Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield revealed on Netflix's Quarterback documentary that he sprained his MCL and PCL in Week 2 last year. Mayfield didn't miss any time with those injuries and didn't appear on the injury report with a knee until Week 5. He also dealt with a right biceps injury early last season and sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder near halftime of Week 12. He missed the second half of that game but returned the following week.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact
Most NFL players deal with injuries over a season, but Mayfield's 2025 list looks worse than usual and likely impacted his production, even if it's tough to know by how much. He was excellent through Week 6 last year before tailing off the rest of the way.
Mayfield was excellent through Week 6 last year but tailed off the rest of the way.
| Weeks 1-6 | Weeks 7-18 | |
| Completion Rate | 66.2% | 61.5% |
| Adjusted Completion Rate | 74.1% | 70.6% |
| Yards Per Attempt | 7.9 | 6.2 |
| Pro Football Focus Grade | 76.5 | 56.2 |
| Fantasy Points Per Game | 20.7 | 14.6 |
Mayfield is a good bet to have a healthier 2026, giving him some bounce-back appeal in fantasy drafts. Just don't expect him to return to 2024 levels of production.
That QB3 finish in points per game looks like an outlier compared to his QB21 and QB19 finishes in 2023 and 2025, respectively. Mayfield also had WR Mike Evans for all three of those seasons. He's gone now.
We're ultimately treating Mayfield as a QB2 who could deliver QB1 weeks in plus matchups. His QB18 ADP looks fair.
Other Winners & Losers
A healthier, more efficient Mayfield would be especially good news for WR Emeka Egbuka. He got off to a flying start as a rookie, ranking third among WRs in PPR points per game through Week 5. But injuries to both Egbuka and Mayfield dropped him to WR57 the rest of the way.
Egbuka -- along with WRs Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan -- are fine draft targets at their current prices.
