3 Cleveland Browns who should have been in the Top-100

1. Baker Mayfield, Quarterback

Like John Johnson, Baker Mayfield was mentioned in the “just missed” category by Pete Prisco but should he have really been on the outside looking in? Well, to answer that, let’s look at some players who did make the list that Mayfield has had more success than.

Joe Burrow came in at No. 95 and Kyler Murray was 94th. Both players have been No. 1 overall picks in the years following Mayfield going No. 1. They’re also incredibly talented but have yet to lead their teams to winning seasons whereas Baker was five points from the AFC Championship Game last season with a receiving corps that was being held in check by Kansas City.

There was also Kirk Cousins at 93 — and a case could be made that Mayfield was better in 2020 even with Cousins tossing more yards. The biggest reason is that Cousins had Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen whereas Mayfield lost one of his top receivers in Odell Beckham, Jr. in Week 7 and outside of Jarvis Landry, there weren’t any other players sniffing the top-100 at receiver for Cleveland.

And this is just looking at quarterbacks, and not even getting into the fact that Ezekiel Elliott made it after an awful season, and Garrett Bolles was placed at 74.

So why was Baker Mayfield shunned?

Simple — everyone still wants to judge him for the 2019 debacle. While it was clear that Freddie Kitchens and John Dorsey were blamed by the powers that be for things going south, the narrative that Mayfield failed continues to follow him despite his huge leap in 2020.

Having said that, this isn’t a bad thing. The truth is, Mayfield plays at his best when he’s being doubted, so let’s hope he keeps getting overlooked so that we can all continue to enjoy him silencing the critics.