Has Baker Mayfield Started A New NFL Trend?

Baker Mayfield was once looked at as failed number one overall pick. But Mayfield was given a couple of more changes until he finally figured it out. Now he’s on the precipice of being a franchise quarterback that can continue the longest running playoff streak in the NFC.

Rich Eisen, who is on the NFL Network and the host of his own daily show, The Rich Eisen Show, had an interesting thought about the path of Baker Mayfield’s career. Eisen was talking about a bigger picture on his show in terms of teams being open to finding their next quarterback in the draft while already having their current “franchise” quarterback on the roster the same way they do it with running backs and other positions with an early replacement.

But then Eisen pivoted to another system that other teams have gone about as of lately. The system in which you take a player, or quarterback for this instance, that hasn’t worked out yet but still has potential in their career to give them another chance. That’s exactly what Tampa Bay did with Baker Mayfield and it paid off extremely well.

Baker Mayfield Got Another Chance

“Baker Mayfield has now come back around,” Eisen said. “The Bucs have now paid him. He performed better than the guy who got the market deal in Daniel Jones.”

Mayfield might not have been the originator of this since Geno Smith pulled this off the year before, but there are a few differences. In the case of Mayfield, he had opportunities to play with the Panthers and Rams before landing with the Bucs, but was also viewed under a microscope because he was the first overall pick. Smith was as second round pick, and after the experiment didn’t work out with the Jets, he sat for six years before getting the chance to start again, giving him time to develop and understand the game even more.

“Albert (Breer) spoke to a coach in Seattle who said ‘Having coached Geno, I’m wondering how many more Geno’s are out there?’ Eisen said. “Sat for years and still is talented. Now look at him. Now Baker didn’t sit for years, he just played for a couple other teams for two or three years.”

Though Smith was the first to accomplish this, Mayfield took it to new levels, got the Bucs further and gained more publicity over it. There’s another quarterback from Mayfield’s draft class that might be trying to follow in Mayfield’s footsteps. Sam Darnold is in a much similar situation to Mayfield if the Vikings don’t draft a quarterback this year.

“Sam Darnold, couple other teams for two or three years,” Eisen said. “Now he’s in the opportunity to be in the Mayfield position if the Vikings use him all year long. He was drafted two picks after Baker.”

Eisen also mentioned the 2021 quarterback class as another example of players that could go a similar path to Baker Mayfield. The first round picks in that class were Trevor Lawrence (1), Zach Wilson (2), Trey Lance (3), Justin Fields (11) and Mac Jones (15). In an honorable mention, Kyle Trask went to the Bucs in the second round with the 64th overall pick.

Which QB Is Next To Follow In Baker Mayfield’s Footsteps?

With the exception of Lawrence, none of these other picks have worked out. Wilson had a disastrous time with the Jets and will either be traded or relegated to third string soon. Lance couldn’t make it as the starter for the 49ers, who went with Brock Purdy over him and traded Lance to the Cowboys.

Fields run with the Bears is over as Chicago opted to trade him to Pittsburgh and likely go with Caleb Williams as their new quarterback. Jones made the postseason as a rookie with the Patriots, but severely regressed and was traded to the Jaguars to back up Lawrence.

All of these players are examples that maybe one of them could end up like Mayfield one day where many gave up on them until they proved otherwise. Fields likely has the best shot at it at the moment with just Russell Wilson ahead of him for the Steelers, but you never know how it can play out.

There hasn’t been a name for this scenario yet, but the “Mayfield Model” has a nice ring to it. Check out the whole segment with Eisen from his show.