Baker Mayfield: Fire The Cannons

[mrWalrus]

Good God, dude. Who pissed in your Cheerios?

Calm down. Browns are 5-2.

I only asked to be educated from someone who knows more than me. I mean, look at all those posts you have. I'm just a dumb fan who had a thought.

Not sure why you're upset.

 

[kookoo]

IDC who you play 22-23 doesn't happen in an NFL game often. He was putting wherever he wanted and ripping a defense apart. The throws were immaculate.

What changed? No idea something just clicked.

If you wanna say its because O'Dell went down; im not sure what to say. It's not like OBJ is the only person he is throwing to. He's missed throws, had bad reads, etc. Even in the 1st quarter he looked like someone who was going to be benched at the bye.

Something allowed him to play the way he wanted and I'm excited as hell to see it again next Sunday. We are 5-2 because of what he's done and despite some of his mistakes. This is a huge leap forward in a game we had to win for a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Hopefully, we can fix our secondary and have a nice back half of the season.

I wouldn't say Odell is directly the reason for Baker's struggles. I do think there is a stress in having someone as good as OBJ because he might overthink things and start forcing it to that side of the field. After Beckham went down, Baker started hitting guys on all sides and didn't have the same tunnel vision. If this is the case (which I'm not saying it is), it's not really either players' fault. Especially when there is so much pressure to click. It's kind of like an arranged marriage. Can't force it too much or things are just destined for failure.

Either way, Mayfield looked great for 3 quarters today and I'm just hoping it continues. I'm tired of wasting a pick on a QB pretty much every year.

 

[Marcus]

Not worth it.

 

[Marcus]

I only asked to be educated from someone who knows more than me. I mean, look at all those posts you have. I'm just a dumb fan who had a thought.

Not sure why you're upset.

Man, I’m not upset at all. I’m just a dumb fan with an opinion too.

I don’t understand why you’re being defensive. This is the best Browns team we’ve seen in years. Why can’t we just get along?

 

[Triplethreat]

I don’t care if you lend credence to the theory that Odell makes Baker worse...

But there’s little-to-no evidence that Odell makes Baker better.

Sooo that seems like a waste of $15M that could be allocated elsewhere (defense please).

Time to trade him.

15M for a guy that hasn't gone over 100 yards in what? 15 games?

He just isn't a fit here.

 

[Marcus]

I don’t care if you lend credence to the theory that Odell makes Baker worse...

But there’s little-to-no evidence that Odell makes Baker better.

Sooo that seems like a waste of $15M that could be allocated elsewhere (defense please).

Time to trade him.

There’s been a noticeable difference without him on the field. We’ll see what the back half of this season looks like. I’m most intrigued to see what he looks like against good defenses without OBJ.

 

[bigfoot5415]

I wouldn't say Odell is directly the reason for Baker's struggles. I do think there is a stress in having someone as good as OBJ because he might overthink things and start forcing it to that side of the field. After Beckham went down, Baker started hitting guys on all sides and didn't have the same tunnel vision. If this is the case (which I'm not saying it is), it's not really either players' fault. Especially when there is so much pressure to click. It's kind of like an arranged marriage. Can't force it too much or things are just destined for failure.

Either way, Mayfield looked great for 3 quarters today and I'm just hoping it continues. I'm tired of wasting a pick on a QB pretty much every year.

I wonder if said tunnel vision is a result of looking towards OBJ and secondary target without scanning how he normally would. Not necessarily worried about getting him the ball buy mentally focusing on the portion of the field OBJ is on.

 

[Jordan]

So, I love the game.

But, I'll be interested to see how much of "the change" we saw was Baker, and how much was Stefanski.

Just from watching live, it seemed like most of our passing success came after we started running out of the shotgun, or letting Baker take deeper drops when under center. His comfort issues from having to stay in the pocket disappear when you let him sink back further behind the offensive line. He seems more comfortable there, and for a shorter QB, it gives him more vision and a better trajectory for throwing the ball.

Also, that Bengals defense is atrocious.

I agree. Great game, Baker played great, and you’d much rather have 22/23 than not.

To add to everything you said about Stefanski, it still didn’t seem like Baker had to really decipher a zone defense because of how well the receivers were schemed. So while I do think Baker did a good job placing throws - which he struggled with over the last few weeks - I am not entirely sure if the in-game learning was from him, Stefanski, pre-planned, or a combination of all of them.

Still, 5-2 is a great start. No complaints and I’m very happy with today’s offensive performance.

 

[daddywags]

It's also possible that Stefanski's play calling might be different with his number one wideout off the field.

There has to be some pressure on him to call OBJs number, especially early in games.

 

[Jordan]

I also think the Browns let OBJ run a lot of route trees where he deciphers the defense and then goes. That makes it more difficult for a QB who struggles at reading zone defense, like Baker, to keep his eyes on the entire field. I think there is a real argument that this is the reason why it looked different after OBJ got hurt.

 

[Kiddo]

I do think Baker is much better when he’s just freely slinging the ball around to everyone and not concerned about getting stats for his wrs. There was a game early in the season that Baker threw a TD to someone other than OBJ or Landry and as they they were walking of the field Baker told them to stay patient. I definitely think Baker feels pressure to at least get OBJ his stats.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I wonder if said tunnel vision is a result of looking towards OBJ and secondary target without scanning how he normally would. Not necessarily worried about getting him the ball buy mentally focusing on the portion of the field OBJ is on.

One thing I think I notice (but maybe it's in my head) is that Baker doesn't seem to have a grasp on OBJ's speed. Baker always seems to overthrow or underthrow him. This seems evident in most of the route trees. Sometimes OBJ will be zooming, other times he doesn't seem to be moving as fast. On the go-routes OBJ can be so busy battling it with the defender that he doesn't reach the spot.

IDK, man. OBJ is an amazing talent but he and Baker haven't been able to establish a rapport. Baker has that with Higgins. He has that with Landry. He has it with Njoku and seems to be developing it with Bryant. Hard to explain but... that's 15 million we can't just be paying, especially to a guy who is a 'diva' (ugh, hate using that term). Depending on the MRI I do think we there's a good chance we've seen his last game in a Browns jersey.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I do think Baker is much better when he’s just freely slinging the ball around to everyone and not concerned about getting stats for his wrs. There was a game early in the season that Baker threw a TD to someone other than OBJ or Landry and as they they were walking of the field Baker told them to stay patient. I definitely think Baker feels pressure to at least get OBJ his stats.

Yep, I remember that. Very alarming to me.

 

[Marcus]

All kinds of people are married and straight and that doesn't stop people from talking about what they look like.



I prefer Bake with some facial hair tbh. For all I care he can wear an Olga mask and if he slings like that, Idgaf. @Deezus

Honestly, every time I see him with the facial hair, I think back to his homeless guy look from last year’s press conference.

I’m good with the clean shaven, no nonsense, business casual Baker. Throw on a nice blazer or suit and tie, and... *chef’s mwah*

 

[shoes22]

Man this dude is petty.