Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield the pick at No. 1

The Cleveland Browns kicked off the 2018 NFL Draft by selecting Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, which confirmed rumors that he was their guy

News broke early on Thursday that the Cleveland Browns were going to pick Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. While some felt that was confirmation that general manager John Dorsey believed this was the right guy to turn to at quarterback, others thought something different was going on.

One prevailing theory was that Cleveland was trying to get someone — like perhaps the New York Jets at No. 3 — to trade up. That had little logic behind it as the Jets don’t have much draft stock as it is, but theorists felt this was a ploy by Cleveland to convince them in order to get Mayfield they would have to dig up that non-existent stock from somewhere.

That idea was followed by the Browns then being able to take USC quarterback Sam Darnold — who was believed to be their target all along.

All that talk was for naught however, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made the announcement and Mayfield is officially a member of the Cleveland Browns.

Some felt Mayfield should have been the choice all along as his stats while at Oklahoma were far superior to the other options.  Mayfield completed over 70 percent of his passes the past two seasons and had 83 touchdown passes to just 14 picks in that same span.

He doesn’t join the team without warts though. Mayfield was caught on camera trying to run from police while being picked up for public intoxication. He’s also made bad decisions when taunting opponents. Outside of those concerns, Mayfield’s been knocked for his size — and thus compared to former Cleveland flame out Johnny Manziel.

That comparison makes no sense as the two are nothing alike on the field outside of height.

Mayfield has much more desire to win and thrives when being counted out. It should be interesting watching the competitive gun slinger try to prove he shouldn’t be sitting behind Tyrod Taylor, who is slated to start in 2018 for Cleveland.

Next: Top 15 Browns first round picks

The Browns still currently own the No. 4 pick, but are rumored to be in the market for a trade.