
Can Baker Mayfield bounce back and provide us with the fantasy fireworks we got all too used to from seasons prior? Ian Hartitz breaks it down.

After providing fantasy football players with fireworks in 2024 with the Bucs, Baker Mayfield took a massive step backwards after starting out hot last season, leaving fantasy managers wondering what to do with him in 2026. Ian Hartitz breaks down Mayfield's fantasy outlook as part of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers fantasy football team preview.
Let's take a quick trip down memory lane and remember Baker Mayfield's last five NFL seasons:
In fact, that latter shoulder injury wasn't the only thing Mayfield was dealing with down the stretch of 2025. The full list is actually quite insane.
While we probably can't simply hone in on Mayfield's success in Weeks 1-6 and assume that was going to be the case for the rest of the season, it's clear that Baker—along with MANY of the offense's other key contributors—was operating at less than 100% for most of the second half of the season. This at least adds some credibility to the idea that we could see a bounce-back to 2024 form in fantasy land.
Mayfield fantasy points per game by season:
You know whose three-year fantasy stretch looks very similar to that? Joe Burrow! Look for yourself. Of course, Burrow's 2023 and 2025 seasons were impacted by injuries … but again: The same is true for Mayfield last year, yet nobody seems to be overly factoring that in considering the man is currently going off the board as the QB20 (pick 116) in early ADP.
Look, other guys in that range like Jordan Love and Sam Darnold have also flashed a ceiling in one of the last three years. Mayfield doesn't necessarily deserve to be sky-rocketed up the ranks, but the reality that we can get upside options like this late has me more willing than ever to play the late-round QB game in 2025. Sure, straight up, I prefer guys like Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, but the opportunity cost of taking them involves missing out on the last solid tier of WR4 options and high-end handcuffs. This looks like a GOOD year to stay patient and attack these qualified mid-tier QB2s.



