Don’t tell Buccaneers’ quarterback Baker Mayfield the odds, he doesn’t want to hear them. While speaking with the media after Tuesday’s practice, Mayfield was asked about the team’s odd according to ESPN’s latest post.
“I played in this division last year and pretty sure the Bucs won it still. I don’t really care what the people in Vegas are putting odds on because it’s May. We haven’t played real tackle football. We’ve got a long way to go. It’s just the time of year where everybody springs forward. … It makes it fun. We haven’t played real, tackle football. It seems like a no BS squad that’s all about winning.”
The post Mayfield was responding to by ESPN has the Buccaneers ranked No. 30 in their NFL power index. This narrative about the Pewter Pirates in 2023 isn’t new, but does seem to dismiss all of the talent on this roster. I get it, no Tom Brady means the walls are crumbling and all hope is lost.
But how can a roster littered with so many high level veterans continue to be overlooked by the “expert” analysts? Pretty simple, the analyst tend to focus on the shiny objects, like a Tom Brady. They tend to see a player like Brady leave then just mail-in the analysis. It’s typical, and lazy. But we are talking about ESPN.
The Buccaneers became the sixth team in league history to win the division with a losing record in 2022. That team is largely back aside from Brady and has added quality depth through free agency and the draft. So ESPN seems to be basing this solely on the quarterback position. That’s fair to an extent, but to say there’s only two teams worse than the Bucs is a bit of a stretch.
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