Is there really a rift between Baker Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski?
By Greg Newland
What’s the alleged problem with Baker Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski?
Playcalling has been frustrating for fans all season, so you can only imagine how Baker Mayfield feels about it. Not only has he been put in far too many thirds and longs, it feels like the team just doesn’t want to utilize Nick Chubb as they should.
Far too often this team lines up in 13 personnel (One wide receiver and three tight ends) and runs an outside zone for a two-yard loss. If I had a dollar for every single time this happened in 2021, I could buy myself a fantastic lunch on behalf of Stefanski.
What do we all remember Mayfield being so successful at in 2020? Handing the ball off to Chubb, and then the next play using play action and getting him out of the pocket to throw the ball downfield.
This strategy not only helps keep the defense honest on run plays, it allows Mayfield to have a condensed field and only a few reads. It’s either option one or two from a passing standpoint, and then it moves to can I run for a few yards, or do I throw this thing out of bounds.
We have all seen throughout his four years of playing, Mayfield is never going to be a guy that can line up in the shotgun and throw the ball 60 times and be successful. There’s nothing wrong with that, Stefanski just needs to utilize his quarterback a little bit better.
Full disclosure, injuries to Mayfield, and the offensive line could all be major factors on why the offense looked so different. I would still argue he never gave his offense a chance to succeed.