Seven sacks are a lot. Like, a lot, a lot.

The Bucs gave up seven sacks on Sunday. Naturally, that means the offensive line was abysmal, right?

Well…about that.

Let’s just start with the basics.

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was pressured on 18 of his 40 drop backs on Sunday according to NFL Pro. That was second in the NFL for the week and tied for fifth-most for any quarterback in a single game this season. The seven sacks were actually third most in Week 3, trailing Deshaun Watson of the Browns and Will Levis of the Titans, who were both sacked eight times.

The Bucs offensive line is not a Top 5 unit that gives Mayfield clean pocket after clean pocket. I am not asserting that. But not all pressure is offensive line created. Here is an example from Sunday’s game in the form of the first pressure of the game.

1/2 1st pressure of the game. This isn’t on the OL. Not clean off the snap as Barton allows DJ Jones to cross his face quickly, but Bredeson is there to help and eventually Barton walls him off after Bredeson falls. pic.twitter.com/Ga0JrKSJkU

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 23, 2024

So, how did the Bucs allow seven sacks in week three? How much was on the line itself? Do the Bucs need to worry? Should anyone be replaced?

Line Pressures By Player

By my own tally for week three I have guards Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch allowing five pressures each. Right tackle Justin Skule allowed four pressures. Center Graham Barton allowed three by my count with left tackle Tristan Wirfs giving up two. I also charted each of the interior offensive linemen giving up at least one sack with Mauch allowing two.

Looking for some verification I cross-referenced my charting with Pro Football Focus’ evaluation of the game. They appeared to be more generous to the line than I was, charting Bredeson and Barton with three pressures each and the rest of the line with two pressures each. Interestingly, they only assigned one sack to the line overall, with Cody Mauch levied the blame.

How can a team surrender seven sacks, but the offensive line be credited with just one allowed?

Baker Mayfield Is Creating Some Of His Own Problems

First off, let’s acknowledge that two things can be true at the same time. This is by no means an abdication of responsibility of the line. They can be better, and they need to be better. Getting starting right tackle Luke Goedeke back will help. Justin Skule had a bad game in week two, but was much improved, with plenty of help, in week three. Still Goedeke is a far superior player and will require less assistance from backs and tight ends. That will help pass concepts develop more quickly with additional answers for Mayfield.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield- Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With all of that said, Mayfield is creating some of his own pressure and trying to exist too far outside his primary skillset. A way to understand that is looking at pressure to sack ratios. Many quarterbacks face similar levels of pressure, but there can be disproportionate numbers of sacks taken due to how each quarterback handles and reacts to that pressure.

Pressure #2 and sack #1. Not on OL.

Clean pocket off of PA at the top of Baker’s drop. Nike runs into 3(!) defenders. Baker opts to bail clean pocket instead of move through progression. Goes for a sack of 0 yards. https://t.co/kDF9e8eShP pic.twitter.com/EM19Det7XR

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 23, 2024

Looking to PFF’s measure of pressures and sacks, the Bucs quarterback currently ranks tied for 14th overall in pressures season-to-date, with 36. But he is tied for third overall in sacks taken at 13. His sack-to-pressure ratio is 36.1% and dead last among qualified passers in the NFL. And this isn’t a new phenomenon for Mayfield. Dating back to his rookie season he has consistently ranked poorly in this metric year-over-year.

• 2018 – 16.2% – 11th of 29 qualified passers
• 2019 – 20.2% – 20th of 28 qualified passers
• 2020 – 17.4% – 14th of 26 qualified passers
• 2021 – 29.1% – 27th of 27 qualified passers
• 2022 – 30.8% – 41st of 41 qualified passers*
• 2023 – 19.4% – 19th of 24 qualified passers

*2022 Mayfield did not qualify at the 50% of top passer in NFL drop backs. I reduced the threshold to 20%.

To give a real-world comparison. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels have also been pressured on 36 of their drop backs this year as well. Daniels has been sacked nine times while Cousins has been sacked five times.  Mayfield exists between the two other passers in mobility showing that it is not a strong correlator with avoiding sacks. Yes, Mayfield has escaped some likely sacks, but he has overwhelmingly caused more than he has prevented; especially in week three.

