Might Baker Mayfield be poised for a profession comeback in Tampa Bay? If there’s anyone is aware of how one can overcome adversity, it’s former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, who just lately chimed in on Mayfield’s probabilities for a profession resurgence with the Bucs.
For those who don’t know Leaf’s story, he was a former star at Washington State and was chosen second total by the Chargers within the 1998 NFL Draft after Peyton Manning went first total to the Colts. With plenty of promise and expectations, Leaf had a really poor angle and by no means lived as much as the hype, flaming out of the league after 5 seasons.
Sadly, Leaf developed a foul drug dependancy that finally noticed him get jail time for housebreaking and was additionally despatched to rehab on a separate event. Fortunately this story has a cheerful ending as Leaf was capable of flip his life round and get sober. Leaf now could be a program ambassador for transcend restoration communities in New York and Los Angeles, speaks to many NFL gamers about his historical past and is analyst for school soccer and the NFL.
Ryan Leaf Picks Baker Mayfield For Bucs’ Beginning QB
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ryan Leaf was on NFL Community’s Good Morning Soccer program on Wednesday the place he talked about the entire league, together with the Bucs’ quarterback scenario. Whereas there’s positively not a direct comparability with Leaf coping with his private points to Baker Mayfield bouncing round 4 completely different groups in a 12 months, Leaf does admire how Mayfield has been capable of deal with his personal adversity after getting traded from the Browns to the Panthers, getting lower by Carolina and getting claimed by the Rams for the remainder of the season.
Signing with the Bucs in March meant that Mayfield is on his fourth crew in a single calendar 12 months.
How Mayfield completed with the Rams in an offense that will probably be related with the Bucs leads Leaf to consider that Mayfield must be the Week 1 starter.
“I really like Baker Mayfield,” Leaf stated. “I believe what he did in LA a 12 months in the past – I used to be a bit shocked that he didn’t stick with how nicely he did in Sean McVay’s offense. Liked what he did late within the 12 months. I referred to as the Broncos-Rams Christmas Day bloodbath and I’ve not seen a man in Sean McVay’s offense play that nicely with the bootleg, utilizing the tight finish, happening the sector. He had full management. I like him to be the starter in Tampa Bay and I believe he can do a adequate job to make them a potential playoff contender inside that division.
“I do know they invested in Kyle Trask with the draft. I hope they get the prospect to see what he seems like, however I like Baker Mayfield. I really like how he’s type of overcome the adversity in how the Cleveland Browns and that metropolis and that crew handled him and type of simply threw him out and the way he’s battled again. I actually like how he’s taken care of himself and dealt with his enterprise.”
Profession Parallels Between Ryan Leaf And Baker Mayfield
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph by: Matt Matera/PR
NFL Community’s Sara Walsh requested Ryan Leaf about what it does for Baker Mayfield mentally stepping into understanding that this can be his final probability to succeed as a beginning quarterback, particularly being a former primary total choose that has stress to show himself.
Leaf, who was drafted second and performed for 4 groups in 5 seasons, together with a stint with the Bucs in 2001, can relate to Mayfield’s path to a level.
“Normally while you’re the primary or second total choose you most likely get extra probabilities than you most likely ought to in some situations,” Leaf stated. “I used to be on my fourth crew, he’s now on his fourth crew. My final cease was with Mike Holmgren in Seattle. You begin hear the whispers, you begin to consider what’s your legacy and what have you ever contributed. This should be me? Why am I on my fourth crew in my fifth 12 months?
“It’s very related with Baker Mayfield. He has a ton of confidence and there hasn’t been perhaps the identical sort of dumpster fireplace of a profession that I contributed to a lot extra, so I could have had some other ways I used to be coping with issues in my head. He nonetheless appears very assured and a number of the final occasions he was on the soccer subject he was very profitable, so that may breed confidence for a man that type of lives in that position. I believe he’ll really feel nice, however I’ll say this – you often don’t see first total draft picks be 10, 12, 15-year guys as a backup someplace. We don’t see that extra nowadays.
For the entire section on Good Morning Soccer with Leaf, Walsh, former Buc Gerald McCoy, Jason McCourty and Peter Schrager, take a look at this hyperlink. The section on the Bucs and Mayfield begins at 4:24.