Baker Mayfield is a lot of things. He’s a former Heisman Trophy winner, a top overall pick, a two-time Pro Bowler, and … a sharp fantasy football analyst?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shared a clip where their 31-year-old signal-caller was offering advice to the younger generation, and he didn’t disappoint as he touched on everything from fantasy roster construction to hygiene, fashion choices to height controversies.
“Don’t draft a QB in the first round. That’s why your fantasy team isn’t doing well. You’ve got to go RB or WR in the first round,” Mayfield hilariously told one young fan.
Baker Mayfield’s Fantasy Football Advice for the Younger Generation
Old school football fans rooted for laundry, but as the years have passed, rooting for clothing is out and pulling for player performance is preferred. With that understood, it shouldn’t be surprising that Mayfield was blamed for a failing fantasy team at a recent function, and he quickly flipped the script by blaming the manager for how the team was built as opposed to apologizing for a season that saw him throw 15 fewer touchdown passes than he did the year prior.
Baker’s dougie transcends all generations 🤣 pic.twitter.com/kN1rXrolvg
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) June 15, 2026
Mayfield has enough going for him, so we don’t need to get him venturing into these waters on a professional basis, but this is a very reasonable bit of advice coming from a man with unchallenged confidence who, you’d assume, is built in such a way that he’d want to be the first pick in every fantasy draft.
Points are sexy, and that is what drives many newer fantasy managers to drafting QBs early. In 2025, 14 of the top-25 per game scoring players (PPR) were QBs. While that’s an impressive figure, it also details the issue.
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Most leagues range from 8-12 teams, and that means there are far more productive QBs than most leagues have room to start. We will give Mayfield (and the kids in that post) some slack and assume that they aren’t in the weeds of Superflex or two-QB formats. If the supply outweighs the demand, there’s no reason to burn strong draft capital: it’s basic economics.
Josh Allen was a superstar last season, and he was barely a point per game more valuable than Patrick Mahomes in a weird season for the former Super Bowl champion. Go down the board a little and the hairs you’re splitting get even thinner: Mayfield in a down season finished less than two PPG behind Bo Nix as Denver’s QB stepped up in an unexpected way.
The fluidity of the position is one thing, and the depth is another. Running backs and receivers dominate not just the first round, but the first handful of rounds because there are distinct tiers that occur where opportunities to produce fall off a cliff. You could wait until the very last two rounds of your fantasy draft this summer and draft two viable QBs with the hope that one turns into 2025 Jacoby Brissett or Daniel Jones, allowing you to tread water against the truly elite.
That doesn’t happen at the other positions.
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Mayfield was spot on with his analysis, and every fantasy manager should follow. What he failed to address, however, was the fact that more than the process was wrong with the kid in the video. Not picking a QB in Round 1 is sound advice, but not picking an ordinary fantasy producer at the position, IF you are going to buck common practice and go this route, is also recommended.
The Bucs are a team full of moving pieces right now, and asking them to put up elite numbers is something you shouldn’t be doing. Right now, I have Mayfield ranked as my QB16 for the upcoming season, and I’m more likely to move him down than up.
Wait on QB this season (in standard leagues), especially if Mayfield is your target.
