Baker Mayfield Set To Join Elite Company In 2021

The haters came out in full force when Baker Mayfield was originally drafted by the Cleveland Browns.

At the time, Mayfield seemed like the obvious No. 1 overall pick and the Browns decided to take him in that spot.

The 2018 draft has proven to be an interesting draft for quarterbacks.

A few years later, Lamar Jackson has won an MVP and Josh Allen doesn’t appear to be far behind him.

However, Mayfield has quietly succeeded every season he has been in the league.

In fact, Mayfield has a chance to put himself with elite company in 2021.

Putting Respect On His Name

It has been three seasons and there are still people who continue to disrespect Mayfield.

Last season, Mayfield should’ve silenced most of the critics.

In 16 games, Mayfield threw for 3,563 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

It’s worth noting that Mayfield was playing without his No.1 wide receiver in Odell Beckham Jr. for the entire second half of the season last season.

The 26-year-old continues to get better each and every season and has put himself in an interesting situation.

Mayfield needs 3,500 passing yards to join Peyton Manning as the only players to throw for 3,500 pass yards in each of their first four seasons in the league.

Baker Mayfield needs 3,500 passing yards to join Peyton Manning as the only players to throw for 3,500 pass yards in each of their first four seasons in #NFL history. #Browns pic.twitter.com/sQlcHOSzyT

— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) September 3, 2021

Whenever your name gets mentioned in the same sentence as Peyton Manning, then you must be doing something right.

The Browns use a run-heavy offense, but Mayfield still finds a way to get the job done.

He posted over 3,700 passing yards over his first two seasons in the league.

Obviously, last season his yards took a dip, but possibly the loss of OBJ made an impact.

Regardless, there is little reason to think Mayfield shouldn’t be able to join Manning on this list.

Big Time Baker

The Browns offense is stacked, which is honestly part of the reason Mayfield has played this well.

It’s certainly easier to succeed with OBJ, Jarvis Landry, Austin Hooper, Nick Chubb, and Kareem Hunt on your team.

Mayfield will hopefully have all of those players back healthy to begin the regular season.

He will also be protected by the best offensive line in the NFL.

2020 #Browns: only offensive line to finish #1 in both team pass and run block grade in PFF's history pic.twitter.com/qmhQkA3SHx

— PFF (@PFF) January 14, 2021

Having all of these players shouldn’t take away from Mayfield’s accomplishments.

He deserves praise, but he barely surpassed 3,500 passing yards last season.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski knows what he has in Chubb and Hunt.

The Browns don’t need to pass the ball in order to win, but Mayfield will get his chances.

It’ll be interesting to see if Mayfield can get to the 3,500-yard mark in 2021.

The weapons are there, but now it’s time for Mayfield to make the plays.