Cleveland Browns: Offensive line is disrespected
By Joel W. Cade
Baker Improves
Third, the development of Baker Mayfield. Baker comes from an “Air Raid” (as if that is even definable anymore) system. The version at Oklahoma blended traditional Air Raid plays with some pro-style passing concepts.
Baker’s first half game against the New York Jets saw him push the ball down the field. This style is typical of an Air Raid quarterback. Look deep first. Then look intermediate. Then look short. Baker has continued this style.
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Baker gets into trouble and has bad games when he decides he is going to throw the ball downfield. He gets impatient waiting for the play to open up. He will push the ball into windows that are not there. Case in point, the Houston Texans game. In the first half, he kept trying to push the ball. But in the second half, he began hitting the shorter routes which opened up the long ball.
Over the past few weeks, he has figured out the game. He knows that he cannot sling it downfield nonstop. He must also hit the short and intermediate routes. He needs to hit those short routes to open up the shot plays.
Better quarterback play means teams cannot simply rush the quarterback to create pressure. Once defenses learned that Baker will make them pay for blitzing (which he has), teams are starting to back off the pressure.
The latest scheme is the man blitz. Teams are blitzing him while playing tight man to man on the dump off routes. But Baker will figure this out as well.