CLEVELAND -- When the Cleveland Browns traded for quarterback Tyrod Taylor on the first day of the new league year back in March, he was named the starter, but just two weeks into the offseason program, those plans may have been altered.
With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Browns selected Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield out of the University of Oklahoma, whom multiple people close to the Sooners program said does not want to wait to start, and instead, believes he is ready to take the helm of a franchise right now.
“He wants to compete,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said in a press conference during the first round. “We would never stop a guy from competing. I think John just stressed it. Let’s be honest, in this room, we have been through playing young quarterbacks here in Cleveland for the past two years and putting them in some tough situations. I think it is really important that he understands.”
PHOTOS | Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield
According to Jackson, Mayfield will sit and learn from veterans like Taylor and Drew Stanton, who signed a two-year deal in free agency earlier this offseason.
“When he is ready to play, he will be ready to play, but that is tough for a young guy playing in this division and in the National Football League in our system,” Jackson said. “I think it is the right thing to do. Kudos to John for setting this up the right way.
“We have a veteran player in Tyrod Taylor. We have another veteran in Drew Stanton that this young man can come in and learn the game and not feel like he has to walk out there and be everything right away and learn how to play in the National Football League before he plays.”
With Mayfield, the competitive spirit is what teams would like out of their quarterback, but he has made questionable off-the-field decisions that resulted in an arrest, as well as vulgar actions toward opposing fans.
Despite the off-field concerns, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Mayfield put together a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign where he completed 285 of his 404 throws (70.5 percent) for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns against six interceptions to cap off a four-year career that started at Texas Tech University.
During his three years at Oklahoma and one season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Mayfield completed 1,026 of his 1,497 attempts (68.5 percent) for 14,607 yards and 131 touchdowns against only 30 interceptions.
“To make this guy the best, long-term, that is what he is thinking about,” general manager John Dorsey said. “You have to teach him to understand to go and play long-term in the National Football League, understand the game of football first. I have always said, in college you play the game and in the pros, you are going to learn the game of football.
“All I care about is winning. I want to win. You cannot have enough talented football players on your roster. When you have the quality of coaches that we have on this coaching staff that are going to begin to teach and develop young men and you keep bringing them quality football players, that is when you begin to win. That is how I look at it every year.”
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