Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield Better Than San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) are on the West Coast this weekend to square off against the San Francisco 49ers (6-3) with the home team marked down as heavy favorites despite the road team touting the better quarterback.
At least, the Buccaneers have the better quarterback if you ask Nick Wright of FS1’s First Things First.
“In this specific game it’s going to be tough because you have (49ers pass rushers, Chase Young and Joey Bosa),” Wright said about Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield trying to keep up his level of play over the past four games. “(The) last month Baker’s been better with (a) worse supporting cast, under harder circumstances, all those things…The Niners would be a more viable Super Bowl contender with Baker Mayfield and the Bucs would be in the Caleb Williams sweepstakes with Purdy. That I know.”
READ MORE: BucsGameday Week 11 Predictions
Sep 17, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws the ball against the Chicago Bears during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
Wright continues by saying he doesn’t know if the Buccaneers and Mayfield can overcome the deficiencies he sees when comparing the two rosters.
But he then doubles down by saying that San Francisco’s Super Bowl aspirations would be more realistic if Mayfield were leading that team instead of the Bucs.
It’s a bold statement because of the 49ers’ success with Purdy, and because Mayfield is a quarterback who has been traded, released, signed, allowed to seek free-agency opportunities, and then signed by Tampa Bay all in the last 18 months.
And at first blush, the quarterback that has bounced around has to be worse than the one who rose from nowhere to be one of the most efficient players at the position in the last year.
Wright used the last four weeks as his sticking point but when you look at the two side by side from 2022 when Purdy burst onto the scene to now the San Francisco quarterback has led more wins, has a higher completion percentage, better passing averages, more touchdown throws, fewer interceptions, rushing touchdowns, and a 108.9 quarterback rating compared to Mayfield’s 86.
Where Mayfield bests Purdy is in passing yards, by 603 in three more games played, and in rushing stats other than touchdowns.
Wright’s point is unprovable, however, because it disregards all those to say that Purdy is playing better because of the system and cast around him.
Of course, most of these discussions are unprovable, because you’ll never have the same circumstances under which we compare any two athletes side by side.
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But Wright is sure in his stance, and if the Buccaneers have a shot at beating Purdy’s San Francisco squad in Week 11 Mayfield will have to prove him right, at least for one game.
Stick with BucsGameday and the Locked On Bucs podcast for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2023 season.
