Browns: Analyzing Baker Mayfield’s Combine performance

The Cleveland Browns are in the market for a quarterback, so should Baker Mayfield’s performance at the Scouting Combine sway general manager John Dorsey?

The Cleveland Browns have plenty of draft capital this year, and the ammunition to do basically whatever they want. With the rumors swirling around Penn State running back Saquon Barkley going first overall, the Browns need a backup plan for drafting a quarterback.

Yes, the Browns need a quarterback. Along with death and taxes, this is the one thing Cleveland fans could count on for the last 25 years. There are plenty of options if the Browns choose a quarterback with No. 1 pick, but what if the Browns really do take Barkley with the top pick?

Enter Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, a shorter quarterback with an intense competitive fire, and a stronger arm that you might think. But the worry some fans and analysts have is: what if this guy is just the second coming of Johnny Manziel?

Both Mayfield and Manziel are shorter than the “preferred” NFL quarterback, both played in similar offenses, and both left college with a huge chip on their shoulder to the point where it can come off as cocky. So is Mayfield really the same as Manziel?

Well, Mayfield’s interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine say absolutely not. While Mayfield is confident, sometimes to a fault, he does not talk, act, or carry himself like Manziel did. Mike Jones of USA Today specifically noted that scouts and NFL executives gave Mayfield huge amounts of praise at the Combine.

Despite the wide open Big 12 offense that Mayfield used to wreak havoc upon the conference for three years, Mayfield reportedly showed an incredible football IQ during his whiteboard sessions. He also showed scouts and general managers a great amount of arm strength and crisp accuracy during his throwing drills.

But right alongside all of the physical talent was just how much Mayfield aced Cleveland’s ever-important “gets us” test. When asked in an interview about being the top pick for the Browns, Mayfield had this to say, according to NFL.com:

"“First things first, they’d get a winner. If there’s anyone who would turn that franchise around, it’d be me. They’re close. They’re very close. They’ve got the right pieces. I think they just need that one guy at quarterback.”"

Immediately, Browns fans who already liked Mayfield went into a frenzy. Those who didn’t like him finally started to warm up, and maybe put aside the Manziel comparisons for a little while. So, should the Browns use one of their picks on the Oklahoma product?

In short, yes. Mayfield is a field general, lives for football, and can be a culture-changer in Cleveland. He needs some help, yes, but the Browns have a solid offensive line and pieces for a nice defense already in place.

Like Mayfield himself said, the Browns could be close. And he could be the guy. The Manziel comparisons, although they make sense on the surface, are pretty lazy, really.

When you look deeper, the accuracy, the talent, the football intelligence and the constant chip on the shoulder are all things that the Browns need.

Next: Browns: Post-combine mock draft

So is Mayfield the top quarterback in the class, over USC’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen? Well, maybe not. But could he be the right quarterback for the Cleveland Browns? Yes he could be, and he certainly might be.