Mayfield for Heisman?
What about for the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft? It might happen.
Thirteen NFL teams sent representatives to scout the Bedlam game last weekend. Was it a Baker’s dozen? Seems unlikely that all of those teams were there to get an up-close look at Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. A couple of the teams, after all, have quarterbacks in their prime or in the early days of promising careers.
And yet, there were plenty of teams in need of a quarterback immediately or in the nottoo-distant future that dispatched observers to Stillwater.
Baker for Heisman?
That seems a foregone conclusion; it’s his to lose at this point, and this guy simply doesn’t lose.
But what about Baker as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft?
Scuttlebutt around the league indicates that top spot might be unlikely. If nothing else, the right team with the right need would have to be there to take Mayfield. But at the same time, the Sooner signal caller going first isn’t completely out of the question.
This much is certain — NFL types are extremely intrigued by him.
“Mayfield has generated heat with scouts over the last month,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote in his latest mock draft where he had Mayfield being taken by New Orleans late in the first round. “I think he could go Top 15. Or he could go in the third round, which is to say he’s polarizing.”
The reason? Height.
Since his high school days, Mayfield has been listed at 6-foot-1, and that may very well be true. I’m a bad predictor of such things. I’m fairly short. Everyone is tall from where I’m standing.
So, I asked our talented and tall OU beat writer Brooke Pryor what she thought about Mayfield’s listed height. She says she stands 5-10 and is fairly even with Mayfield.
He may have an inch on her, she said, but not three.
The NFL types will measure such things eventually, and we will know Mayfield’s true height, but even if he measures at 6-1, he’ll still be on the small side of pro quarterbacks.
Mayfield’s size and style and skills have drawn comparisons to a couple current NFL quarterbacks — Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
Both of those guys are in the Six-Foot-And-Under Club, but both are in the Super Bowl Champs Club, too. Yet, for every Brees and Wilson, there are half a dozen undersized quarterbacks who didn’t make it, who were great in college but couldn’t replicate that success in the pros.
Pro Football Weekly’s Greg Gabriel wrote that “if it wasn’t for Mayfield’s lack of ideal height, he would easily be the first quarterback drafted next spring.”
But Gabriel emphasized repeatedly that Mayfield’s height won’t be a deal-breaker for every club.
That’s because Mayfield grades so darn highly in so many areas. Pro Football Focus gives him the best overall grade of any draft-eligible quarterback, taking into consideration not only factors such as completion percentage and how he handles the blitz but also more intricate details such as his accuracy on short, intermediate and deep throws.
Of the factors on which those overall grades are based, Mayfield ranks first or second on seven of nine.
No, he isn’t perfect. In Bedlam, for example, he got sacked five times. NFL teams will want him to be much better about getting rid of the ball and avoiding big losses.
His second pick of the
game might’ve been an eyebrow raiser for NFL scouts, too. Oklahoma State linebacker Chad Whitener snagged the ball when Mayfield failed to recognize underneath coverage.
Still, when the NFL’s talent evaluators and decision makers look at Mayfield, they see lots more good than bad.
“Yes, he’s short. Yes, he plays a schoolyard style,” Sports Illustated’s Breer wrote. “And yes, he’s answering a lot of questions NFL teams had on him on the way to the Heisman ceremony.”
Baker Mayfield may well be turning himself from the most intriguing player in the draft to the most desirable.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.