Baker Mayfield’s has come under fire from ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith after the Carolina Panthers quarterback has endured a terrible start to the season. 

The Carolina Panthers are in a little bit of trouble right now, as they have started the season 1-3, despite this looking like a season when they might look to make some big noises in the NFC South, especially after they brought in Baker Mayfield to try and solve their problems at quarterback. 

Mayfield has history when it comes to giving teams a bit of a boost from the quarterback position, having done so with the Cleveland Browns, taking them from going 1-31 in the two seasons before he arrived to the playoffs back in 2020 and turning the team from a laughing stock to a serious team again. 

And working with arguably the best dual-threat running back in Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield, as well as D.J Moore and Robbie Anderson out wide, it was hoped he could recreate that magic this season, however that hasn’t been the case so far. 

He is currently completing 54.7% of his passes, which ranks 30th in the NFL among qualified quarterbacks, 27th in yards with 747 and joint-26th in yards per attempt with 6.4, not what you want out of someone you traded for and are paying a big chunk of your salary cap to. 

And now the Panthers are getting set to enter a tough part of their schedule, as they face the two NFC Conference Championship sides from last year in the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in back-to-back weeks, before facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Take Mayfield and the Panthers’ performances so far, and their upcoming opponents, it isn’t impossible to think of them being 1-6 in a few games time, and it’s facts like that which have left Stephen A. Smith furious.

Baker Mayfield feels Stephen A. Smith’s wrath

Speaking on ESPN’s First Take, Smith launched into a scathing tirade at how Mayfield was playing, even going so far as to say that his time in the NFL is under threat if he isn’t able to sort out the problems soon:

Video: Stephen A. Smith launches fierce criticism of Baker Mayfield:

The team’s backup quarterback, and starter from last year Sam Darnold, is still reportedly some way away from returning from injury, so Mayfield does have a bit of breathing room as he tries to stay ahead of P.J Walker on the depth chart, but once Darnold and 2022 3rd round draft pick Matt Corral are back from injury, you imagine the conversation might change.

So it’s up to Mayfield to get those numbers up and make sure that he can make the best case possible for himself, or risk finding himself on the bench.