Baker Mayfield simply is not good enough
In his fourth year with another season with disappointing results, one things is abundantly clear, Baker Mayfield just is not good enough.
27th in completion percentage (62.4), eighth-highest interception percentage (2.9), 21st in touchdown percentage (3.9), 24th in yards per game (217.3), 25th in rating (86.1), 26th in QBR (37.8), 31st rated quarterback in the 4th quarter, second-most 4th quarter interceptions since entering the league (18), most interceptions since 2018 (54), and zero 4th quarter comebacks this season. These are the numbers of Brown quarterback Baker Mayfield. There is nothing positive to take away from this list.
Let’s focus on the lack of 4th quarter success for Baker Mayfield. When a team is down and looking for that game-winning drive, it is the quarterback who drives that success or failure. There is the obvious group of quarterbacks that give confidence to those watching them that they will get it done. Players such as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, the list goes on and on. Baker Mayfield does not belong on that list. When the Browns have a chance to make something happen and put the ball in his hands, Mayfield has come up short time and time again.
While the injuries to Baker Mayfield have been frequently brought up for his struggles this season, it does not factor in to why he has thrown such a high volume of 4th quarter interceptions over the course of his career as mentioned above. The injuries also do not account for Mayfield’s lack of field vision. Mayfield frequently makes the wrong read and subsequently the wrong decision.
What about 2020?
Ah yes, 2020, the absolutely maximized version of Baker Mayfield who still was not good enough. Last season Kevin Stefanski designed an offense that at first was too much for Mayfield. It was not until the bye week when the offense was massively simplified that Mayfield saw success. The issue then and now is that there is an obvious finite number of plays this team runs in this setup and every defense knows what is coming.
The reality of last season is that Stefanski was brought in to get the most out of Mayfield and he accomplished that. The problem with maximizing a quarterback in year one as a coach is that the only place to go is down, exactly what has happened this season. Opposing defenses have taken away the few things that Mayfield excels at which leaves the offense grasping at straws to try and find something that works. If the defense can keep Mayfield in the pocket by taking away the designed bootleg/rollout they have won. Mayfield is not tall enough to see his receivers downfield while in the pocket. This leads to poor throws and throwing decisions which occur on a regular basis.
Overall body of work?
Looking at everything Baker Mayfield has done as a quarterback shows a player that has had two half season runs and a whole bunch of sub-par play. The end of 2018 and 2020 are the highlights while the rest has been a complete disaster. Mayfield is not a decisive thrower of the football. When he does throw, there are a lot of throws that are off target which the receiver unfairly takes the blame for the incompletion or interception.
This is before taking into account the account of panic that Mayfield has in his play. When Mayfield does panic, there is not a quarterback in the league who is more obvious about it than him. A quarterback is supposed to be calm, cool, and collected in the pocket, show poise and present confidence when internally they may actually be panicking. This is not the case with Mayfield as his propensity to go into panic mode dates back to his days at Oklahoma. To be blunt, this is not something that is going to change.
Browns were winning with Baker Mayfield not because of him.
Right here is a point that somehow gets missed when discussing Baker Mayfield. Mayfield was not the reason why the Browns were winning games last season. Cleveland was winning games due to an excellent offensive scheme from Kevin Stefanski combined with an unreal and unsustainable amount of turnover luck. Mayfield was executing the plays and doing what was asked of him, but it was far from a complex task.
The difference between the teams that are actual Super Bowl contenders versus teams who are also rans is the quarterback. They have a quarterback who drives the offense and is the reason why they are successful. Baker Mayfield is not this type of quarterback, he is a passenger, someone along for the ride. While teams with this type of quarterback can have success and even reach a Super Bowl, they do not win it. The 2018-19 Rams and 2019-20 49ers are two recent examples who have done that. Notably, Los Angeles upgraded their quarterback situation by trading Jared Goff to Detroit for Matthew Stafford while San Francisco has drafted a replacement in Trey Lance for Jimmy Garoppolo.
If the Browns are actually going to realize their potential and capitalize on the short contention windows that exist in the NFL, they must accept the fact they will not get where they want to go with Baker Mayfield as their quarterback. A contract extension needs to be completely off the table. Mayfield returning in 2022 should not be a guarantee and only occur if all other options are exhausted. Everyone outside of Cleveland knows that the Browns need to improve their quarterback situation, hopefully the decision makers in Berea have came to the same realization.
