bears to set themselves up with an opportunity on to upset the Eagles on Monday Evening Soccer with the nation watching. That’ll get everybody taking the Bucs severely.
And in the event that they need to pull it off, they should preserve the identical mentality the entire means. Baker Mayfield must be the one main.
“I like soccer,” Mayfield mentioned. “It’s the sport of soccer, it’s a bodily recreation, I’ve all the time cherished it. I like contact. You’ll be able to’t draw back from it – I feel that’s the way you get harm. Clearly, like I discussed, taking part in quarterback is somewhat little bit of a distinct story, so yeah, you undoubtedly need to shield your self. I simply all the time need to be part of the fellows. There’s something about that, simply being concerned and displaying them that I prefer to get down and soiled with them, as nicely.”