Cleveland Browns Baker Mayfield may surge in the second half again
A huge step back in 2019 for both Baker and the Browns
Expectations were sky-high, based on the notion that swashbuckling Freddie Kitchens, who had been promoted from running backs coach to offensive coordinator, would be the new head coach. The thinking was that Kitchens was responsible for the enormous improvement in passing offense, rather than defensive expert Gregg Williams. General manager John Dorsey loaded the roster with high salary players, including superstar Odell Beckham, Jr., defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, defensive end Olivier Vernon, plus offensive linemen Kendall Lamm, Eric Kush, and Wyatt Teller. Mayfield was counted on to lead a record-shattering Browns offense under the direction of Kitchens.
In theory, this was not a brand-new offense, since Kitchens was the offensive coordinator the previous season. Nevertheless, the Browns came crashing to earth and Mayfield had a horrible first half of the season.
How bad was it? To put it in perspective, Mayfield’s 71.3 passer rating over the first eight games was lower than Johnny Manziel’s career rating of 74.4. These numbers get you kicked out of the league, even if you don’t drink champagne while floating on inflatable waterfowl. Make no mistake, Mayfield’s numbers were that bad. Perhaps they missed the behind-the-scenes contribution of quarterback coach Ken Zampese. In any case, something was way wrong with the offensive game plans. How does a player put up numbers like Brady for half a season and then worse than Manziel the next half-season after adding a superstar wide receiver?
Nevertheless, Kitchen’s team and Mayfield showed significant improvement over the course of the season. After a 2-6 start, the second half of the season the team went 4-4. Mayfield performed much better, with a passer rating nearly 15 points higher than the first half of the season. Kitchens deserves credit for professional growth as a coach, but by then it was too late. He had lost the team.
At this point, Dee Haslam insisted that Paul DePodesta should be the person making the most important hires. Hence, Andrew Berry is now managing the salary cap and acquiring players and doing a very good job of it, by the way. Analytics-based Kevin Stefanski is instituting a ball-control, run-first offense for 2020 which recognizes the talents of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
YEAR W L Com/g Att/g Cmp% Yds/g Td/g Int/G RATE Yd/INT TD/Int S/g
2019-1 2 6 19.9 33.9 58.7% 245 0.88 1.50 71.3 164 22.88 2.88
2019-2 4 4 19.8 33.4 60.1% 233 1.88 1.13 86.4 207 12.75 2.13
TOTAL 6 10 19.8 33.4 59.4% 239 1.38 1.31 78.8 182 1.05 2.50