It is funny how much things can change in one week. A week ago, few people thought there was a chance that Baker Mayfield would be the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. One week later and the Cleveland Browns have made him their quarterback for the foreseeable future.
Mayfield is the reigning Heisman award winner due to his stellar senior season. He threw for 4,627 yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. Regularly those kind of numbers would make someone a lock to be the first overall pick.
However, that was not the case with Mayfield. His physical measurements made an impact on evaluations of his game prior to the draft. Measuring in at just above 6’0 and weighing 22o pounds, many doubted his ability to perform on the next level.
His stature led to him drawing comparisons to the likes of Russell Wilson and Drew Brees. However, aside from his stature, Mayfield drew one more comparison for all the wrong reasons.
The most prominent comparison Mayfield had was to Johnny Manziel. Manziel, is out of the league now due to a multitude of off field issues.
While Mayfield has definitely dealt with his fair share of off field issues, his commitment to football was never in question like Manziel’s.
He has put football first in every equation with a fiery competitiveness. A fire that the Browns saw burn brightest in Mayfield out of the rest of the quarterbacks.
The Browns are hoping that Mayfield falls along the lines of becoming a Brett Favre type of player. Browns draft consultant Scot McCloughan likened Mayfield to Favre earlier in the year per CBS Sports:
“He reminds me of a shorter version of Brett Favre”.
Mayfield went as far as to recreate Favre’s draft night photo:
“There are those people who are in your corner no matter what, you can’t do any wrong, even when you do wrong. And then there are those people that no matter what you do they’re going to dislike you and that’s not going to change.” – Brett Favre #DraftEve #MMO pic.twitter.com/6bCE9SxqI6
— Baker Mayfield (@bakermayfield) April 26, 2018
It is currently uncertain what the future may hold for the Browns and Mayfield. The two parties’ success is currently dependent on one another.
Both sides have everything in the world to prove.
Mayfield has to prove his ability to play in the NFL at a high level in spite of his critics. While the Browns must prove that they are not the same old losing Browns of the past decade.
There are many tests ahead for this pair, but the Browns believe this is the best path to relevance. Only time will tell if they made the right choice.
Brendan Abban is the creator and owner of brendanabban.com and hosts the KBR Sports podcasts. Follow him on Twitter @BAbban24 or email him via [email protected].
