4 major observations from Baker Mayfield’s 11th Panthers practice

Baker Mayfield’s production during Carolina Panthers’ red-zone drills

One notable takeaway from Baker Mayfield’s production on Tuesday was his lights-out performance in red-zone situations. The quarterback looked extremely composed manning the plate, with the Carolina Panthers deploying ‘live’ situations that enabled the defense to go full speed in pursuit of making things as difficult as possible for the offense.

Working behind the majority of what should be the first-team offensive line, Mayfield was outstanding. There were multiple touchdowns secured by the Heisman Trophy winner throughout, with the likes of Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble, D.J. Moore, and Christian McCaffrey benefitting from his distribution under center.

There is a fearless nature to Mayfield that’s hard not to love. It can be his undoing at times, but head coach Matt Rhule was impressed by what he saw from the quarterbacks before the third and fourth string take center stage on the final official day in Spartanburg.

"“I was really pleased by our offensive execution today, especially in the red zone. That first (session) was live. So there was no, ‘I would have had him.’ To end (practice) that was 30ish seconds, one timeout and need a touchdown to win the game. So both quarterbacks got us in the end zone. That was impressive.”"

The Panthers listed Mayfield and Sam Darnold as joint QB1 on their first depth chart of the offseason. But there is now an undisputed gap between the two heading into Carolina’s three preseason games and joint practices with the New England Patriots.