QB Baker Mayfield ‘Extremely Confident’ in Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ground Game

QB Baker Mayfield ‘Extremely Confident’ in Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ground Game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense has been very good on third downs in 2023. In Baker Mayfield’s first season as the team’s starting quarterback, the Buccaneers’ passing attack ranked ninth in passing percentage (43.7%), seventh in total Expected Points Added, or EPA (17.7) and 10th in passer rating (97.7). That allowed the offense to succeed in most games despite ranking much lower in those categories on first down, but that’s a tough kind of success to maintain.

Mayfield and the Buccaneers will look to take the offense to the next level in 2024, and that’s entirely possible if it can perform better on first downs. And the key to doing that That runs the ball better. Tampa Bay’s passing numbers on first downs were slightly lower than on third downs – counterintuitively – but its rushing numbers on first downs were last in the league in both success rate (24.2%) and yards per carry (3.2) and 28th in total EPA (-47.7).

New Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen made it his top priority to get the Bucs’ ground game going again after two straight 32nd-place finishes in the league, and the preseason results have been encouraging. Coen has been able to expand the scope of the types of running plays the Bucs are willing to employ, while also giving Mayfield more strength in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage to get more favorable looks. Additionally, the Buccaneers believe they’ve bolstered their interior offensive line significantly, starting with the use of a first-round draft pick on center Graham Barton. Veteran addition Ben Bredeson is the new starter at left guard, and second-year player Cody Mauch, at right guard, used the offseason to add some needed size and strength.

Mayfield led just one drive during the preseason, a 70-yard touchdown march against Miami that featured Rachaad White running for four, five, three and four yards. Because that three-yard run came on third-and-1, it meant White had a 100 percent success rate on the drive. Mayfield had a front-row seat the rest of the preseason and has seen how the run game works in practice, and he believes it shall will have improved considerably by 2024.

“I’m extremely confident — extremely confident in the guys that we have, but obviously the new schemes (and the new things that they’ve brought in), just the new things that they’ve brought in,” he said. “I think Coach (Kevin) Carberry has done a great job of laying out all that work for them, and Brian Picucci in that room is hoping those guys come out of it as well. And then Liam just brings that focus. He demands excellence on the court and everything that the backs do. He’s extremely critical of their footwork and things like that, but that’s what it takes to be a great running team. So it’s good to see that not only does it carry over to the first group when we’re out there, but the second and third group really translate it from the practice field to the game field. So for us, there’s a lot of confidence and I expect that, and I know the guys have that as well.”

Mayfield set career highs in his first season with the Bucs with 4,044 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes. Not only do the Bucs have all of their star pass-catchers back from last season, but they also added wide receivers Jalen McMillan and Kam Johnson during and immediately after the draft, and both have been very impressive in training camp. If they can contribute alongside Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Cade Otton, and if the interior offensive line is truly significantly better, there’s no reason to expect a dip in the Bucs’ passing performance. There could be reason to expect it, though improvement whether the ground game is actually more efficient and effective.

“Anytime the ground game works, it usually means you have guys running open,” Mayfield said. “(It’s) freer in the play-action because the safeties or somebody else is going to bite on the play-action fake if we’re being more efficient on early downs. But with the guys we have, I expect us to be efficient no matter what our ground game looks like. We have three studs (at receiver) that we expect to go out there and start, and then the guys that come in, there’s not really a drop-off. So I expect us to be extremely efficient as an entire offense.”