BakerMayfield

News: 3 days agoMayfield completed 25 of 38 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while adding three carries for 33 yards in the Buccaneers' 20-19 win over the Texans on Monday night. He also committed a fumble recovered by Tampa Bay.

Spin: Mayfield was in danger of a second straight sub-200-yard performance to open the season, but the veteran signal-caller came alive on Tampa Bay's game-winning drive. He took the Bucs a total of 80 yards on 11 plays in just over two minutes, completing seven of nine passes while adding a 15-yard scramble before Rachaad White capped off the march with a two-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Mayfield also connected with Emeka Egbuka on a 15-yard scoring pass for the rookie's third touchdown over the first two games. Despite completing just 60.0 percent of his passes through the first pair of contests, Mayfield also will take a sparkling 5:0 TD:INT into a Week 3 home matchup against the Jets on Sunday afternoon.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Mayfield may have enjoyed his career renaissance in 2023, but he had his fantasy breakout in 2024. After finishing 18th or worse in fantasy PPG during each of his first six NFL seasons, Mayfield leapt to fourth in 2024. He finished no lower than fifth in pass attempts, completions, yards and TDs, while also easily posting a career high in rush yards. Mayfield completed 71% of his passes (third best) despite missing Chris Godwin and Mike Evans for chunks of the season, and he may be in even better shape in 2025 with Evans back, Godwin hopefully healthy and youngsters Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan also in the mix. Mayfield benefits from a Bucs offense that has scored a league-high 76.6% of its TDs through the air since Todd Bowles became head coach in 2022. With consecutive seasons of good play under his belt, the 30-year-old is well positioned for another solid QB1 fantasy campaign.