Browns pass blocking is brutal and Baker Mayfield may not survive
Baker Mayfield is getting sacked a rate comparable to Justin FIelds and Zach Wilson.
It’s time to quit saying nice things about the Cleveland Browns offensive line. Partly due to injuries, players playing hurt, and others playing out of position, the team is going to get quarterback Baker Mayfield maimed or injured. He’s among the most sacked quarterbacks in the NFL.
The most sacked quarterback in the NFL is Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears, even though he got a late start due to coach Matt Nagy’s desire to make a playoff run with Andy Dalton. FIelds has gotten sacked at a frightening rate. His total number of sacks is 29, which is tied for the NFL league lead with Ryan Tannehill.
However, if you consider the ratio of pass attempts per sack (a derived stat by yours truly, using numbers from NFL.com), that probably tells us what we really want to know, namely, how many times can the quarterback put the ball in the air before he gets sacked?
FIelds can throw about 6.4 times on average before he gets sacked. That makes it obviously impossible for him to do his job.
Player Snaps per Sack Pass att/sack Total Sacks
- Justin Fields 16.2 6.4 29
- Baker Mayfield 20.8 9.5 26
- Zach Wilson 17.2 9.5 19
- Russell Wilson 19.9 10.3 16
- Davis Mills 19.4 10.5 20
- Ryan Tannehill 24.2 10.9 29
- Lamar Jackson 23.0 11.0 28
- Joe Burrow 21.4 11.4 25
- Teddy Bridgewater 22.7 11.9 27
- Jacoby Brissett 20.4 12.5 15
Baker Mayfield is the second most frequently sacked quarterback in terms of pass attempts per sack. He is number six on the basis of total snaps per sack, given that he is in a run-first offense. He’s headed for a 52-sack season at this rate.
It’s unlikely that he will make it to the end of the season should this continue.
No quarterback can be expected to have a good statistical year while taking 50 sacks per season, and most of the time, a sack rate like this is sufficient to land a quarterback on IR. Lamar Jackson might survive it because of his Asgardian heritage, but normal human quarterbacks wear down from that much mano y mano combat in the trenches.
Tannehill might also survive because he is a converted wide receiver. However, Mayfield, Fields, Zach Wilson, and Russell Wilson are taking too many hits.
Pro Bowl tackle Jack Conklin has been out with an injured elbow as well as a bad knee. Blake Hance has filled in. He has a future in the NFL – as a guard. The Browns want him on the team, but there’s a major difference between Pro Bowl Conklin and Hance subbing. Long-term, rookie James Hudson III should definitely step up and claim this job. Thus far, he is not able to beat out converted guard Hance, however.
On the left side, Jed Wills has been playing hurt with a sprained ankle and has been unable to carry out offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s zone blocking scheme the way it was intended. Opposing defensive ends are able to outmaneuver Wills.
If you are wondering why we have not seen more of tight ends David Njoku and Austin Hooper, a lot has to do with the need to have them stay home and help out with blocking.
So what should the Browns do about it? They have no choice but to run the football, and operate the dink and dunk, because if they don’t, Baker Mayfield is going to get killed. They would like to see the five-step drop and deep ball to Donovan Peoples-Jones, Jarvis Landry, and Odell Beckham, Jr. (when he was here), but the deep drops are just not viable.
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They need plenty of touches for both Nick Chubb and D’Ernest Johnson, and we want to see Andy Janovich, John Kelly, and Demetric Felton spread the workload.