The number one overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft QB Baker Mayfield is expected to make his preseason debut on Thursday night against the Giants. While Browns QB Tyrod Taylor is expected to be the starter for Cleveland in 2018, Mayfield is expected to be the franchise quarterback moving forward. Cleveland has started 28 different quarterbacks since 1999.
Some have questioned the Brown’s decision to draft the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner number one, but according to one of his former teammates at Oklahoma, Jaguars WR Dede Westbrook, the Browns made the right move:
“Big-time plays. Baker’s a baller. I’m not just saying that because I played with him,” Westbrook told the Go4it podcast host Paul Gant. “I took a step back, and I was trying to see what all the critics were saying. Trying to see what they see. You ask me after watching the tape and watching him play, he’s a passionate guy who loves the game of football, and regardless of anything me and him have ever been through, he’s a baller. He knows how to win, so if you pretty much want to win football games, that’s the guy you need in your lineup.”
High praise from Westbrook. Mayfield, 23, made a lot of plays in college, but some have questioned whether his height(6’1) could be an issue on the next level, and some have questioned whether he will be an issue off the field after his arrest in 2017, but he is young and young people make mistakes.
Mayfield is not a slam dunk pick for the Browns, but the organization thinks he is the right guy. Hopefully, for Browns fans, he is more Bernie Kosar and less Johnny Manziel.
