Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield excites in debut
By Randy Gurzi
The Cleveland Browns brought No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield into the game against the New York Giants and he didn’t disappoint with 212 yards and two touchdown passes
It was a nice debut at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. And the best part is, that could be said about each of the two players who got in work early on for them as both Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield looked the part against the New York Giants.
After years of futility at the position, Cleveland doubled down in the 2018 offseason. First, they added Taylor — who had just taken the Buffalo Bills to the postseason — and then they selected Mayfield with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft out of Oklahoma.
Taylor looks to be the starter as the team is content to sit their young gun, and he gave them no reason to alter that plan. Taylor was a perfect 5-of-5 passing with 99 yards and a touchdown.
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Still, it was Mayfield everyone wanted to see. And he didn’t let his fans down.
While he wasn’t perfect, Mayfield did excite fans with an 11-of-20 night for 212 yards and two touchdown passes — one to tight end David Njoku (his second of the night) and one to fellow rookie Antonio Callaway.
Mayfield added another 13 yards on the ground, twice running for first downs when the play broke down. Most importantly though, he didn’t turn the ball over.
There’s still a lot of preseason to go and Baker was against backups for much of the night, but it was encouraging to say the least. His passes were crisp and he showed plenty of arm and solid decision making.
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Finally, the Browns seem to have the position figured out. What’s better is, they could truly have two guys capable of starting. What a nice problem to have.