The No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft will start out as the Browns’ third QB on the depth chart head coach Hue Jackson said Saturday afternoon, reiterating that Tyrod Taylor will be their starter in 2018.
“He's got to work his way up. He's got to earn it,” Jackson said. “We're not going to give anybody anything. Draft status is just that. You've still got to earn the right to play for the Cleveland Browns and that's what we're going to create here.”
Jackson, who has been forced to put rookie quarterbacks on the field in each of the last 2 seasons that saw the Browns go 1-31, is reluctant to just turn the team over to another in 2018.
“I don't think you want to put a player out there too soon if they're not ready to go,” Jackson said. “We have the luxury to do that and make sure that Baker's in the right spot before we ever put him in that predicament.”
Mayfield’s competitive spirit is just 1 of many things the Browns absolutely love about the quarterback from Oklahoma but make no mistake about it, he’ll have to take the job from Tyrod Taylor.
“Anytime you draft a quarterback at No. 1 overall everyone wants to see him play, but I've made a true commitment to our football team, Tyrod Taylor's going to be the starter,” Jackson said. “Baker's going to compete, however that unfolds it unfolds, but right now Tyrod is the starter. If Baker can understand the National Football League and all the rigors and the grinding that you have to go through, I'm not going to ever stop a player from being the best he can be, but we have a plan and I want to work that plan as much as we can. Now, can a player supersede that? You never know. I haven't had that happen, but right now this team is going to be led by Tyrod Taylor.”
Jackson admitted that he wasn’t sold on the 6-0 5/8 Mayfield until after their private workout on March 22 and visit to Berea on April 3.
“I’m being very honest. It started at the combine, just talking to him and listening to some of the things he said, and I go, ‘okay, well that still didn’t convince me yet,’” Jackson said. “And then going down and working him out in Norman and working him and spending that time in Norman and watching him with his teammates and how he throws the football. The football jumps off his arm. He has a quick arm, he’s very accurate with the ball, and from there, then obviously spending some more time when he came here.
“Baker Mayfield is from a football IQ standpoint, is as good as I’ve been around. He has a tremendous arm talent, moreso than I think anybody knows. Obviously, he’s proven he’s very accurate with the football and I really think he’s a tremendous leader, so he really has a lot of qualities that we look for and I think it’s now somewhat coming out that a lot of people had him as their best quarterback.”
While Jackson has said on multiple occasions that 6-2 is his cutoff for quarterbacks in the height department, Mayfield's talent makes it worth making an exception to his golden rule.
“This is not a cookie cutter situation when you’re trying to find the right quarterback that fits for you,” Jackson said. “There are things that you’re very bullish on and this has got to be there, but there’s also things when you keep watching the tape, you have to let the tape tell the story for you and if you watch his tape, it says it all. The guy can play quarterback and play it well.”
Jackson is hoping that someday soon Mayfield will play just as well for the Browns.