Cleveland Browns’ Baker Mayfield Leads the 2018 NFL Quarterback Class

The 2018 Quarterback class is full of talent and the Cleveland Browns are happy to see Baker Mayfield putting himself atop the group early on

The Cleveland Browns‘ Baker Mayfield’s outstanding performance propels him to the forefront of the talented quarterbacks of the 2018 draft, which many analysts are calling the most talented quarterback class since 1983, with 6 first round picks including John Elway, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Although it’s way too early to draw conclusions, Baker has company with all five first-round quarterback draft picks seeing action by Game 3: Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Lamar Jackson.

Mayfield had a sensational debut, leading a Browns team to a 21-17 victory after incumbent Tyrod Taylor was completely ineffective in the first half and then suffered a concussion after repeated hits by the Jets pass rushers. Taylor is an unorthodox quarterback in that he likes to hold the ball and scramble to buy time for his targeted receiver to get open.

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This simply was not working against the Jets, who were able to overpower both tackles and collapse the pocket. Mayfield, on the other hand, makes his reads very quickly and gets the ball out to his secondary receivers much faster than Taylor.

Consequently, the Jets’ pass rush, though still formidable, was much less of a threat to Mayfield than it had been to Taylor. Mayfield completed 17 of 23 attempts (73.9percent) for 201 yards and a 100.1 passer rating in a little more than a half.

By contrast, Taylor is completing only 48.8 percent of his passes and is rated at a very low 63.7 after three games. He has definitely under-performed for Cleveland after having led a poor Buffalo team to the playoffs in 2017 and a 22-20 overall record over three seasons there. It’s a bit of a mystery why his play has been so disappointing in Cleveland. In any case, the preliminary numbers greatly favor the rookie, and there is no doubt that he is the logical choice.

Sam Darnold is a different cat altogether because unlike Mayfield he has only two years of college football rather than four as the case for Mayfield. This business of skipping not one but two years of college is uncharted territory.

The Browns are champions of this approach, bringing in a 21-year-old Johnny Manziel who went 0-2 his first year, and then DeShone Kizer, who was the best 0-15 quarterback in the NFL last year. Twenty-one-year-old quarterbacks are like your little brother. They might grow up and surprise you later on, but for now, they are easy to beat up, fall for your tricks and are generally not much of a threat.

The New York Jets, who annually lead the NFL in hype, levied enormous expectations on Darnold, chortling that they had drafted the best player in the draft. Who knows, they might be right years down the road, but believing that he is better than Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater right now is a bit of a stretch. The young man began his career by throwing a pick-six (“Why that’s the exact same thing Brett Favre did!”), but the Jets still beat the tar out of Detroit in Game 1.

The Jets may, in fact, be proven correct eventually, but for now, they look like a foolish team that started a too-young quarterback before he was ready. He has gone 1-2 with 3 TDs and 5 INTs and a rating of 72.0. That’s not very good.

In Buffalo, Josh Allen became the starter because there was no other choice after the Bills’ other quarterbacks self-destructed. They signed A.J. McCarron in the offseason to replace Tyrod Taylor, but thought better of it, sending A. J. to Oakland before the start of the season. Meanwhile, their love affair with Nathan Peterman went sour. Peterman was famous for throwing 5 INTs in one half as the Bills got tired of Tyrod Taylor at one point last year.

After an entire offseason to improve, Peterman went 5-of-18 with 2 INTs to start the season and was quickly yanked. Allen also struggled at first, but broke through with a win over the highly regarded Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. The narrative that Allen was inaccurate in college is untrue, or at least no one can find film showing his inaccuracy over an entire game. Allen’s best receiver last year was a converted point guard from the basketball team. He will no doubt struggle in Year 1, but eventually, he will be a major success.

Josh Rosen went in for Sam Bradford on Sunday versus Chicago after Bradford turned the ball over three times. He was able to complete 5-of-7 passes but also threw an interception. Still, he has the stats, size, and arm to be an NFL quarterback, so if Bradford isn’t getting it done, there is no reason why Rosen shouldn’t start, effective immediately.

Lamar Jackson was the last quarterback drafted in Round 1 , drafted 32nd overall. He has played quarterback in the Wildcat formation for the Baltimore Ravens, and has also appeared in a Kordell “Slash” Stewart role alongside starter Joe Flacco. Jackson has not set the world on fire so far. In all, he’s rushed 9 times for 45 yards and is 1 for 4 passing for 24 yards.

In addition to the five first rounders, there are other qbs taken later on that might eventually find their way to the field in 2018.

Perhaps a guy who comes out of nowhere might be Mike White of the Cowboys. The former Western Kentucky Hilltopper has size and arm strength and enormous production in college. He performed very well at the Senior Bowl. Dak Prescott is the current starter, but given the enormous expectations that always exist in Dallas and only so-so production last year, it’s very possible that the Cowboys might make a move at some point.

Mason Rudolph is a tremendously accomplished college quarterback, with size, arm strength and accuracy, though currently third string in Pittsburgh. Likewise, the Giant’s Kyle Lauletta has also attracted positive attention, though the Giants are committed to Eli Manning for now.

The next generation of NFL quarterbacks is not only coming, it’s here.