CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has had a lot of success throughout his career, and because he worked for it, there is still an intense desire and competitive nature within the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Although Mayfield set an NFL rookie record and several franchise marks during the 2018 season, Mayfield showed up on day one of the voluntary offseason program on April 1 and renewed his commitment to doing what is necessary to build on that success and find even more in 2019 and beyond.
“Someone like Baker with his competitive nature and his relentless search to be good, you don’t have to push that, and that’s an advantage to coaching Baker,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens told Jim Donovan in a “Let’s Be Clear” interview during rookie minicamp weekend.
“You don’t have to push him to be great. You can coach him. He allows you to coach him. He wants to be coached, and as long as those things stay constant, Baker’s going to be fine.”
Browns general manager John Dorsey has been impressed with Mayfield since watching him lead the Oklahoma Sooners in a game at Lawrence, Kansas, where people refused to even shake hands with the polarizing quarterback.
And Dorsey’s appreciation grew stronger as Mayfield led the Browns to seven wins and kept them in the playoff race heading into Week 15.
“You could just see the competitive nature of him,” Dorsey said. “It was special. Then, when he would go to the sidelines, you could see his teammates gravitate toward him, so you knew there was something within him.
“He shows you what a competitive guy he is on the field. We’ve always heard about it. We got to see it live in person. Now, it’s his second year. I think rookies make exponential strides in their second year.
“Baker’s the first one in the building every day and he is beginning to understand and try to master complex defenses, understanding the terminology of this new offense. He’s working diligently to improve himself, and I would like to see 20 percent improvement in year two.”
No rookie in the near 100-year history of the NFL threw more touchdowns passes than Mayfield.
Mayfield broke the rookie record with his 27th touchdown throw of the season with 3:24 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 26-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC North Division clash at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on December 30.
After taking over the first-team offense in the second quarter of a Week 3 win over the New York Jets, Mayfield completed 310 of his 486 attempts (63.8 percent) for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
Under Kitchens’ direction as the interim offensive coordinator for the second half of the 2018 season, Mayfield completed 180 of his 263 attempts (68.4 percent) for 2,254 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
“He kind of grew as the season went along, and that’s what you want to see,” Kitchens said. “You want to see the progression of a quarterback continue to go up, and sometimes, you can’t always see it in the results. It just so happened that we saw it in his results.”