Baker Mayfield would be a mistake for Browns

Baker Mayfield

New Cleveland Browns General Manager John Dorsey has been receiving rave reviews since taking over the front office for the most hapless franchise in the National Football League.

He has provided the Browns rabid and hopelessly optimistic fan base a reason to tepidly continue their support of their beloved franchise, but if he was to draft Baker Mayfield in the first round of Thursday April 26 NFL draft all of that giddy hope would fly by the seat of the Dawgs in the pound.

A recent report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter indicated that Dorsey is “definitely” in consideration for the Browns.

Mayfield reminds me of another highly touted run-option quarterback the Browns selected a few years ago with red flags of character concerns and we all know how that turned out.

Can you say Johnny Manziel? There are almost identical players and one can argue that Manziel was better with the most upside. Both were run first and pass second signal callers with mid range accuracy and presented real concerns on whether they could sustain the brutal hits they out be subjected to outside the pocket in the NFL.

Now this could be another draft week smoke screen, but the cloud that hovers over this draft for the Browns is dark on a typical Northeast Ohio winter day, and if they don’t get this one right it is all but over for the franchise.

Mayfield would not be a good idea even if the Browns traded down in the draft and there are two franchise quarterbacks in this draft and both hail from Los Angeles.

He planted the Oklahoma flag in the middle of Ohio State’s field after his team’s big win there; the apology for his arrest in Arkansas following a drunken encounter with law enforcement officials; his whole telling-Baylor-players-he-would-spank-them thing; and his apology for telling Kansas fans to “stick to basketball,” later followed a crotch grabbing gesture. The signs are all on the wall for Mayfield to become another Manziel. Don’t subject the Browns to this again.

Josh Rosen of UCLA has been consider a top flight NFL quarterback since he graduated from St John Bosco High School where he was rated as the best football player in the nation in 2014.

When he arrived on the campus in Westwood there was speculation that he could be the best Bruins quarterback ever, better than even Troy Aikman. He did disappoint, earning Pac 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Pac 12 New Comer of the Year and being selected to the prestigious All America squad.

The 6’4 rangy Rosen has all of the tools you look for in a super star NFL quarterback, size, accuracy, ability to stay in the pocket and take the hit to get the ball down field and a rocket of an arm to out throw the coverage’s that he will face.

If he had not taken so many hits and suffered so many concussions during this three-year career at UCLA, there would not even be a conversation as to who the No. 1 pick would be.

Sam Darnold out of USC possesses the same 6’4 frame, but his more durable, but he also has all of the intangibles to be a great quarterback in the NFL. His funky throwing motion aside, he’s a do or die threat and trust his arm strength to put the ball in windows that would raise eyebrows.

However, because his arm strength is so incredible and his motion for delivery is such a snap he is very capable of changing the Browns losing culture in a hurry, and most importantly Darnold wants to play in Cleveland.

The only concern with Darnold is the two-year snap shot of his playing experience. He’s a redshirt sophomore who basically escalated to stardom out of desperation when USC was going in the wrong direction, but he is most responsible for turning it around.

Mayfield is 6’1 and Manziel is 6’0. Mayfield is a senior during an era when the best talent in any sport doesn’t make to four years in College.

He’s fools gold just like Manziel and if the Browns make a fools mistake in selecting him, then get ready for another abysmal season when everybody gets fired except for the players that left.

The source said the Browns might have already decided whom they would select at No. 1. But before that final decision, whenever it was made, Mayfield was in that conversation.