Baker Mayfield Somewhat Slow To Bail The Pocket
June 19th, 2026
Calm amid the storm.
Joe believes if Baker Mayfield can get this number down a little, it will go a long way to helping Mayfield stay healthy down the stretch.
Last year Mayfield was bad down the stretch as the Bucs lost seven of nine games and blew a 6-2 start, missing the playoffs.
It was clear Mayfield was hurt. Yet the Bucs thought a banged-up Mayfield was a better option than a healthy Teddy Bridgewater. The gamble blew up in their faces.
(Joe has typed the following many times and will type it many more: If you didn’t trust Bridgewater to give Mayfield a week off to heal, then why the hell was Bridgewater even on the roster?)
Former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians often says, “You put a quarterback in harm’s way, harm will find him.” And that caught up with Mayfield last year.
Still, Joe was surprised by the following number. Only 21 percent of the time when Mayfield went back to pass did he leave the pocket, per the Twitter stathead @fb_insights.
And in Joe’s mind, that was very low when you consider the Bucs’ offensive line was a trainwreck last year with a terrible rash of injuries.
So if Mayfield only left the pocket basically two times for every 10 snaps he dropped back, with a healthy offensive line and maybe a better offensive coordinator, Mayfield might be able to cut that in half, certainly by five percent.
So Joe has to give Mayfield credit. As bad as the interior of his offensive line was, Mayfield didn’t panic.