Bucs wide receiver Sterling Shepard and quarterback Baker Mayfield's chemistry goes back to their days at Oklahoma, where both became stars. Once Shepard arrived in Tampa, they picked up where they left off.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' success on offense can be attributed to one key factor: chemistry, particularly between wide receiver Sterling Shepard and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Their chemistry can be traced back to their days at Oklahoma, where both played. Shepard said that despite not playing much together since their OU days, once he arrived on the team, their chemistry was almost automatic.
The veteran receiver said Mayfield’s relentless, never-quit attitude adds “juice” to the offense and demands constant effort from everyone on the field, especially when plays break down.
"That's exactly it, he's just a great leader," Shepard said of Mayfield via a one-on-one interview with the site RG. "He obviously gives a lot of juice to the game, and that feeds off to everybody else on the team. I just love the grit that he plays with. Every play he plays like it's his last and you you've got to be on your P's and Q's whenever you're out there with him, because he doesn't give up on any plays.
"You got to just continue to try to get open if the initial part of the play doesn't work out, you know that he's going to try to extend the play," he added. "It's great having a quarterback like that, not only just what he provides juice-wise, but also the grit he plays with and that's something that everybody has a great amount of respect for."
Shepard put up Heisman type numbers during his senior season with the Sooners in Mayfield's first season as a starter in 2015, catching 86 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Shepard was named a first-team All-American and was selected in the second round by the New York Giants in 2016. After he spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Giants, Shepard reunited with Mayfield, signing a deal with the Buccaneers before the start of the 2024 season.
Another factor is wide receiver Mike Evans, who had been missing from the lineup until recently.
Although they didn’t win last week, the offense seemingly has gotten back on track in Atlanta, scoring 28 points, and you hope as a Bucs fan that they will only continue to get better as they come down the stretch of this NFL season.
The resurgence of the offense couldn’t come at a better time for this team who will need all hands on deck for these final few weeks and a possible playoff run.