Cleveland Browns News: Baker Mayfield ‘substantially better’ in Year two
By Dan Justik
The Daily Dawg Tags brings you all the Cleveland Browns news you need to know, including why Baker Mayfield is “substantially better” in his second season.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield had one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in NFL history in 2018, setting the record most passing touchdowns by a rookie.
After having a stellar a rookie year, there are a lot of expectations surrounding Mayfield and the Browns for 2019. In order to live up to those expectations, Mayfield is going to have to go to the next level of his development in his sophomore season.
With as many weapons he has on the field for 2019, that should not be a problem. But there are traits that Mayfield needs to grow at in order to use the weapons to the best of their ability.
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In today’s featured article, Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens explains where he is already seeing the development in Mayfield and that he is “substantially better” than in 2018.
Cleveland Browns News
"That and a good month of practice have Kitchens believing Mayfield will make a jump in Year 2.“Baker is substantially better at reading coverages, deciphering blitzes, fixing the protections and recognizing the blitzes,” Kitchens said. “He is better in a lot of areas.”"
Mayfield is going to have to take a jump in his sophomore season if the Browns are expecting to be playoff contenders. But if he is already growing his game and developing in areas that it takes some quarterbacks multiple to years to get better at, then the Cleveland offense should be in good shape.
Cleveland Browns shuffling the bottom of the deck
For the past several years, the Browns have made a lot of decisions across the entire roster when it came down to the final cut down day. But as Casey Kinnamon notes, the Browns are going to make a lot of changes only at the bottom of the roster this year.
"“It hurts him not to be around there because if you can be around your teammates, that can help you keep a positive attitude, and that definitely helps,’’ Mayfield told the Associated Press after a press conference to announce his endorsement deal with Progressive Insurance. “So that’s tough to hear.’’"
Although it would have been beneficial for Kareem Hunt to be in the Browns building during his suspension, it would have been difficult for the NFL to make an exception from their policy for one player. So with Hunt out of the building for his suspension, his impact upon return may be not as great as it could have been had he been allowed in the building.
Next. 3 Browns with jobs on the line in Preseason finale. dark
Browns still viewed as favorites to win the AFC North
The Cleveland Browns have been surrounded with a lot of expectations since acquiring Odell Beckham Jr. in March. And with the regular season starting in just over a week, the Browns are still seen as the favorites to win the AFC North in 2019.