NFC Notes: Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Bucs GM Jason Licht is excited about the team’s quarterback competition and added that both QB Baker Mayfield and QB Kyle Trask have a shot at earning the starting role.

“People can have in their head, ‘Well, it seems like it’s for sure going to be this person or it’s not going to be this person,’ but until we’re out there, anything can happen,” Licht said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “It’s going to be a lot of fun just to really focus on how this is going to play out.”

Licht added that Trask has been successful outside the pocket dating back to his collegiate days and credited OC Dave Canales for helping to design plays that capitalize on his strengths.

“We started seeing that in training camp [his first year], how he was starting to thin out and look more athletic and quicker than we saw him coming out of Florida,” Licht explained. “I think that’s something that Kyle has done on his own, but it certainly does help him with the system. His footwork, his arm strength has improved, his accuracy, he’s making quicker decisions — Dave [Canales] has done a great job with [quarterbacks coach] Thad [Lewis] on getting him to make quicker decisions and throw quicker.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles explained that both Mayfield and Trask have shown leadership qualities, even if they have different ways of going about it.

“Kyle has this inner confidence, and Baker has a more ‘wear it on your sleeve’ confidence type of thing. Both get it done effectively,” Bowles said. “Kyle is very vocal when he needs to be. He comes across as quiet, but he’s very loud on the field, he’s very confident in what he’s doing, and we like the way he leads it and we like the way Baker leads.”

Panthers

Panthers TE Hayden Hurst feels like he’s in the best shape of his life heading into training camp and is looking forward to being an integral part of the offense.

“I love it,” Hurst said, via Panthers Wire. “This is the opportunity that I’ve always asked for. I prepare this offseason like the ball’s gonna come my way a lot. I’m in the best shape of my life. We’re just gonna take it a day at a time, try to get through camp and then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it when the season comes.”

There are high expectations for Hurst to produce in HC Frank Reich‘s offense that has historically featured the tight end position.

“You see Frank’s track record with tight ends—with Ertzy [Zach Ertz], Antonio Gates, what [Eric] Ebron did with him in Indy,” he explained. “There’s a lot of emphasis put on that position. It’s a good group of guys we have in our room, so I think it’s gonna be a really, really fun year. A lot of expectations, obviously. But we love that in our room.”

Saints

Saints HC Dennis Allen mentioned that the battle at cornerback between Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo is something they’ll be paying close attention to this summer. 

“Somebody’s got to step up and win the job. So I’m excited about watching those guys compete. I think we’ve got several guys — you want to talk about that position specifically, I think we’ve got several guys who have the ability to be starting corners in the National Football League,” Allen said, via SaintsWire.com.