Baker Mayfield dropped back briefly before tucking the ball away and rushing forward.

He zigzagged right and then left, resisting the Detroit Lions’ tackles just long enough to fall into the end zone.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a 20-16 lead that they refused to relinquish with 34 seconds left in the game, avenging their divisional round playoff loss eight months earlier by improving to 2-0.

The series of events that led to Tampa Bay advancing to the playoffs last season and sweeping a good Lions team earlier this season was unexpected.

First, there was Mayfield’s success on the 11-yard quarterback draw. Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis criticized Mayfield for his leaner, more athletic frame than last year.

“I said, ‘Big Bake couldn’t have scored there last year,'” Lewis told Yahoo Sports. “But Slim Bake could.”

Then there was the passing game, which commanded enough respect from the Lions defense to bring about the tie.

The Lions drafted Mayfield right after a season opener in which he threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

Even the Buccaneers, who face the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football, didn’t expect 13 months ago that Mayfield would be the league’s last starter still in a quarterback battle late in 2023 training camp when the season ended moved closer.

The career resurgence of the 2018 first overall draft pick is captivating teams across the league as they try to make sense of the latest data in a notoriously inexact science. Teams spend long hours scouting top players, with quarterbacks arguably the most difficult to analyze as they try to map not just physical traits but also the processing and decision-making processes that affect quarterbacks more than any other position.

When top draft picks go up in flames, teams find themselves under the missed dart. When the same players have success elsewhere, a whole new set of questions arise.

As quarterbacks like Mayfield find stability later in their careers, Yahoo Sports wanted to understand: What can teams learn from this? How much blame should a player have and how much is the franchise?

At least some voices around the league don’t believe Mayfield’s resurgence would have happened in Cleveland.

“It would be great to say that because he’s playing well now,” an NFC executive who scouted Mayfield told Yahoo Sports. “But… I think that Baker wouldn’t have the success that he has now. Sometimes players need a fresh start or multiple new starts.

“This is his fourth team, so obviously a change of scenery was necessary several times.”

When Baker learned to dance, the Bucs returned to dancing

During the pre-draft process in 2018, talent evaluators coveted Mayfield’s arm strength and constant threat of failure. They appreciated his accuracy outside of the numbers, with some also praising his ability to aim throws into tight windows.

The Heisman Trophy winner was productive in college and a winner.

He joined a talented Cleveland Browns offensive unit with a top-tier offensive line and experienced players such as Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb and David Njoku. Mayfield led the Browns to the playoffs with a 2020 season that included 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but has been largely inconsistent over the course of four years. Add to that immaturity off the field and in his risk-taking on the field, as well as a torn labrum that limited his effectiveness in 2021, and the Browns traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers in 2022.

“He used to be hectic in the pocket and that showed in his release,” the NFC manager said. “He often played the ball with force, especially on deep balls and then over the deep middle, which led to a lot of interceptions.

“He has become more disciplined in his pocket awareness and strengths.”

Looking back now, the manager believes Mayfield has a much better handle on his strengths and weaknesses in seventh grade than he did in his first four years of his career. The improved footwork is probably his biggest leap.

Mayfield moved to Tampa Bay in 2023 after the season was split between the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams. He had played in a total of 10 games the year before, but the twice-transferred quarterback, returning from (non-throwing) shoulder surgery, won only two of those contests as he threw for 10 touchdowns to eight interceptions and a career-low 180.3 yards gained per game.

So he came to the Bucs with a lot of experience and the intent to streamline the mixed bag output. Mayfield and Lewis had a candid conversation about his footwork: Mayfield moved at a speed more suited to a college offense than the NFL, where route concepts can take longer to develop. He wasn’t always in tune with the dance needed to accurately succeed as a professional.

“When his feet are bad, I got a saying like, ‘Hey man, I know you drive a Bronco, but I need you to be as smooth as a Mercedes right now,'” Lewis said. “So he knows, ‘Okay, I’m a little too fast.’ I’m a little too jerky. Let me smooth out my rhythm and then, boom.’”

