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Baker Mayfield: Fire The Cannons

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Cleveland, the place where QB careers go to wither and die. My guess is that Baker is now more expendable than the current coaching regime who will demand their own guy sooner rather than later.

Such a shame as that rookie highlights reel shows Mayfield could flash genuine franchise QB talent. Go back to page 92 of this very thread and see how he electrified this fanbase with his debut. He's now a shell of that player and it's a tragedy on a personal level that he should be the subject of weekly nationwide ridicule. I hope that the famed chip on his shoulder can dredge up the courage to work towards facing down his doubters. Ultimately it can only come from him because I think Stefanski is close to done with him.

Not much use to us but I still think he can go somewhere else and really succeed in a Ryan Tannehill-style renaissance.
 
Cleveland, the place where QB careers go to wither and die. My guess is that Baker is now more expendable than the current coaching regime who will demand their own guy sooner rather than later.

Such a shame as that rookie highlights reel shows Mayfield could flash genuine franchise QB talent. Go back to page 92 of this very thread and see how he electrified this fanbase with his debut. He's now a shell of that player and it's a tragedy on a personal level that he should be the subject of weekly nationwide ridicule. I hope that the famed chip on his shoulder can dredge up the courage to work towards facing down his doubters. Ultimately it can only come from him because I think Stefanski is close to done with him.

Not much use to us but I still think he can go somewhere else and really succeed in a Ryan Tannehill-style renaissance.

It's pretty obvious at this point that it falls on Baker. We all get that he had shit coaching for 2 years. He also came into camp last season a solid 20 lbs overweight and out of shape. Baker thought he arrived after being the #1 pick. He thought he arrived after his rookie season. He thought it would all be easy.

It's getting more clear that Baker doesn't have the work ethic to be that franchise QB. Physical limitations aside, he just doesn't have it.
 
The only thing which might save Baker is a playoff appearance this year. Even with the easiest remaining schedule I think that will need another six wins out of ten. With a defense which has yet to prove it can stop anyone and the worst special teams play in the league that's by no means certain.
 
Yeah, the beating he got last year has him gun shy.

I don't know how, but he needs to break that habit.

That is part one of two things he needs to fix.

It's so frustrating knowing that he has this type of ability in him. I have to wonder how he would look at this point of his career if we had put a solid line in front of him last season, even with Freddie's coaching.
 
DPJ returning kickoffs and punts just ain't it. He's so damn slow.
 
The only thing which might save Baker is a playoff appearance this year. Even with the easiest remaining schedule I think that will need another six wins out of ten. With a defense which has yet to prove it can stop anyone and the worst special teams play in the league that's by no means certain.

I think it all depends on how we get there and the result. If it looks like we're winning games in spite of Baker, I don't believe the FO will hesitate for a second to replace him. If it looks like he's starting to get it, even if it's over the last few games, maybe we draft a mid-round guy and give Baker another year.

That being said, with how bad our secondary has been, I think there's going to come a point in the second half of the year where the Browns can't just rely on the ground game to get it done. Chubb's out and Hunt's dinged up. If Baker's not making plays we're going to lose games to team people are looking at as easy opponents right now.
 
I think it all depends on how we get there and the result. If it looks like we're winning games in spite of Baker, I don't believe the FO will hesitate for a second to replace him. If it looks like he's starting to get it, even if it's over the last few games, maybe we draft a mid-round guy and give Baker another year.

That being said, with how bad our secondary has been, I think there's going to come a point in the second half of the year where the Browns can't just rely on the ground game to get it done. Chubb's out and Hunt's dinged up. If Baker's not making plays we're going to lose games to team people are looking at as easy opponents right now.

I agree, though I think it's more likely that he makes plays against teams that don't have the Steelers defense. Question is - if he does, will he get credit for it or will people trash him still? I feel like even during the Cinci-thru-Dallas games I had to highlight just how many great plays Baker was making because people just never gave him any credit for it.

We should be criticizing Baker and acknowledging any improvements/good plays. We shouldn't just fall solely on one side or the other.
 
It's pretty much automatic, kick one yard deep in the end zone and an 18 yard return (that puts everyone at a higher risk of injury).
 
I agree, though I think it's more likely that he makes plays against teams that don't have the Steelers defense. Question is - if he does, will he get credit for it or will people trash him still? I feel like even during the Cinci-thru-Dallas games I had to highlight just how many great plays Baker was making because people just never gave him any credit for it.

We should be criticizing Baker and acknowledging any improvements/good plays. We shouldn't just fall solely on one side or the other.
Absolutely. In the four game winning streak his play inside the redzone was largely flawless. No turnovers, no sacks, high completion percentage and a couple of flashy scrambles resulting in TD throws. That's a huge improvement over last year and a significant one. In many ways QB stats don't give enough weight to that redzone efficiency. The pick six will be talked about for weeks, but the turning short fields off turnovers into touchdowns rather than FGs consistently during the winning streak has been an admirable improvement.
 
