Cleveland Browns: Logic for sitting Mayfield is flawed
By Randy Gurzi
While the Cleveland Browns believe they’re doing the right thing sitting rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, their logic for doing so is flawed
The Cleveland Browns are finally headed in the right direction, but with Head coach Hue Jackson on the sidelines, they may still be a mess. While on NFL Network not long after drafting Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Jackson said Tyrod Taylor is still the starter, even after spending the top pick on Mayfield.
While that’s the standard line when a veteran is there and a rookie comes in, Jackson proved that he’s allowing prior bad decisions to cloud his vision. Apparently the thinking is that since rookies have not worked out in the past, they shouldn’t play now. That’s just stupid.
The problem in the past wasn’t the players were on the field too early, it was that they couldn’t play. In bringing up former youngsters that didn’t work out for the Browns, Jackson lumped Mayfield in with Johnny Manziel, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and DeShone Kizer.
Out of all those players, Quinn was the only one not coming in with a huge question mark, and Kizer was said by about every draft analyst that he wasn’t ready to play.
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Mayfield however is none of those guys. This isn’t a middle-aged pitcher, an inexperienced project or someone who they didn’t do their homework on. This is the first pick in the draft. Mayfield deserves to be lumped in with other top quarterbacks like Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Mitch Trubisky and Jared Goff.
What these guys have in common is they played early — except for Goff and Trubisky, who were held down by old coaches who were passed up by the NFL and now unemployed. The fact is, rookies need to play to get better.
The problem is with the new CBA, there’s not enough practice reps to go around. That means while they’re trying to get Taylor up to date with his new system, Mayfield will largely watch. Not play. Watch.
This isn’t to say Mayfield should be handed the job either, nor is it a knock on Taylor who I think is a very good starter. Instead, it’s simply pointing out that the old-school “rookie should sit” logic is old, tired and flawed.
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Taylor and Mayfield should compete for the job and it’s a toss up who wins. However, blindly going into the offseason naming the veteran the starter simply because he’s a veteran is a mistake.