Top 5 Cleveland Browns storylines to watch in 2020
By Randy Gurzi
2. Which Baker will we see?
As a rookie, Baker Mayfield was exciting to watch. He displayed great pocket awareness, delivered an accurate deep ball, and had a rocket for an arm. He was also fearless and most importantly, he had the team competitive in every game and led them to a 5-3 finish once the team moved on from Hue Jackson.
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That raised the bar for him in terms of expectations this past season but sadly, Mayfield fell flat. He saw his completion percentage drop while throwing for fewer yards and touchdowns and adding seven more interceptions to his final totals. It was a season to forget and the Browns hope to prove that his performance as a sophomore was the anomaly.
One of the biggest reasons they signed Kevin Stefanski as the head coach was his work with Kirk Cousins, who had the most efficient season of his career under Stefanski in 2019. The hope out of the front office is that Stefanski, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, can put together a much better gameplan that will keep Mayfield comfortable.
The question will be whether or not Mayfield is able to take advantage of a coaching staff that wants to build their offense around him. While he has had plenty of success during his collegiate career — and as a rookie — Mayfield still has to prove he can do it consistently in the NFL.
Until he proves the doubters wrong, this will be one of the major storylines to follow with the Cleveland Browns this season.