Cleveland, OH (92.3 The Fan) – The buzz surrounding Baker Mayfield’s potential selection by the Cleveland Browns with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft is real.
It’s not a last-minute smokescreen by general manager John Dorsey even though the headlines Tuesday morning might make you think otherwise, or that this Mayfield stuff was breaking news.
It’s not.
The possibility of Mayfield becoming a Brown has been real since Dorsey was hired on Dec. 7, 2017.
Dorsey, who scouted Mayfield extensively last fall in person while looking for his next job, has seriously considered using that first pick on the Oklahoma QB.
He’s also had the same serious discussions and thoughts about using that first pick on Josh Allen of Wyoming and USC’s Sam Darnold.
It’s part of this process, which has likely concluded by now.
Dorsey was expected to wrap up his pre-draft meetings with the special teams staff on Tuesday – mostly in preparation for the race to secure undrafted rookie free agents Saturday night and into Sunday because those players will likely play on special teams, assuming they make the team.
The draft work – at least the early rounds – is done and has been for a few days.
And it’s not hard to figure out through the process of elimination who the pick at 1 will be.
There has been very little buzz about Josh Rosen, and that is telling. It does not appear that Rosen is in serious consideration. Durability – a shoulder injury and concussions – along with this unanswered, specifics-lacking narrative that has hovered above the UCLA QB like a black cloud appear to have him off the Browns’ board at 1.
That leaves Mayfield, Darnold and Allen.
The questions about Mayfield’s maturity and ability to be the leader and face of a franchise are legitimate and real. They matter more than his size. The Browns have done extensive background checks on every quarterback, including Mayfield. While what they’ve been able to learn about them is not clear, if there is something to be concerned about, not only does Dorsey know but he won’t take a risk that big on a player that wants to be the exception to the rule like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
Allen has spent this offseason working on his footwork and mechanics. His arm is easy to fall in love with. Watching him throw a football effortlessly 80 yards is a sight to behold. Him throwing the 15-20-yard routes has not been. The 56.2 percent completion rate over 3 seasons is just too much to look past. While a case can be made about his supporting cast this past season, he still completed just 56 percent of his passes the previous year. To expect he’ll just flip the switch and add 10 percent to his completion percentage with flawless mechanics at the NFL level is wishful thinking at best.
That brings us to Darnold, who checks all the boxes, with one exception – turnovers. Darnold threw 22 interceptions and fumbled 20 times – 14 of them lost – in 2 seasons as a starter for the Trojans. If there’s a facet of a quarterback’s game that teams believe can be corrected, it is turnovers. Darnold, who completed 64.9 percent of his passes, is thought to be mature beyond his years with intangible leadership qualities that every NFL team covets.
Dorsey has talked extensively in recent days about trusting his eyes and what he sees on film above opinions and analysis.
Sift through the smoke and read between the lines, all signs still point to Darnold being the pick Thursday night.
That’s the real buzz.
