Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield Not Changing Running Ways In 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 9:39 PM ET

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield had himself the best season of his NFL career in 2024, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, but there was one element of his game that stood out the most.

His ability to run.

And we aren't just talking about scrambling; we are talking about picking up big gains when his team needed him to make something happen. He had 11 games with 20+ rushing yards en route to 401 yards (including playoffs), a career-high by over 200 yards.

But Mayfield did take his fair share of punishment that could have been avoided, and with his coaches wanting him to stay out of harm's way, Baker isn't about to change how he rolls on the field.

"Coaches like to talk at this time of the year, they sit around and watch tape,” Mayfield said with a cheeky grin at minicamp. “I’m trying to win games. It's football, there's a time and place, third downs, got to have it situations where I'm going to try and do everything I can to get the first down. But there's also a time and place to throw the ball away."

Baker is alluding to his career-high 16 interceptions last year, which isn't ideal, so he knows he must clean up that element of his game under new coordinator Josh Grizzard.

But Mayfield's ability as a runner gave the Buccaneers' offense a different thread to pull during games, and although they were not often designed runs, the threat of Baker taking off is now real.

Granted, in an ideal world, he would leave that to Bucky Irving and Rachaad White, but when it's gut-check time, Mayfield stepped up often last season and took a beating because of it.

But make no mistake, he isn't about to change how he plays. He will be all gas, no brakes, to make sure his team wins, and if that means running through two on-rushing linebackers, then so be it.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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