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Cleveland Browns must change way they protect Baker

By Joel W. Cade

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 30: Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns calls a play at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 30: Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns calls a play at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 29: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 29: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The Browns should short set

Why does Baker Mayfield lock on targets and escape from clean pockets? Conventional approaches to this question have focused on his eyes and his ability to process information. But these approaches fail to connect how pass protection issues are disrupting those processes.

Reality is that if a quarterback is not comfortable with the pass protection, he will make bad decisions and do all sorts of crazy things. NFL teams understand this and pay outrageous sums of money to people who can affect the quarterback in this way.

Right now, Mayfield does not trust his protection. When defenders are out of his peripheral vision, he gets nervous. When tackles run defenders out of his sight, Baker becomes uncomfortable.

The best thing the Browns can do to help Baker Mayfield is changing the protection scheme. Get rid of the pocket protection scheme and use dish protection. Short setting keeps him comfortable. He can see the field more accurately over linemen, he can see the rush coming using his peripheral vision and he can improvise better when he sees the rush.

Mayfield showed as such against the Baltimore Ravens when the Browns primarily used short setting and play action schemes. Keeping the action in front of Baker helped him tremendously. Here are the Baltimore Ravens highlights. Notice how the tackles short set most of the game.

The Browns learned this last year with Mayfield. Last year under then offensive coordinator Todd Haley and former head coach Hue Jackson, the Browns ran a lot of deep routes using pocket protection. But when Kitchens became the offensive coordinator, things changed.

Uncanny parallel between Baker and Favre. dark. Next

A year ago, I wrote a piece making this very same suggestion. Last season after the bye week, to my complete shock, the Browns switched to dish protection. The result was a more comfortable Mayfield, less hits, less sacks and overall improved play at the position. It is time the Browns went back to dish protection, for Mayfield’s sake.

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