Nobody gets carried away like NFL fans after week one. After the opening game of the season, people make generalizations even though a lot depends on who you played in the league’s first week.
Take the Jets’ rookie quarterback Sam Darnold, for example. We already saw one article claiming both the Browns and New York Jets are regretting not taking Darnold after his performance against the Lions on Monday night.
We just said we didn’t want to make generalizations after one week, but the Lions don’t appear to be a very good football team. Let’s see how Darnold performs in the weeks to come before proclaiming him the next big thing.
This brings us to the Browns’ quarterback situation, which after Darnold’s game last Monday night, have some fans and media people wondering why Hue Jackson doesn’t start first overall pick Baker Mayfield.
First, we do not think, nor never have thought, that Tyrod Taylor is a great QB. If you ranked the signal callers around the NFL, he would rank in the mid 20’s.
Should the Browns have drafted Mayfield to make him the starter down the line, perhaps even in the second half of the season? Absolutely.
However, if you look at Taylor’s career, last Sunday’s performance vs. Pittsburgh was an outlier. His completion percentage was the worst of any game he started in the NFL, his yards per attempt were the fifth lowest of any of his starts.
So, it appears to us that Taylor just played a poor game.
That said, the criticisms of the former Virginia Tech product seemed to be valid. He seemed hesitant to throw guys open, and the reason he doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions is he is conservative in his passing attempts.
Both were evident against the Steelers.
After having a quarterback who needed a handle on the ball to hold it a year ago in DeShone Kizer, we understand why John Dorsey and Hue Jackson wanted someone who wouldn’t give the ball to the opponents on a regular basis.
And don’t think for a minute that 1-31 over the past two seasons doesn’t figure in to the decision to go with Taylor either.
Management wanted a quarterback who wasn’t going to assist in losing games. Is that a defeatist attitude? Probably, but when you’ve won once in the last two seasons, you want a passer who isn’t going to make big mistakes and cost the team a victory.
You would think going along with that, you would want to run the ball and play defense to keep your team in games and have a chance to win. They didn’t emphasize the run much, and that’s something to keep your eye on.
But let’s see how Taylor does in the coming weeks, especially in a game where a driving rainstorm isn’t happening. If he struggles like he did in the opener against New Orleans and the Jets, then you can start to have a conversation about putting Mayfield in the starting lineup.
If Taylor’s entire career was similar to the Steelers’ game, then it would be a different story, but the evidence shows he just played a poor game.
No decision should be made based on one week of play in the National Football League. We understand that there are only 16 games, so there is greater importance.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 