Windsor Star

Browns put future in the hands of a cocky and charismati­c QB — again

Cleveland takes Mayfield first overall at draft, ignoring comparison­s to Manziel

- TOM WITHERS

The Cleveland Browns believe all Baker Mayfield has in common with Johnny Manziel are height and a Heisman. After months of dissection and debate, the Browns selected Mayfield, Oklahoma’s cocky and charismati­c quarterbac­k, with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft Thursday, a somewhat surprising selection by a team that figured to play it safe with such an important decision.

But coming off a 0-16 season, the Browns are betting Mayfield is a better player than USC’s Sam Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen or UCLA’s Josh Rosen, a talented group regarded as the top QB class in years. Darnold went No. 3 to the New York Jets, while the Buffalo Bills traded up to No. 7 to land Allen, and the Arizona Cardinals moved to No. 10 to pick Rosen. The Browns followed Mayfield’s selection with another surprise, taking Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward. Cleveland was thought to be high on North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb, but instead opted for the speedy Ward, who skipped his senior season with the Buckeyes to turn pro. Mayfield may have been college football’s top player last season, when he passed for 4,627 yards, 43touchdow­nsandwonth­eHeisman Trophy. But the 23-year-old is undersized (he’s just over six feet tall), and there are questions about his character following a 2017 arrest and some on-field antics which included him grabbing his crotch in a game at Kansas. Those antics have led to the inevitable comparison­s to Manziel, who was selected by the Browns in the first round in 2014 and flopped on the field while partying his way out of the league.

New Browns general manager John Dorsey has been enamoured with Mayfield for some time, and believes his competitiv­eness will eventually resolve the team’s decades-long quarterbac­k dilemma. Cleveland has started 28 quarterbac­ks since 1999.

Last week, Dorsey defended Mayfield’s character and called him “a pleasant fella. He is pretty sharp. He is fine. I have no problems with him.”

Still, Mayfield was seen as a longshot to go to the Browns before word leaked out in recent days that Dorsey had the support of assistant GM Eliot Wolf and Scot McCloughan, the former San Francisco and Washington GM now working with Cleveland as a consultant, to make the pick. Mayfield, who went 33-6 as a three-year starter for the Sooners, is the fifth quarterbac­k taken in the first round by the Browns in their expansion era — and first since Manziel.

And although he may be Cleveland’s quarterbac­k of the future, the present belongs to Tyrod Taylor, who was acquired by the Browns in a trade from Buffalo. Coach Hue Jackson has already said Taylor is his starter in 2018, andtheplan­isforanyro­okietosit and learn.

That might be tough for Mayfield, who walked on at Texas Tech but left the school before transferri­ng to Oklahoma, where he became a legendary player and smashed most of the school’s career passing records.

It might be daunting to join a team that has gone 1-31 the past two seasons and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002. But at this year’s NFL combine, Mayfield said he’sthemanfor­theBrowns. “I think if anybody’s going to turn that franchise around it would be me,” he said. “They’re close. They’re very close. They have the right pieces. I think they just need one guy, a quarterbac­k to make that difference.”

This is the second straight year the Browns have picked first. Cleveland addressed a major defensive need and selected defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick a year ago. But while Garrett is quiet and somewhat introverte­d, Mayfield craves attention and loves the camera.

On the eve of the draft, Mayfield recreated an iconic photo of Brett Favre lying in his home bedroom when the future Hall of Fame quarterbac­k got the phone call from the Atlanta Falcons in 1991 that they had drafted him. Mayfield copied details in Favre’s photo right down to wearing jean shorts.

He’s also the subject of a new documentar­y series entitled, Behind Baker, which has given fans a closer look at his life leading up to the draft.

 ?? RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES ?? NFL Commission­er Roger Goodell walks past a video board displaying an image of quarterbac­k Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma after he was picked No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium Thursday in...
RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES NFL Commission­er Roger Goodell walks past a video board displaying an image of quarterbac­k Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma after he was picked No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium Thursday in...

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