There’s a lot of promising talk about how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to make a splash heading into the 2024 season considering how Baker Mayfield is confident about what WR Jalen McMillan brings into the table, hinting at a deep run for the team after they finished fourth in the National Football Conference in the previous season.

For Mayfield, this is a promising look for the Buccaneers considering how well they performed in the previous season without an actual reliable roster that can be considered a playoff-worthy lineup. McMillan was added via the NFL Draft, fresh off the third round. This does seem like a mini-warning from Mayfield, who believes that they have what it takes to win.

With McMillan on the roster, it seems that the Buccaneers can enjoy a little bit of relief in their games, considering the fact that he is set to provide the impressive boost that they missed out on the offensive end previously. Now it is time for them to set their eyes on bigger heights in the NFL heading into the next season.

Mayfield’s Impression on McMillan

Mayfield has high hopes on Jalen McMillan’s game just by seeing him in training camp, and the QB claims that one of the new members of the Buccaneers’ core is definitely bringing in a bigger boost to the team at this point in time. For Mayfield, this has certain implications on their chances, especially when McMillan gets back to his playoff level.

"You're watching Ja'Lynn Polk, you're watching Rome Odunze," Mayfield said about McMillan, who is poised to make his debut with the team this season. "What people don't realize, he was their leading guy in '22 before he got hurt. And so, for him to get back to true form -- he's a stud."

McMillan logged team highs of 79 receptions and nine touchdowns with his 1,098 yards trailing only Odunze's 1,145 at the time. At 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds, McMillan certainly does offer the necessary strength that the team needs for getting open and receiving the ball when it matters. Speed? He’s definitely lightning at 4.47 speed, and that says a lot about how his knee injury will reflect in his games moving forward.

Learning the Curve

For now, McMillan is doing some good strides in his workouts in training camp. He is set to challenge the likes of Trey Palmer, Rakim Jarrett, and Sterling Shepard for the no. 3 spot behind known standouts such as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. It is also worth noting that there are high expectations on McMillan’s game, and one can say that he may just have a bigger bark heading into the season.

"He's a guy that runs so smooth," the quarterback said. He does some things at the top of his routes -- he's so friendly to the ball -- that veterans do. It's good to see as a young guy coming in and eager to learn. He's obviously got a pretty good group to learn from with those guys that we have."

For now, it seems that the Buccaneers can have high hopes in their games with McMillan showing some promising potential in the game. After all, he may be the key to a promising victory should he be able to get more minutes with the team as time goes by, probably even make it to the starting lineup if he impresses well.