All athletes place high expectations on themselves, but there is no greater amount of pressure than on a No. 1 overall pick in the NFL. Baker Mayfield, the top pick of the 2018 draft class, knows this all too well.
The football community watched Mayfield dominate the landscape with the Oklahoma Sooners in college, but there was great concern over the 6-foot-1 quarterback’s smallish stature as he transitioned to the pros.
Now after five seasons of play, the jury is still out on Mayfield, who has started for three different teams just in the past two years. Chances are, he’ll start for a fourth team this fall as he makes his debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Former NFL GM Rick Spielman recently had a chance to speak with the 28-year-old former first overall pick, discussing expectations ahead of a crucial season in Mayfield’s football career. Here are some of Spielman’s main takeaways from the chat.
“He’s looking for a place where he can hopefully play well and finish out his career and play to the level of expectations that were placed on him when he was the No. 1 overall pick. He’s very confident, not arrogant, but he also understands… that he’s really out to prove that he’s the Baker Mayfield that was a first overall pick a few years back.”
Former NFL GM Rick Spielman on Baker Mayfield
Mayfield burst onto the scene as a rookie, passing for 27 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. He hasn’t matched or exceeded his passing touchdown total since. While he had an even better TD: INT ratio in 2020 (26:8), Mayfield wasn’t able to carry the success into his fourth season.
Now getting a fresh start in Tampa Bay, it’s clear Mayfield has no designs of picking up and moving yet again any time soon. We’ll see if it works out with the Buccaneers.
Related: Where does Baker Mayfield rank among all NFL starting QBs?