Where Does Baker Mayfield Rank Among NFL QBs?

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield is coming off a 2023 season in which he enjoyed exactly the kind of career revival he was hoping to have when he signed a one-year, $4 million deal (plus incentives) with Tampa Bay last March.

Before signing with the Bucs, Mayfield of course split his 2022 between three different teams. He was first unceremoniously dumped by the Browns — the team that drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 and earned its first playoff win since 1994 under the direction of the former Oklahoma quarterback. He then struggled to find a home among the dysfunction that is the Carolina Panthers.

And finally, he finished out the season with a bit of a happier stretch in Los Angeles with a Rams team that had lost Matthew Stafford and had little to play for in the season’s closing weeks.

So, when an all-of-a-sudden well-traveled Baker Mayfield signed with the Bucs after Tom Brady’s February 2023 retirement, there wasn’t a whole lot of fanfare.

Fast forward to now and the amount of fanfare around Mayfield in Tampa Bay is on a completely different level. He helped the Bucs overcome a 4-7 start last year to three-peat as NFC South champions, then he led them to a home playoff win over the Eagles before the season came to a crushing end in Detroit the following week.

But by the time his one-year deal with the Bucs was up, he had thrown for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in the regular season as well as 686 yards and six touchdowns to two interceptions in the playoffs. And for good measure, he was the Offensive MVP at the Pro Bowl Games, where he was a replacement for Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott.

This offseason, Baker Mayfield was rewarded for his career renaissance with a three-year, $100 million contract. He has won over the city and can now call it home for the foreseeable future.

It’s been a great year for Mayfield, to be sure. On top of his Comeback Player of the Year-worthy season in Tampa and the big-money contract he signed, he and his wife, Emily, became parents this offseason.

So, what’s next for Baker Mayfield? Well, anyone who has followed his career for any amount of time will know he won’t rest on his laurels and coast. He’ll push for more and he’ll keep that same chip on his shoulder that has made him a fan favorite since his college days.

And that chip on his shoulder may grow even larger and he’ll feel he has even more to prove in 2024 — especially after Pro Football Focus released its latest quarterback rankings ahead of the new season.

Where Does PFF Rank Baker Mayfield Among NFL QBs?

PFF’s Trevor Sikkema — a Pewter Report alum — released his 2024 quarterback rankings this week, and Bucs fans may not love where Baker Mayfield was listed.

Under “Tier 5: Can Single-handedly Win And Lose Games,” Mayfield was ranked as the 20th-best quarterback in the league. Here’s what Sikkema had to say about Tampa Bay’s $100 million man:

“Mayfield played on a one-year, “prove-it” deal in 2023, where the “prove-it” part could have spelled the end of his time as an NFL starter. It wasn’t his best season, by the numbers, but it was enough to get him a three-year extension. His last four games of the year were the catalyst.

“Overall, Mayfield was erratic, with 25 big-time throws and 22 turnover-worthy plays. But over the final four games he earned a top-10 passing grade, including an elite Week 15 performance on the road in Green Bay that propelled the Buccaneers to a strong finish and a playoff berth.”

Coming in ahead of Mayfield and rounding out “Tier 4: The Melting Pot Of Starters” was Arizona’s Kyler Murray at No. 17, Seattle’s Geno Smith at No. 18 and Chicago’s Caleb Williams — the top pick in the 2024 Draft — at No. 19.

Following Mayfield in Tier 5 are New Orleans’ Derek Carr at No. 21, Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson at No. 22 and Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson at No. 23.

What Baker Mayfield Has To Do To Rise Up The Ranks In 2024

When taking Baker Mayfield’s full 2023 season into account, No. 20 is right around where many would probably rank him among other starting quarterbacks in the league. Because while he and the Bucs finished strong — going 5-1 down the stretch in the regular season and then winning a playoff game — there were plenty of not-so-good times before that.

After all, Tampa Bay did start 4-7 and while no one would dare blame Mayfield alone for that, he had his share of struggles. He was just 15-of-25 for 146 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a Week 3 loss to the Eagles. In a Week 6 loss to the Lions, he was 19-of-37 for 206 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

Mayfield struggled for long stretches of losses to the Falcons and Bills, and even the first two wins during Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak in December were full of struggles. The Week 18, 9-0 win over Carolina wasn’t a particularly good day for Mayfield either.

Simply put — as Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds recently wrote — Baker Mayfield has to reduce the number of clunkers he has in 2024. Because as strong as 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions looks on the whole, there were six or seven games that saw the Tampa Bay quarterback at much less than his best.

If Mayfield cuts that number in half — or does even better than that — that’s when he’ll see his name rise up the rankings next year. As Sikkema pointed out, per PFF metrics, Mayfield had 25 big-time throws and 22 turnover-worthy plays. That’s not going to get him ranked in the Top 15, much less any higher than that.

But more consistency — and more big performances like he had in Week 4 at New Orleans, Week 15 at Green Bay and Week 16 against Jacksonville — will see Baker Mayfield go from a feel-good, career-revival story to more of an upper-echelon quarterback in the NFL.

Only three QBs had at least 10 games with multiple Pass TD’s this season:

– #Cowboys Dak Prescott
– #Packers Jordan Love
– #Buccaneers Baker Mayfield pic.twitter.com/LjqlLwXSfM

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 29, 2024

What do you think, Pewter People?

Is 20th the right ranking for Mayfield? Sound off in the comments below.