Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield comes in second to New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley in AP Rookie of the Year voting
Saquon Barkley is a phenomenal talent, nobody can deny that. His 2018-2019 campaign was good enough to award him the Offensive Rookie of the Year, finishing with 2028 yards from scrimmage to go along with 14 TDs. As much as we did not want to see him holding that trophy, we all have to admit that we saw it coming. Baker Mayfield was happy to see his close friend receive the award, but this moment was a match being thrown onto the already burning fire named the Cleveland Browns.
Baker Mayfield is not one to take criticism with a grain of salt. He is a player that will hear what negative things people have to say, and do everything in his will power to prove it wrong. We can go ahead and refer back to the comments made by Colin Cowherd…
Colin has gone on to make other remarks about Mayfield such as, “Where is the wow with Baker Mayfield? …He looked small… I don’t want my No. 1 pick to be small regardless of position.” He bashed the QB over and over again with the details of what would cause Baker to not be able to live up to the hype. Baker took all of this, and used it as motivation. He broke the rookie passing touchdown record with 27 TDs and rubbed it in the face of Cowherd.
Coming in second will only add to Baker Mayfield’s fire
So what does this have to do with Saquon and the ROY? This means that Baker Mayfield has more critics that need proven wrong. This means that there is a new chip on his shoulder and he needs to make it universally known that he is the best pick in the 2018 NFL. The 2019-2020 season is a bit away and that fire under him will only burn hotter and hotter the more that his snub of the award is talked about.
There is another person on this team that has doubters to prove wrong also. His name is Nick Chubb. The running back wants to show that he is the best ball carrier out of the draft. Chubb wants to show that coaching held him back from the first part of the season. His quiet personality will not say much but he will let his play do the talking.
We can expect a motivated Browns team as the next season approaches. Doubters saying they can not be contenders, or even worse, that they can not make the playoffs. Get ready for the ride, get ready for The Dawg Pound.
