Can Baker Mayfield Become the Savior of the Cleveland Browns?

If you’ve been paying attention to recent football news, you’d know that with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Baker Mayfield, quarterback out of Oklahoma. All around the city of Cleveland, Browns fans had looks of confusion and murmurs filled the room. Why, out of all the quarterbacks on the board, would the Browns take Baker Mayfield. Not only did the Browns have their choice as to who would finally be the franchise signal caller did they so desperately need, but they picked the kid with the most question marks to his name out of everybody in the whole draft. He has major character issues (a blatantly obvious fact considering he gestured a crotch grab to the Kansas Jayhawks, get arrested for a drunken disorderly conduct, stick the Oklahoma flag in the middle of the Ohio State gridiron moments after capturing a victory, and much more) and lacks the size to be a successful NFL starting quarterback. Every sign points to Mayfield not succeeding in the NFL. But people forget that this kid has a major chip on his shoulder and has had it ever since entering the world of college ball. Time and time again he has proved doubters wrong… so what makes us think that he won’t do it again?

Baker was kinda drafted into a really good situation. For the first time in a long time the Cleveland Browns actually have a good football team. They recently traded for Pro-Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry, they signed running back Carlos Hyde and drafted running back Nick Chubb out of Georgia, they drafted lockdown cornerback Denzel Ward out of Ohio State, and they have a blooming superstar in defensive end Myles Garrett. Baker also has the opportunity to learn the quarterback game behind Tyrod Taylor, a mobile quarterback who was some similarities in his game to Baker’s. The only thing Mayfield has to do is learn to work with talent and pick up the differences between the college game and the pro game. But knowing Mr. Mayfield his attitude might become something that he brings to the pro level as well. And to be frank, it just might help him.

All-Pro football players need to have a certain level of confidence in order to succeed, quarterbacks in particular. If a QB isn’t confident in himself, it spells disaster. And if you really think about it, all of the great players have or had some attitude to them that translated onto the field in a positive way: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Odell Beckham Jr, Deion Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, and more. You need to have an edge to you in order to be somebody in this league and Baker has just that and then some. At time he may need some help keeping himself in check, but his passion for the game will help elevate not just his game, but the players around him as well. And if there’s anybody who would have the rugged, “tough guy” attitude that the city of Cleveland needs, it’s none other than Baker Mayfield. His attitude is an accurate portrayal of the city of Cleveland as a whole: trying to prove every single doubter wrong while carrying a chip on their shoulder. Baker is Cleveland and Cleveland is Baker, it’s a match made in heaven.

If there’s one person to lead the city of Cleveland out of their pit of nearly endless despair, it’s Baker Mayfield. He has the attitude, he has the tools, he has the weapons around him, and he has the killer instinct. If you’re one of those people who think Baker’s game won’t be able to transition to the next level, just consider yourself as another person on his list of doubters that he will work tirelessly to prove wrong.