CBBI
Super Chill Mode
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2005
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I read this and looked up and immediately saw Kyler Murray. That dude is fucking small.
But he’s so quick and decisive. Drew Brees is short but he’s so cerebral. Baker looks about as athletic as Peyton Manning if Peyton Manning was 6 feet tall. He’s just not very quick and he looks so limited out there. In a way he always looks hurt because you can see the clear drop off in athleticism when you compare him to other QB’s.
Being short isn’t the problem.
Being short and slow isn’t the problem.
Being short and slow and scared isn’t the problem.
Being short, slow, scared *and* lacking football IQ is Baker’s multi-layered problem.
A QB just isn’t going to consistently succeed at a high level with all of those things working against him at the same time.
Baker’s not going to get any taller and he’s not going to get any more athletic, so he really only has two paths forward.
1. Dramatically improve his ability to read coverages and diagnose pre and post snap reads.
2. Figure out how to manipulate a dirty pocket either via stepping up or sliding side-to-side with his eyes still downfield.
I’m skeptical he’ll ever be able to do No. 2 at a high level because that doesn’t really feel like something that you can develop with experience. It feels like more of an instinct thing that you naturally have and can sharpen over time or you just don’t have and can’t get.
And unfortunately for Mayfield, I just don’t think the Browns are going to be in a position to see if multiple years of experience can help get No. 1 to an acceptably high level.