Former Top Draft Pick Ryan Leaf Projects Tampa Bay's Starting Quarterback In 2023
Tampa Bay enters the summer with three players competing for the starting quarterback job - former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, developing third-year player Kyle Trask, and veteran John Wolford. The most experienced and proven option of the trio, Mayfield has the upper-hand with the team kicking off OTAs this week.
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It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Buccaneers give him the first chance to replace Tom Brady in pewter and red. While offering his opinion on the next move for the franchise during an appearance on Good Morning Football, former top draft pick and NFL analyst, Ryan Leaf, echoed those sentiments.
After watching how Mayfield performed during his stint with the Los Angeles Rams, Leaf believes that he has the potential to guide Tampa Bay to the postseason.
"I'm all in, for the amount of time you guys have spent with me, I love Baker Mayfield," Leaf said. "I think what he did in LA a year ago, I was a bit surprised he didn't stay necessarily with how well he did in Sean McVay's offense because we don't know where Matthew Stafford is. We hope he's healthy and he can be the guy but he just wasn't able to play last year."
"I loved what he did late in the year, I called the Broncos-Ram game Christmas massacre and I have not seen a guy in Sean McVay's offense play that well. The bootleg, using the tight end, going down the field, he had complete control. I like him to be the starter in Tampa Bay and I think he can do a good enough job to make them a possible playoff contender within that division," Leaf continued. "I know they invested in Kyle Trask with the draft. I hope they get the chance to see what he looks like but I like Baker Mayfield. I love how he's kind of overcome the adversity and how the Cleveland Browns and that city and that team treated him and kind of just threw him out and how he's battled back. I really like how he's taken care of himself and handled his business."
Mayfield completed 60% of his passes for 2,163 yards with ten touchdown passes to eight interceptions in 2022 while suiting up for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns. His numbers were better in Los Angeles where he connected on 63.6% of his throws with a two-to-one turnover ration (4 TDs-2 INTs).
The former Oklahoma star has appeared in 72 games, with 69 starts, and completed 1,386/2,259 passes for 16,288 passing yards with 102 touchdowns to 64 interceptions in his first five years at the professional level.
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