Baker Mayfield commanded the Cleveland Browns offense in a 35-17 victory against Detroit on Thursday.
Baker Mayfield performing at a high level against the Detroit Lions backups is expected. The Cleveland Browns rookie is quite the talent. Mayfield went 9-16 for 138 yards in the preseason finale. While Mayfield did not complete a touchdown pass, he did engineer two touchdown drives that were capped off with rushing touchdowns by Matthew Dayes and Nick Chubb.
The growth from week one to week four is quite impressive
In Mayfield’s first preseason game he looked and played like a rookie. Mayfield’s lack of experience led to some questionable decisions and learning moments to build on. Rather than duplicate the same rookie mistakes, Mayfield was able to learn and make the right decision next time.
In week one Mayfield learned quick that the NFL is significantly faster than college. Mayfield was flushed from the pocket and attempted to make a run for it. Unfortunately he was caught rather quickly and found out what came easy at Oklahoma will not occur in the NFL.
In week four a similar series of events occurred with a much different result. Twice Mayfield escaped pressure in the pocket and instead of attempting to run for it, Mayfield wisely threw the ball away to avoid an unnecessary hit. While a potentially dynamic play did not happen, Mayfield learned that living to see another down is much more beneficial than a minimal gain, losing the football or a getting injured.
While Baker Mayfield looked great, perspective is needed
Mayfield did what he was supposed to do against backups and players who will not make the roster. Mayfield is a superior player to those he faced Thursday. While Mayfield was impressive, things will not come as easy in the future as it did Thursday. Most defenses come out in basic packages and fronts in preseason. Using a vanilla defense in preseason is mainly to hide what a team plans to do when the games really count. Showing your hand in preseason is pretty much pointless. Mayfield is yet to experience an exotic blitz or coverage scheme.
For now Tyrod Taylor is the Browns starter, as he should be. As long as Taylor is healthy and playing well the job is his. However if Taylor were to become injured or experience a drop in play, Mayfield looks like he has what it takes to handle playing quarterback in the NFL.
