Former Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has a simple formula when he’s melting into his couch on Sundays and is scrolling through his YouTubeTV menu looking for a game to watch.
If the Bucs are playing he puts his remote down. Because for Fitz, it’s Baker Mayfield time.
Fitz, appearing on the Ross Tucker Podcast, said he likes watching Mayfield for a variety of reasons. One is, Mayfield is fun to watch. Beyond that, Fitz said he knows that Mayfield is playing to win. Fitz isn’t convinced winning for several starting quarterbacks is all that important so long as their numbers look good.
“For me, Baker Mayfield is must-see TV,” Fitz began. “Like I have four or five quarterbacks I need to see every weekend. Baker is definitely one of them I’m tuning into.
“I love the way he plays the game. Some of these young guys that are coming in now, it almost seems like winning isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is making sure the stat sheet looks OK.
“Baker, on every single play, is trying to win a football game.”
Fitz, now an NFL analyst for Amazon, lauded Mayfield for not getting gunshy. Fitz cited after three picks in the second quarter last week, Mayfield “doesn’t stop slinging that thing.” For those who don’t think Mayfield is focused on winning, Fitz noted how Mayfield was 30 yards downfield throwing a block on a run in New Orleans.
Fitz makes a great point. The guys that want to win, they wear their passion on their sleeves. There’s no tanking of plays or half-arsed efforts and that shows.
Fitz, who Joe thinks played for half the teams in the league before he retired, said there are four or five quarterbacks who are elite who can play anywhere at any time and succeed. Then, there are maybe 10-12 quarterbacks that he said need just the right system and just the right scheme and just the right “infrastructure” to win.
Fitz said Sam Darnold and Mayfield are two of those quarterbacks. Both seem to have found their sweet spots.
