Three-time Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long, from football’s famous Long family, sees Baker Mayfield as an elite babysitter.
What does that mean in the football realm? For Long, a full-time CBS analyst, it’s a way of saying Mayfield is among the NFL’s elite quarterback. So him losing an offensive coordinator again is not as critical for the Bucs as it might be for other teams.
The Lions lost their stud playcaller and Long thinks Detroit will feel it a lot more than Tampa Bay will suffer from Liam “El Serpiente” Coen taking the Jaguars head coaching job.
“You have Baker Mayfield, bro. It’s like having a great babysitter,” Long said. “Like no matter where we go if we’ve got, you know, ‘Julie,’ Julie is going to take care of everybody. The kids are going to be safe, fed, the diapers are going to be changed. That’s Baker Mayfield, dude. As much fun as we think that Baker Mayfield is — and I want to go have margaritas with Baker — it’s like, ‘I want to be in the huddle with him.’ That’s what a leader looks like.
“I love [Lions QB] Jared Goff; I think he’s a really good quarterback and I think the Lions will be alright. But I’m way less concerned about Liam Coen leaving than I am [Detroit playcaller] Ben Johnson leaving. So, like I’m not going to give [Goff and the Lions] the same treatment as the Bucs. It’s a different quarterback.”
Long gave the Bucs an “A” grade for their offseason moves and did not openly disagree when his Pushing The Pile co-host Mike Renner, the longtime CBS analyst, said he believes the Bucs could be a 13- or 14-win team this season.
