Baker Mayfield couldn’t beat Jayden Daniels in the NFC Wild Card Round, but he is replacing the Washington Commanders quarterback in the Pro Bowl.
Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk reported Tuesday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller was named as a Pro Bowl replacement for Daniels after the latter decided to pull out of the event after leading his team to Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
Mayfield will join Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions and Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings as the three quarterbacks representing the NFC.
This marks two Pro Bowl appearances in two years with the Buccaneers for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft. It is a testament to his ability to stabilize his career after inconsistency in Cleveland and bouncing around to the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams that he will be in Orlando, Florida, for the event.
The Oklahoma product led the Buccaneers to the NFC South crown, which marked their second division title with Mayfield under center and fourth straight overall.
He did so by completing 71.4 percent of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. While the interception number was something of a concern as the highest in the league, he also set career-best marks in completion percentage, yards and touchdown throws.
While the Buccaneers fell short in a 23-20 loss to Daniels’ Commanders in the postseason, Mayfield threw for two touchdowns without an interception and looks like the long-term answer for the club.
Mayfield will be part of a Pro Bowl that doesn’t exactly look like the Pro Bowl of old.
Instead, there will be a Pro Bowl Skills Show with events such as a passing competition, dodgeball and a relay race. There is also a 7-on-7 flag football game that is designed to minimize injuries while ensuring there is still an actual game-like competition included.
The Skills Show is Thursday, while the flag football game is Sunday.