There is good news here. Mayfield will not continue to take sacks at this rate. At almost 3,500 drop backs it is safe to say his career average of 22% is probably a good estimate for what to expect going forward. It would put him 17th on this year’s list. And if he was at this rate his sacks taken this year would be eight instead of the concerning 13 he currently stands at.

When the play breaks down via good coverage and or disruption pressure, how often does a QB take a sack and how often does a QB create (accurate pass to an open window or a scramble for positive EPA) pic.twitter.com/KLL6sd2HPH

— Jrfortgang (@throwthedamball) September 24, 2024

About That Two Things Can Be True Statement…

Understanding that the quarterback plays a major role in his sack rate, it is important to acknowledge the line play. I detailed the Aidan Hutchinson performance against Justin Skule. Skule couldn’t handle Hutchinson, but one of the sacks allowed was actually on Cody Mauch and offensive coordinator Liam Coen acknowledged that he played a role in Skule’s bad day at the office through gameplan errors that did not give Skule the help necessary for him to be successful.

In Week 3 Skule did not allow a single sack as Coen schemed additional resources to his side with chips, block releases and double teams.

The larger issues go-forward stem from the interior offensive line. All three of the Bucs interior linemen struggle in two key areas.

1. Picking up loops/stunts/games.
2. Allowing defenders to cross their face.

There is hope for the first issue as this tends to improve with additional play time together. Communication is key with line play and that typically increases with additional reps. The second issue is not as likely to improve as the issue is different for each player.

Graham Barton

Bucs C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I am most encouraged by center Graham Barton’s ability to improve in this area as to me it looks to be an issue with his eyes. He is still learning the center position and all of the responsibilities that comes with it.

Because of that he is often late to identify rushers coming from unexpected places and angles. Even so, you can see his natural athleticism letting him win late, and sometimes ugly, despite the challenges he is facing.

I know Baker breaks free and is able to scramble on this play. However, the pairing of DJ Reader (98) and Mekhi Wingo (94) is exactly what this Lions defensive line needed. Wingo is explosive as hell but Bucs C 62 Graham Barton just makes a tremendous adjustment vs this stunt. pic.twitter.com/XbaxJsnPiP

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 17, 2024

Cody Mauch

Cody Mauch has shown he has the tools to be an above average guard. Consistency is the key for him. He will go long stretches of high-end play in pass protection, showing good hand-fighting, awareness and anchor. And then he will have mental lapses where he forgets to maintain pad level sapping his lower half of any strength to anchor down, throw a lazy punch that exposes his inside shoulder, stops his feet, or gets off the snap late.

But make no mistake, if he can keep himself engaged for an entire game and reduce the mental lapses he has, and has had, the tools to be successful.

IND was Cody Mauch’s best game of the year. He’s ascending and gives the Bucs a third leg of a dominant OL in the future (w/Wirfs-Goedeke) pic.twitter.com/2fEbfSR6rK

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) November 30, 2023

Mauch is now 22 games into his career. It is fair to say the mental lapses have to stop. If they don’t the Bucs should be looking for an upgrade, whether that be internal or external, next year.

Ben Bredeson

Ben Bredeson is the least likely to grow out of these issues. He is now five years into his pro career and there are certain holes in his game that will not soon improve if at all. He lacks the balance of the two younger linemen and cannot recover as quickly.

His anchor is below average so even when he sees a game going, he is hard-pressed to stop his opponent who is underway with a head of steam from denting him. The Bucs were apparently comfortable with this heading into the season when signing him and Sua Opeta, with both players have a fairly extensive track record of marginal play.

The Bucs will need to reassess how they manage pressure going forward. Some of it is getting needed improvements from the interior of their line. Some of it will be the return of their second-best lineman in Luke Goedeke. But a big part of it, possibly the biggest part of it, is getting their quarterback back to standing in and keeping his eyes downfield in the face of pressure.