The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayfield isn’t a cookie cutter quarterback
A lot about Baker Mayfield, way more than just being undersized, doesn’t fit the cookie cutter image of an NFL quarterback.
Mayfield, chosen first overall by the Browns in the draft last week, doesn’t play golf. He was a walk-on at Texas Tech, a walk-on at Oklahoma after transferring, and he didn’t follow the trend from the past few years of hiring a quarterback tutor to prepare him for the NFL Scouting Combine and ultimately the draft.
Sam Darnold of Southern Cal and Josh Allen of Wyoming, chosen third by the Jets and seventh by the Bills respectively last week, were coached up in their draft preparation by Jordan Palmer, a former NFL quarterback with precious little game experience.
“I‘m not a QB guru kind of guy,” Mayfield, 6-foot-5/8, said on May 4 in Berea on the first day of rookie minicamp. “I don’t think you can re-invent the wheel. I think that the ones that have been through it and have played the game are the ones that I would definitely bounce the most questions off of.
“For me, it’s about perfecting my craft. It isn’t about going somewhere on a beach and doing a beach workout. It’s about learning this playbook, being able to play in the weather and being a good teammate.”
Don’t get the idea Mayfield thinks he knows everything, but rather than get mentored by Tom House, a former major league pitcher who has turned tutoring quarterbacks into a lucrative business, Mayfield is leaning on former NFL quarterback Chad Pennington for help.
“He was at the Senior Bowl, and we sat through meetings,” Mayfield said. “He’s a part of the NFL Legends community. At the combine, within my group, he was my guy and was just around him a bunch. I got his number and talked to him and bounced a lot of things off of him.
“He said the same things about when you get (to the NFL), go to work. The things that have gotten you here obviously have worked for you, but don’t let it stop now. You haven’t made it yet. That’s the mentality you have to have. It doesn’t matter where I got drafted; you have to start over.”
The rookies were forced to practice in the fieldhouse on May 4 because of rain and the threat of thunderstorms. Mayfield showed a deft touch on deep passes when his receivers were going one-on-one with a defensive back. Likewise, he rifled the ball on target on crossing routes. Some errant throws bounced off the turf.
“Obviously, he displayed he can throw the football,” Coach Hue Jackson said after practice. “There are some things we’ve got to clean up. We can’t have the ball on the ground as much.”
Mayfield looked more comfortable when plays started with him in the shotgun, which is no surprise since he was in the shotgun at Oklahoma.
Mayfield needs repetitions taking snaps directly under center because he mishandled a snap during team drills. To accelerate the process,
the rookie stayed in the fieldhouse with rookie secondround pick Austin Corbett after most players left practice and fumbled another snap.
“He’s going to work at it, like you can see him right now staying after working at that,” Jackson said. “We’ll work at this. I think it’s going to be a quick fix because he’s athletic enough and he’s disciplined enough to do it. So I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
The only other quarterback in rookie minicamp is Joel Stave, a well-traveled practice squad player. That will change during OTAs later this month when Mayfield and veteran Tyrod Taylor are together.
Taylor and Mayfield met for the first time last week as the rookies joined the offseason program. Jackson is sticking with his vow to make Taylor the starter. Mayfield says he’s fine with that.
“It’s not about individuals.” Mayfield said. “They brought both him and me in because we’re both team-oriented guys. He’s the starter, and all I can do is help us out. When you get a guy like that, it helps out the locker room in just the best way possible.
“He’s a grinder. He comes in early and he’s the last one to leave. I can only aspire to be like that. It’s not going to be something that separates the locker room. We’re not going to be fighting over who’s the man in the locker room. I am a team-oriented guy. We just want to win.”
Taylor is 22-20 as a starter in the NFL, all with the Buffalo Bills. Mayfield was 33-3 as a starter at Oklahoma.