Bad News Baker Mayfield
November 22nd, 2025
So two respected NFL analysts had a discussion this week about how poorly Baker Mayfield has played for much of the 2025 season.
Yeah, you read that correctly.
Gregg Rosenthal, the longtime NFL.com analyst and current host of the NFL Dailypodcast, on which Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht appeared this year, has access to all kinds of NFL data.
Stuck in Rosenthal’s craw are numbers that say Mayfield is struggling.
“He’s 31st in success rate this year when having a clean pocket. That’s crazy. Like the only people behind him are Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward and J.J. McCarthy.” Rosenthal told his guest, Ollie Connelly, whose resume says he spent years scouting NFL and college players.
Rosenthal says Mayfield either isn’t seeing the field well or is unwilling to take positive plays available to him consistently.
Connelly thinks MVP chatter got Mayfield and says he’s been leaving the pocket too soon despite open targets.
Connelly added that Mayfield’s early-season, late-game heroics bailed him out of routinely playing poorly for 20-plus snaps per game. He cited Mayfield declining numbers against the blitz this season, versus past years, and how too often is not seeing open targets.
Inconsistency within games is a thing for Mayfield, Connelly said. “You don’t know what you’re getting drive-to-drive with Baker.”
These kind of talk in Tampa feels like heresy. Is it legit? Joe hopes Mayfield heard it and found an extra shot of motivation as he’s been known to do.