Cleveland Browns would be 2-0 with Baker Mayfield starting
By Randy Gurzi
No one wants to hear it because they’re scared of the past, but the Cleveland Browns would be 2-0 with Baker Mayfield starting instead of Tyrod Taylor
There’s this strange fear of the past in the air and it’s holding a very good Cleveland Browns team back. This roster is actually really talented and they’ve shown that by going down to the last second against two playoff teams from 2017 — the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints.
However, the Browns lost both games that they should have won. There were two key components to those losses — one is head coach Hue Jackson who continues his horrible record of losing, the other is quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Taylor may have thrown a great touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway that nearly helped them steal the game back, but let’s not forget the reason the Browns couldn’t hold onto their lead against the Saints was Taylor — who gave up the lead on a horrible pick the drive before the pass to Callaway.
A horrendous 15-of-40 passing performance was excused as weather inflicted (thank goodness the weather in Cleveland improves as the calendar turns). Taylor followed that up with an ugly display of dump offs and check downs in the first half against the Saints.
In the second half, he was even worse until the Callaway pass saved him from being lynched by the fans — who were turning on him on social media.
Kyle Kelly of WFNY detailed how terrible Taylor was before the desperation heave in this Tweet:
Tyrod Taylor in the second half before his TD pass to Callaway:
— Kyle Kelly (@ByKyleKelly) September 16, 2018
7/17 for 87 yards, an interception, and two fumbles (which were recovered by CLE)
Taylor only created 41-yards of passing himself, with 46 yards coming after the catch. #Browns
We can blame the kicker. We can blame the weather. We can blame whoever we want, but there’s another reason the team struggles. That reason is the simple truth that Taylor is playing it too safe. That’s held them back and it’s the reason they have no wins.
Cleveland is far too conservative on offense and it shows in the fact they’ve had 10 points on eight turnovers — seven of which came courtesy of a one-yard drive. If they were less conservative, they could put some of these games away and not rely on last-second kicks.
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It’s time to open up the offense and No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield can do that. Yes, I know that rookies have failed in the past but blaming that on them playing too early is lazy and wrong. The reason young quarterbacks have failed in the past is because they weren’t good.
DeShone Kizer, Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel, and anyone else failed because of them. Holding Baker back because of their incompetence is foolish and wrong.
No. 1 overall picks play. Plain and simple.
For anyone trying to use any scenario to discount that, again they are wrong. Baker is just the second No. 1 overall quarterback since 2009 to not start right away as a rookie. Matthew Stafford, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, and Jameis Winston all started and were fine. Jared Goff is the only other who didn’t and his coach — Jeff Fisher — is not only as old-school as they get, but he’s also out of the NFL now.
Cleveland needs to stop living in the past and play their young star like these other franchises that have won more than one game the past two-plus seasons did.
Tyrod Taylor is a game manager and will make plays if they’re there. That keeps you in games. Baker Mayfield is a playmaker and makes the plays when they aren’t there. That puts you on top in these close games.
As a rookie, Baker will make mistakes — but so too has Tyrod. His mistakes and conservative play has the Browns offense in the bottom of every NFL ranking on offense. They’re in the bottom third for points per game and third-down percentage and No. 27 for passing yards with Taylor leading them to an average of 192 yards in two games.
So why not get the playmaker out there. The one who was elite in college and showed in the preseason that he can make his reads and the spotlight isn’t too big for him.
Next. Interview with Eric Metcalf, Hall of Fame nominee. dark
This roster needs playmakers and they need wins. It’s an unpopular opinion, but Mayfield could have already given us two of those.