We’re one week removed from the NFL draft, where three first-round quarterbacks were taken in the first four picks. It took until the second round for Kentucky quarterback Will Levis to be selected and until the third-round for Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker to be picked.
Levis and Hooker joined Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson as the consensus top five signal-callers in this year’s class.
Buccaneers advisor and former coach Bruce Arians doesn’t care about any of those guys. In fact, he believes that his new free agent quarterback Baker Mayfield was a better prospect than any of the QBs in the 2023 class.
“I can say out of these four [top quarterbacks], I had Baker rated higher,” Arians said at his Arians Family Foundation gala, according to PewterReport.com. “That’s an honest opinion—coming out of Oklahoma. … That’s not chopped liver. He had a tough time playing hurt and things didn’t work in Cleveland. That happens to a lot of guys. Timmy Couch was no bust. Timmy Couch got broken the hell up in Cleveland. I coached him. Helluva player.”
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So what is it that Arians saw in Mayfield that may allow him to become Tom Brady’s replacement at the position moving forward?
“Moxie,” Arians said. “When I was with CBS I was fortunate enough to do three of his games. Sitting down with him, watching him on Friday practices … because they used to have a lot of two-minute drills in Cleveland and the D got after their ass on Friday. I said ‘I love this kid.’”
Mayfield used a strong late-season stint with the Rams to land a new opportunity with the Bucs in free agency.
Over his five-year career, Mayfield has completed 61.4% of his passes for 16,288 yards and 102 touchdowns to 64 interceptions. Last season with the Rams, he played five games and completed 63.6% of his throws for 850 yards and four touchdowns to two interceptions. He got the opportunity with the Rams after things didn’t pan out for him in Carolina in a revolving door situation with the Panthers.
Now in Tampa Bay, Mayfield will take on Kyle Trask for the QB1 job and has the opportunity to get his career back on track.
