There’s one aspect to Baker Mayfield’s game that has been underrated — and for good reason.
Before last season, Mayfield was not a quarterback that would get his team many yards on the ground. His season-high had been 165 yards with Cleveland in 2020.
Mayfield was a great escape artist in Tampa in 2023. He eluded his share of sacks and scrambled for 163 yards on 62 runs. Solid. But last year was a new Mayfield. He ran for 378 yards on just 60 scrambles in 17 games. That was 10th-best among quarterbacks.
Former Bucs QB Josh Freeman ran for 364 yards in 2010 in 16 games. Interestingly, that total actually ranked second in the NFL that season for quarterbacks. Times sure have changed when it comes to running QBs.
So the NFL produced a video featuring the top-100 runs of the 2024 season. And guess who had three of them? Yep, Mayfield.
That’s an eye-opener considering Mayfield was competing against every team’s running back, plus wide receiver runs and the legendary running QBs like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.
Bucky Irving showed up a few times, too. So the Bucs had a good showing.
For those who want to watch, it’s linked here. For the Ben Bredeson bashers, Joe will note there’s a good chance Mayfield wouldn’t have taken off for two of those three runs if not for heinous pass blocking by the Bucs’ left guard.
