by Close your eyes for a moment and think back to the last day of the 2018 season. Lamar Jackson of the Ravens looked good, but nothing that would stick. He would go on to choke in the playoffs and not many took him seriously. Pittsburgh had an aging Big Ben who looked as though he was on his last legs and the Bengals had 0 playoff win Andy Daulton.
The Browns had the number one pick in the previous draft, Baker Mayfield, who just finished an incredible rookie season and looked to be the future best quarterback in the division, if not already! Does it still look that way? We will answer that question at the end of this article, but first, let’s take a deeper look.
The night was Thursday September 20, 2018 and a young Baker Mayfield came off the bench to lead the Browns to a 21-17 victory on National Television over the New York Jets. For the Browns, it was their first victory since December 24, 2016. Almost two full years between wins and Mayfield shined in the win, completing 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards and moving the ball at will.
The very next week Mayfield would shine again, helping the Browns put up 42 points on the Oakland Raiders, throwing two touchdowns for 295 yards and looking yet again like the browns found their franchise quarterback.
Before 2018 was over, there was almost no question left that he was the man moving forward. The Browns would rebound from a 2-5-1 start to win 5 of their last 8 and finish the year at 7-8-1 with high hopes for the future.
Mayfield finished the 2018 season with 3725 yards on 310 of 486 passing with a rookie record of 27 touchdown passes next to 14 interceptions. Despite missing the playoffs, Baker Mania was in full swing and Cleveland was on fire.
The new head coach in 2019 would be Freddie Kitchens, the same man calling the plays over the impressive final 8 game stretch for Baker and the Browns in 2018. They traded for OBJ and had stud running back Nick Chubb coming back. The negativity of Hue Jackson and Todd Haley were gone, it seemed as though nothing could go wrong? Baker hasn’t been the same since.
Mayfield would go on to have a disastrous 2019 season filled with fighting with the media, arguing with fans in the crowd and appeared to be hit hard by the Sophomore slump. The Browns finished 6-10 with head coach Freddie Kitchens, OC Todd Monken and GM John Dorsey all fired.
Two seasons in, 3 head coaches total (Jackson, Gregg Williams & Freddie Kitchens), 3 OC’s total (Haley, Kitchens & Monken). Mayfield finished with 22 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions.
The 22 touchdown tosses weren’t terrible, but the 21 picks really hurt him. Also, 22 touchdowns aren’t glorified like they were in the 80’s, now that is a very low number compared to the upper echelon QB’s each season.
Everyone was quick to blame the switching of systems, coaches, coordinators and every other thing they could think of. So, the Browns did what the Browns do, switched everything again. New head coach, new coordinators, new GM, pretty much all of it.
However, they not only kept excellent talent around him in Chubb, Hunt, OBJ and Landy, but added Austin Hooper, Jack Conklin and drafted Jedrick Wills Jr. They gave him every chance to succeed and prove year two was a fluke, not year one.
Six games into 2020 do we have an answer? Or are we more confused than ever? Mayfield looked brilliant in the first half against the Colts. He managed the game well in wins over Washington, Dallas and Bengals.
However, he looked horrendous in a loss to the Ravens, the second half against the Colts and very shaky again this weekend against Pittsburgh. Six games in he has 10 touchdowns tosses with 6 interceptions. Again, decent, but not great by any stretch considering a guy like Russell Wilson already has 19 in one less game this season.
The Browns are 4-2 and for the first time in many years appear to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. They have the talent, they have the coaching. The only thing holding them back may be injuries and if Baker can’t improve under center.
So now, I ask you the same question I posed at the beginning of this article. The Bengals have rookie sensation Joe Burrow who looks every bit as good as advertised if not better.
Big Ben looks healthier and stronger than ever and Lamar Jackson is fresh off winning the NFL MVP award. Coming in to today, Jackson had 51 career touchdown passes and 13 rushing touchdowns with over 2100 yards.
Baker Mayfield is not the best quarterback in the AFC North, he is the 4th best. Can that change? Is it a dream, or is it a reality? Is it the third system in three years, the fourth head coach and the fourth OC? Or is he just not that good?
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Well thought out and wrtten Vince!