Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield hasn't had the Hall of Fame career that he had hoped for a a Heisman Trophy winner and first overall draft pick in the NFL.
But over the past two seasons, things have looked up. Since arriving in Tampa Bay, he's posted two consecutive career years while playing with one of the top offenses in the league.
But last season, the team dealt with an issue: dropping passes.
NFL.com's Kevin Patra noted that Mayfield was tied for the lead in dropped passes with the Chargers' Justin Herbert.
“The two former first-round picks were each the victim of a host of dropped passes,” Patra noted. “According to Next Gen Stats, Mayfield and Herbert each had 25 passes dropped in 2024 (tied for the most in the NFL). Only one pass behind were Joe Burrow and Aaron Rodgers (24 each), with Jordan Love rounding out the top five at 23 drops."
Mayfield has been a part of some really bad offenses in the past and has learned how to deal with dropped passes.
“This is one of the things I learned early on. The worst thing you can tell a guy is to catch the damn ball,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like he’s trying to drop it. When it comes down to it, you look at, ‘Okay, did he take his eyes off of it? Did he have his hands in the right position?’ You look at the fundamentals of back to the basics of catching the football and where they went wrong on that. Everybody knows they’re trying to catch the ball.”
Mayfield and the Bucs offense will continue to grow in 2025, and players like tight end Cade Otton and receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will have to figure out the drops if Tampa Bay is to advance in the postseason.