It’s all about the quarterbacks – The Baker Mayfield Mistake
By Steve King
Browns quarterbacks – past, present and future – have been in the news a lot recently, but no more so than in a story written by sportsillustrated.com’s Andy Benoit a part of its popular Monday Morning Quarterback package.
Here’s what Benoit wrote in a piece entitled, “The Mistake the Browns Are Making With Baker Mayfield”:
*“Hue Jackson reiterates: ‘Tyrod Taylor’s the starting quarterback of this football team, and that won’t change.’
“This is misguided political correctness spiraling out of control. Jackson feels he has to say this because Taylor will be 29 in August and has paid his NFL dues; he doesn’t want the 23-year-old Baker Mayfield to look entitled. But it’s not like Taylor is a tested veteran who’s beloved in Cleveland’s locker room—he just arrived a few months ago. The Browns traded the 65th overall pick to get him. They spent the first overall pick on Mayfield. A safe assumption is the Browns spent 10,000% more time and effort researching Mayfield than they did Taylor. They’ve trumpeted Mayfield’s football IQ and natural leadership. If they actually believe in their scouting process, why not declare Mayfield the starter right now? Why give even one of No. 1 pick’s reps to the guy you acquired with the 65th pick?
“Jackson wouldn’t buy a new Rolls Royce and tell everyone he’s committed to the used Nissan Altima he just got at auction. He wouldn’t book a nonrefundable first-class seat then plan to fly economy. He wouldn’t purchase a beach house in Maui but prepare to spend offseasons in Tulsa.
“What stinks is a few weeks into August, after Jackson has pointlessly given hundreds of Mayfield’s valuable practice reps to Taylor, Jackson will come out and announce Mayfield the starter, saying how they’re blown away at how quickly Mayfield has come along. They shouldn’t be—he’s the guy they chose over literally everyone else in this draft.”
*“Hue Jackson says new offensive coordinator Todd Haley has ‘total autonomy’ over the Browns offense.
“Haley, who comes over from Pittsburgh, and Jackson ran similar passing schemes last year. They both featured spread formations with fairly isolated route designs that attacked the 12- to 20-yard range downfield. The difference was Haley had great receivers and a veteran star QB—he went simple because he could. Jackson had callow wideouts and an overwhelmed rookie QB. He went simple because he had to. Both men having worked with such extreme personnel in 2017, it’s hard to forecast how their offense will look this fall.”
*“Mike McCarthy believes new Packers backup QB DeShone Kizer would have gone first round in this year’s draft.
“Kizer’s good is as intriguing as anyone’s. He’s mobile, his ball has zip, he’s aggressive throwing outside and at the deep-intermediate levels. The problem is his bad is as concerning as anyone’s—and in Cleveland it showed up too often. The interceptions and mental errors can be chalked up to rookie mistakes, but the bouts of wild inaccuracy? Alarm bells. If a quarterback can’t put the ball where he wants, his other traits become irrelevant. In the NFL, accuracy can be polished, but not instilled. And so the question is whether Kizer has the mechanical foundation to become a more consistent down-to-down passer. McCarthy might not have a clear idea until the end of August.”
Well, what do you think?