I agree, though I think it's more likely that he makes plays against teams that don't have the Steelers defense. Question is - if he does, will he get credit for it or will people trash him still? I feel like even during the Cinci-thru-Dallas games I had to highlight just how many great plays Baker was making because people just never gave him any credit for it.

We should be criticizing Baker and acknowledging any improvements/good plays. We shouldn't just fall solely on one side or the other.

Here's the problem with Baker's good games. He still throws interceptions even when he has a good game. I remember people trying to clown me when I brought up Jameis Winston possibly being an option for us at QB and complained about his turnovers. Baker turns the ball over too but he gets excuses made left and right. The systems, new coach, new coordinator. Okay. If you look at their numbers since Baker entered the league they are very similar.

I'm not including this season since it's only been 6 games and Winston isn't playing right now but

Both #1 overall picks. Prior to this season they each had 3 different Head Coaches. They both throw a lot of interceptions. Their numbers are actually quite similar.

Is Baker better than Jameis? I don't know. I want to believe that he could be eventually but he's really headed down the same exact path as Winston. Like the same path.

BakerJameis.JPG
 
Here's the problem with Baker's good games. He still throws interceptions even when he has a good game. I remember people trying to clown me when I brought up Jameis Winston possibly being an option for us at QB and complained about his turnovers. Baker turns the ball over too but he gets excuses made left and right. The systems, new coach, new coordinator. Okay. If you look at their numbers since Baker entered the league they are very similar.

I'm not including this season since it's only been 6 games and Winston isn't playing right now but

Both #1 overall picks. Prior to this season they each had 3 different Head Coaches. They both throw a lot of interceptions. Their numbers are actually quite similar.

Is Baker better than Jameis? I don't know. I want to believe that he could be eventually but he's really headed down the same exact path as Winston. Like the same path.

View attachment 4261

I mean... if you think they're similar, why would you even want Winston to be an option? What is a lateral transfer going to do?

Also, you're looking at stats and (as I've said a million times before) - they don't tell the whole story. Winston is a completely different QB from Baker and has his own glaring flaws. Baker's biggest issues lie in his inability to adjust to disguised coverages (post-snap), getting happy feet/bailing early, inconsistent at making multiple reads, etc...

Winston's biggest issues are his horrific decision making in thinking he can make any throw, inability to read the field well, doesn't throw well on the run, poor leadership in that he easily loses the respect of teammates, etc... Winston has been in the league 6 years now. You think Baker throws a bunch of interceptions in good games? What do you think Winston will do and how do you think he'd handle playing for the Browns where the media is quick to eviscerate the team and fans like yourself are impossible to please?

He is who he is. If you're thinking he'll suddenly play better and light the world on fire behind our coaching staff and o-line - think again. He makes awful decision CONSISTENTLY even with a clean pocket - and although his accuracy was never bad, I wonder how much worse it might look without 8 footers like Mike Evans and O.J. Howard to throw to.

Just give it a rest... we're not getting Winston nor should we. And if Baker doesn't improve or trend upward then I expect us to move on from him. What more do you want at this point? Lol
 
I mean... if you think they're similar, why would you even want Winston to be an option? What is a lateral transfer going to do?

Also, you're looking at stats and (as I've said a million times before) - they don't tell the whole story. Winston is a completely different QB from Baker and has his own glaring flaws. Baker's biggest issues lie in his inability to adjust to disguised coverages (post-snap), getting happy feet/bailing early, inconsistent at making multiple reads, etc...

Winston's biggest issues are his horrific decision making in thinking he can make any throw, inability to read the field well, doesn't throw well on the run, poor leadership in that he easily loses the respect of teammates, etc... Winston has been in the league 6 years now. You think Baker throws a bunch of interceptions in good games? What do you think Winston will do and how do you think he'd handle playing for the Browns where the media is quick to eviscerate the team and fans like yourself are impossible to please?

He is who he is. If you're thinking he'll suddenly play better and light the world on fire behind our coaching staff and o-line - think again. He makes awful decision CONSISTENTLY even with a clean pocket - and although his accuracy was never bad, I wonder how much worse it might look without 8 footers like Mike Evans and O.J. Howard to throw to.

Just give it a rest... we're not getting Winston nor should we. And if Baker doesn't improve or trend upward then I expect us to move on from him. What more do you want at this point? Lol

I wasn't making an argument to dump Baker and pickup Winston so I don't know why you're saying that.

I was pointing out that their numbers have been almost identical the last two years and it's funny seeing the excuses for Baker being made like he's just going to drastically turn it around. I was showing how he is probably more likely to go down the path of a Jameis Winston than end up being the QB we thought he would be.

Also Baker has taken plenty of hits in the leadership department too so I wouldn't be so quick to paint the picture as if he's a team leader because he's shown already that he just isn't ready for that yet.
 

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