AN OPEN LETTER TO BAKER MAYFIELD – WHERE’S THE GUY WHO BLISTERED THE BUCKEYES?
By STEVE KING
An open letter to Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield in advance of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FirstEnergy Stadium:
Hi, Baker Mayfield!
I was so impressed by your confidence and being able to rise to the occasion back then.
And I am so perplexed by the general lack of such now.
Where’s the Baker Mayfield who strode into Columbus on Sept. 9, 2017 and did a number on third-ranked Ohio State, helping your Oklahoma Sooners do a number on the Buckeyes, 31-16?
You were near-flawless that warm late-summer evening, completing 27-of-35 passes for a whopping 386 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Ohio State had all those four- and five-star recruits playing in the back seven of its defense and, though those guys had good coverage on most of those throws, you were still able to thread the ball through a needle, hitting the bullseye, and complete pass after pass, particularly into the middle of the field. It was unbelievable.
The only other quarterback I ever saw do that to the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium was way back in 1982, some kid from Stanford named John Elway. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?
In the days leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, and on the big night when the Browns made you the No. 1 overall pick, I kept thinking about that night in Columbus To me, it separated you from the other quarterbacks the Browns were considering for that selection.
And what I saw you do as a rookie in that 2018 season for the Browns served only to strengthen my opinion of you.
I didn’t see much of that in 2019, but I pretty much wrote off everything I saw from the Browns that year because they were so poorly-coached and ill-prepared.
But this season, with a much better head coach and assistants, a much better team around you, especially on the all-important offensive line, and a much better record of 6-3 as opposed to 2019 when the club got six wins all year, I see a guy who, way too many times, struggles to produce the way a franchise quarterback should, the way the Browns need you to produce and the way I know you can produce. And to boot, your biggest struggles are when you throw into the middle of the field, which is, as I mentioned, where you excelled most against Ohio State.
And I don’t know, exactly, why that is. Only you do. But you’re not the same guy I saw against the Buckeyes or in 2018.
The general manager who drafted you is no longer here, so your safety net has been cut. The new GM and coaches want to believe in you — they desperately want you to succeed so badly that they can taste it — because if you do come through, then the Browns can do big things the rest of this year and beyond and they also don’t have to go back into the draft next spring in Cleveland looking for their franchise quarterback. But they are not professionally married to you since they inherited you. You’re not someone they brought on board. So if they don’t see what they want to see, they will have no problems in moving on.
You need to get it together these last seven games and be not just that guy again, but THE guy. To do so benefits both you and the team. The Browns are right in the thick of the AFC playoff picture. They just need to keep winning.
That starts Sunday against the Eagles, and with the Browns’ best player, defensive end Myles Garrett out, it will be just that much more important for the man who plays the most important position on the club, quarterback, to do even more, to put this team on your shoulders and carry it, It’s the quarterback’s one and only job, no matter whatever else is going on, to win the game. Period. End of statement.
Are you capable of that? Heck, yes?
Will you do it? I think you will.
Why? Well, just ask the members of the 2017 Buckeyes. They’ll tell you.
Good luck.