In Mayfield’s Week 4 matchup, the results showed again. The Buccaneers had studied the Eagles’ defensive tendency to play deep and understood that short and intermediate routes should open up accordingly. Mayfield released the ball in an average of 2.22 seconds, his average of 2.44 seconds this season was the fastest of his career and the second-fastest in the entire league, according to Next Gen Stats.

The result: Mayfield threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, “Slim Bake” scored his third touchdown on another quarterback draw as the Buccaneers built a 24-0 lead before halftime against an Eagles team, that Vegas had favored. With the 33:16 surprise, the Buccaneers ultimately improved to 3:1.

“Baker is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the league,” said Mike Evans, a five-time Bucs Pro Bowl receiver. “He made plays in the pocket, outside the pocket and extended plays.

“It’s really difficult for him to game plan because he can do everything.”

What’s next for Baker Mayfield, Bucs?

The Denver Broncos arguably gameplanned Mayfield most effectively this season.

Denver saw how depleted the Buccaneers’ offensive line was and took advantage of the vulnerability to ensure Mayfield couldn’t get comfortable in the pocket as he absorbed seven sacks and nine total hits.

“If you can disrupt his rhythm and ability to get in sync with him and his wide receivers, you have a really good chance with him,” an AFC scout said. “Once he’s in that zone, he can throw at will, he starts making more difficult throws and he makes them more often, and that’s just his rhythm.

“Once he gets going, it’s hard to stop him.”

The defense will certainly challenge Mayfield in the coming weeks. The Falcons’ revamped defense will step up for him on Thursday night ahead of games with the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers within a month.

But the Buccaneers and evaluators across the league believe Mayfield has found the right formula to continue playing at the best level of his career.

They don’t think his career-high 106.9 pass percentage is a fluke, as Mayfield completed a career-best 70.5% of passes for eight touchdowns and two interceptions in addition to his two rushing touchdowns in the first month.

Offensive coordinator Liam Cohen’s Sean McVay-style offense plays to Mayfield’s strengths, says an AFC defensive assistant who coached in several games of Mayfield’s career. The assistant pointed out the emphasis on the run, play-action passing, starting legs and the drop-back pass with progress indicators.

Mayfield makes decisions that can be described as somewhere between safer and smarter, listening to coaches’ dictates that downfield shots matter a Option, but not always The Option.

“When you have to make the perfect throw, you make the wrong throw,” Lewis tells Mayfield. “So watch it, experience another down, understand first-down and second-down decision making.”

The Buccaneers are benefiting from Mayfield’s personal and professional growth since entering the league, and the bets they made to sign him in 2023 and then extend him to a mid-range contract ahead of a new offensive coordinator are paying off.

It’s a win for Tampa and “good for the game,” the NFC executive said.

It might never have happened if Mayfield had stuck with the Browns even as they struggle through Deshaun Watson’s 28th-ranked passer rating while Mayfield thrives from his first home.

“It is nothing more than a private life with relationships,” said the NFC manager. “When you date someone, they may not be the same person in that relationship as they are in the next.”

The Buccaneers know the person they want Mayfield to be: himself.

He’s not trying to be his predecessor, Tom Brady. Mayfield drew some ire after he said the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s leadership style left him “tense” and “stressed” in the locker room.

Brady lamented back on the Bucs broadcast last weekend that he thought winning Super Bowls was fun — and yet when Brady spoke, the Bucs’ 14-0 lead over the Eagles sent the message: Mayfield’s colorful personality can also lead to victories.

He goes beyond fighting for respect as his own team’s starting quarterback — and he goes beyond fighting for respect across the league.

“Last year he was in an evidence situation,” Lewis said. “It’s more like, ‘I’m going to show that it wasn’t a coincidence that I belonged there.’ He shows that he belongs in the top league of quarterbacks.

“He’s not where he can ultimately be yet, but he’s definitely working towards it.”