Baker Mayfield is changing the narrative on his turnovers

Baker Mayfield is no longer an easily rattled, turnover-prone quarterback.

It has been well documented that Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield struggled early in his career with turning the ball over. Turnovers had been one of the major stains on his career for two years.

In Mayfield’s rookie season, he threw 14 interceptions in the same amount of games. He showed, in his inaugural season, that he could perform at a high level, but that didn’t change the fact that the interceptions were worrisome.

Next season, Mayfield fell into a sophomore slump in the Freddie Kitchens offense. He started all 16 games that year and threw 21 interceptions on the season (second-worst in the NFL). Much of this blame could be shifted to Kitchens’ poor play calling and long developing routes that left Mayfield under constant duress. Mayfield was also playing behind an offensive line that was one of the worst in the NFL, which certainly didn’t help.

During the offseason, the Browns hired Kevin Stefanski to be their new head coach. Stefanski ran an offense in Minnesota that was focused on the run and exploiting the defense on play-action. The Stefanski playbook suits Baker Mayfield way more than the Freddie Kitchens offense did.

New general manager Andrew Berry also brought in a pair of offensive tackles. The Browns signed Jack Conklin during the free agency period and selected Jedrick Wills Jr. with their first-round pick. These two tackles, along with the emergence of Wyatt Teller, have turned the Browns offensive line from a laughingstock to a powerhouse.

In 2019, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry were both struggling with injuries for most of the season which limited some of their playmaking ability. Over the offseason, they both decided to have surgeries to repair their injuries and looked better this season. The Browns also decided to re-sign Rashard Higgins and bring back the wideout who Mayfield has so much chemistry with.

Prior to the 2019 season, Mayfield spent a lot of time in the news, whether it was from something he said in a press conference or his latest Progressive commercial, his face was everywhere. That, however, was not the case this offseason. Mayfield laid low and worked on his craft and the results are showing up on the field.

Baker Mayfield is no longer the turnover-prone young quarterback he was in the first two seasons. He is now a great decision-maker who is ready to lead the Browns offense on a playoff run.

In Mayfield’s first two seasons he finished near the bottom of the NFL in INT percentage (percentage of pass attempts that are intercepted). This season, Mayfield has lowered his percentage to just two percent and is in the top half of the league in that stat. It’s evident that Mayfield is making better decisions and has improved his game in totality this season.

Baker Mayfield is proving to be a successful quarterback capable of winning big games in this new Browns offense and it appears like the sky is the limit for how much they can succeed in the coming seasons.

Mayfield has had most of the things go right this year that went wrong in his first two seasons and there is only one conclusion that can be drawn from this: Baker Mayfield is a good quarterback in the right offense and can continue to win games for the Browns as they continue to improve around him.