Baker Mayfield’s first game of the 2026 season was a mixed bag, and his spot in PFF’s latest quarterback rankings reflects that. PFF ranked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback 18th among the NFL’s 32 starters following Week 1, placing him directly behind C.J. Stroud and ahead of Bo Nix. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford made up the top five.
Mayfield’s placement comes after a season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, where there were positives in his performance, but also several costly mistakes. PFF credited Mayfield with three turnover-worthy plays, tied for the most among quarterbacks in Week 1. That was the biggest issue with his performance, and something PFF pointed to when discussing his tendency,
at times throughout his career, to try to do too much. However, his performance was not entirely negative. Mayfield ranked inside the top five among quarterbacks in both adjusted completion percentage and completion percentage over expectation. Those numbers show that, when he got the ball where it needed to go, he was one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the league during the opening week.
Mayfield has established himself as Tampa Bay’s franchise quarterback over the last few seasons, but Week 1 showed both sides of his game. His willingness to extend plays and push the ball downfield has been a major part of his success with the Buccaneers. There are also times when that aggressiveness can work against him. PFF also notes that its early-season rankings still rely heavily on preseason evaluations because there is not enough regular-season data to make major changes after one game. The rankings will shift more as the sample size grows. For Mayfield, moving higher will likely come down to finding a better balance between the efficiency he showed against Cincinnati and cutting down on the dangerous plays.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: PFF Ranks Baker Mayfield 18th at QB
