Cleveland Browns: What are the new coaches plan for Baker Mayfield?

Now that the Cleveland Browns have a new head coach and offensive coordinator, the plan for Baker Mayfield seems to be much different.

The Cleveland Browns fired Hue Jackson and Todd Haley following last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers after the team has not looked good over the past several weeks.

The organization then made defensive coordinator Gregg Williams the interim head coach and promoted Freddie Kitchens to offensive coordinator after starting the season as the running backs coach.

During his first press conference, Kitchens made it known that for him, the development of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield is of the ‘utmost importance’.

More from Dawg Pound Daily

Over the past couple of weeks, Mayfield has been taking a beating. His offensive line is not giving him enough time to wait for his receivers to get open, and that has led to Mayfield being sacked 20 times in six games.

A big reason for that is in Haley’s offense, a lot of the play-calls were longer developing plays, intended for the receivers to make double moves and break free deep.

But the Browns do not have the offensive tackles needed to give the receivers that much time to make those moves. And for that matter, they do not have the wide receivers that can make those plays.

So, how are things going to change under Williams and Kitchens? According to Albert Breer from the MMQB, the Browns plan on doing anything possible to limit the hits on Mayfield the rest of the season.

"Baker Mayfield is going through his first coaching change just eight games, and five starts, into his NFL career. So what will change for him against Kansas City? My understanding is interim coach Gregg Williams’s new staff will make limiting hits on the rookie a priority, and creatively find ways to protect him and make him less of a sitting duck. And there will be a real effort to do more to get the run game going. – Albert Breer, MMQB"

Mayfield has excelled this season when throwing quick passes, while he has struggled on plays that take longer to develop. Should the Browns offense switch to making quicker passes, there is a good chance the offense will start moving the ball down the field easier.

The Browns may also start to use more designed roll outs to limit the hits on Mayfield. Instead of him sitting in the pocket and having the edge rushers dominate the Browns tackles and collapse the pocket, it may be better for right now to get Mayfield on the move.

Another way of limiting pressure on Mayfield is by having a strong run game. Edge rushers will not be able to get up-field on a pass rush as easily if they have to be concerned about getting gashed by the running back.

Since Nick Chubb took over as the starting running back, the Browns rushing offense has become more efficient. He can make guys miss, and that has created opportunities for big gains. So it would be beneficial to Mayfield if the new coaches can find ways to create bigger plays with the run game.

And with Kitchens previously being the running backs coach, he may want to get the backs more involved, especially Duke Johnson. He may also know of ways to help his backs excel instead of doing what Haley was doing.

Next. Gregg Williams is the right man, for right now. dark

Based on Breer’s report, it seems that the Browns offense is going to look much different under Kitchens. Don’t expect to see Mayfield sitting in the pocket while the pocket collapses anymore, as it seems the offense is about to start going to a quicker pace.

Home/Browns News