Bruce Arians says Baker Mayfield was a better prospect than Bryce Young, 2023 QB class

If we threw out their age, imagine having Baker Mayfield, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, and Anthony Richardson all enter the 2023 NFL Draft. Who would NFL teams pick first? Would Young still be the top quarterback prospect who the Carolina Panthers select No. 1 overall?

Obviously, it’s an odd question since Mayfield is actually 28 years old and was the No. 1 overall pick five years ago now. Mayfield was traded from the original team that drafted him when the Cleveland Browns dealt him to the Carolina Panthers in 2022, only to later be released, joining the Los Angeles Rams.

Now, Mayfield has joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he’s likely to enter the 2023 season as the starting QB, ahead of third-year pro and former 64th overall pick Kyle Trask. Some might say the Buccaneers should have been a team looking to add a top prospect at the position in the NFL Draft, but Bruce Arians, who is still operating as a special advisor to Bucs GM Jason Licht, doesn’t believe so.

Instead, Arians suggests Mayfield was actually a better prospect coming out of Oklahoma in 2018 than each of the QBs in the 2023 rookie class.

“I can honestly say out of these four, I had Baker rated higher. That’s an honest opinion – coming out [of Oklahoma]. 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.”
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on comparing Baker Mayfield to 2023 QB class

OK then. While Mayfield might have been highly regarded back in 2018, where does he stand now? Why didn’t he become the player Arians thought he could be? Or did Arians perhaps miscategorize the 6-foot-1 QB, to begin with?

Either way, these quotes feel strange. Is Arians just throwing support behind one of the Buccaneers’ players? Does he not think very highly of the incoming rookie class? Or did he just have a really strong perception of Mayfield?

You can already guess how the Panthers view things. Carolina already tried Mayfield for a cup of coffee last season. It didn’t work. Their solution? Trade a bounty for the chance to draft Bryce Young. Making matters even more interesting is the fact that Young and Mayfield are both in the NFC South, meaning Arians will get a strong look at the perceived top prospect, giving him a chance to review his work.

While it’s true that Mayfield may still have some untapped potential, he’s running out of chances to begin the year as the starter. Perhaps his narrative can change with a strong season in Tampa Bay, targeting Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, among others. Arians, a Super Bowl-winning head coach, certainly seems to think so