Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield accomplishing something incredibly rare this season and here's how he's done it

The former No. 1 overall pick has rebounded to respectable levels of play this season

As a former No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Baker Mayfield is rare in so many ways. 

He was the first walk-on to be selected with the first pick in the draft. At just under 6-foot-1, he was, at the time, the shortest No. 1 overall pick quarterback in NFL history. He had transferred from one Power 5 school to another before Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow did it.

And he's the rare failed No. 1 overall pick passer who didn't quite "bust" with the team that drafted him yet didn't sign a second contract with that club.

This season with the Buccaneers, and most recently in Week 15's convincing win over the Packers in Lambeau, Mayfield's shown those No. 1 overall pick glimpses from his days in Cleveland, when he gave the Browns juice that's evaded them for decades as a record-setting rookie (touchdown passes) and in 2020 en route to a triumphant and sweet playoff win over the Steelers. 

So, like most things with Mayfield, this is not a classic, we've-seen-this-before career rejuvenation. 

It's rare. 

Now, before I really get started, I will note -- Mayfield has not been spectacular for the currently 7-7 Buccaneers in 2023. 

But what's both striking and encouraging for Tampa Bay this season (and beyond?) is that after a borderline disastrous year in 2021, Mayfield's last with the Browns, then dismal stops in Carolina with the Panthers and Los Angeles with the Rams in 2022, he's started to play like the fun young quarterback he was at the outset of his NFL career before injuries and organizational dysfunction in Cleveland accelerated his exit from Ohio. 

It's rare because we normally don't see a rise then a fall then another rise from a quarterback in this league. This is not a Ryan Tannehill or Geno Smith second-act revitalization.

This is Mayfield's third act. Or maybe, technically, his fourth. Usually once the NFL has a quarterback figured out and squashes his productivity and confidence as a passer, close the curtains. Show's over. 

And Mayfield did have a lean stretch from Week 3 through Week 7, when he averaged a pedestrian 6.41 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and four interceptions. The Buccaneers went 1-3 in that span and lost consecutive games after that when Mayfield started his rebound. 

Since Week 7, Mayfield has 16 touchdowns to four picks, with a respectable 7.45 yards-per-attempt average. He had two contests with a completion percentage under 50%, which served as a reminder of his shortcomings, but otherwise, the Mayfield Bucs have played quality football, winning three of five to even their record and sit atop the lowly NFC South entering Week 16. 

How has Mayfield done it? First off, he's improved his sack-evading ability, nothing thwarts a drive like a sack, outside of a turnover of course.

On the season Mayfield's 3.8% big-time throw rate only slightly eclipses his turnover-worthy play rate of 3.0%, but his pressure-to-sack percentage has returned to Good Baker in Cleveland levels. Just 17.7% of the time Mayfield's been pressured this season he's been sacked, drastically better than his 30.8% pressure-to-sack percentage on the Panthers and Rams last season and the 29.1% rate in 2021 with the Browns.

He's getting the ball out quickly, and a decisive, pocket-passing Mayfield is the best Mayfield. 

Running back Rachaad White's been integral to the sack-avoidant endeavor. He's caught 50 of 55 targets in 2023 and has a robust 9.4 yards-per-reception average, which ranks seventh among all qualifying backs. On those catches, White has forced 18 missed tackles (!), more than the likes of Joe Mixon, James Cook, and Alvin Kamara in those situations. 

And Mayfield's astutely leaned on his two star receivers -- Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, a formidable duo on the perimeter that's been overlooked in the post Tom Brady era yet has been given new life with Mayfield slinging the football this season. Believe it or not, Evans is currently averaging the highest yards per route run (YPRR) in his NFL career (2.46), a hefty number. Incredible, right? 

Godwin is on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the third-straight season. 

The Buccaneers are flawed. The defense is as vulnerable now as it's been in years. But their former No. 1 overall pick quarterback is gaining that confidence and passing assertiveness he demonstrated throughout his legendary career at Oklahoma that made him a beloved prospect in the 2018 draft.

Rediscovering those things in Year 6, on Team No. 4, almost never happens. 

But "almost never happens" has defined Mayfield's career arc as a football player, so achieving rare feats is where he feels most comfortable, and since late October, he's been right at home in Tampa Bay.