Focus On Mayfield? He’s Not The Most Important Offensive Player

Whatever the Cleveland Browns do, the talk seems to come back to the quarterback. In the past two weeks, the Browns have played in brutal field possessions, and split the two games at First Energy Stadium, yet people just want to talk about Baker Mayfield.

Right now, Mayfield is doing what the coaching staff is asking him to do, which is take care of the football, and complete some passes here and there. We understand that the sexy thing is having the QB throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns every week, but that’s not the formula for winning in Cleveland.

At least, right now.

In the last two games, Mayfield has completed 24 of 45 passes for 254 yards, statistics that are for one game for most NFL quarterbacks. However, since the Pittsburgh game where the Browns were dominated, the former Heisman Trophy winner has thrown just one interception.

While fans are focused on the play of Mayfield, we believe there is a notable person who is not. And that is Kevin Stefanski.

It’s because as they stand right now, Mayfield may rank third, fourth or even lower in terms of most important offensive players on this Browns’ team.

Stefanski has the Browns being first and foremost a running football team. They rank 4th in the league in rushing yards, behind three teams that all have dual threat quarterbacks (Arizona, Baltimore, and New England).

Thus, you can make the argument that no team relies more on their running backs than the Browns, and with good reason.

Kareem Hunt is 6th in the NFL in rushing yards (633) and his teammate, Nick Chubb is 20th at 461. Chubb is third in rushing yards per game, while Hunt is 12th.

They are the only pair of running backs from the same team to rank in the top 20 in rushing yards.

The offensive line appeared to be strengthened with the drafting of Jedrick Wills and the signing of Jack Conklin at the tackles, but the guy who has emerged as the most important member of the group is Wyatt Teller, who right now may be the best lineman in the league.

When Teller plays, the Browns have run for almost 200 yards per contest (195.5). In the three games he missed? Try 86 yards on the ground.

To be fair, Chubb missed all three games that Teller didn’t play, but it was no coincidence that when both returned last Sunday, Cleveland ran for 231 yards.

We are sure there will be another game on the schedule this season where the Browns will need Mayfield to play at a very high level, much like he did in the Cincinnati game in week seven. But we are also sure, that won’t be the design of the game plan going in.

For right now, this season, the Browns are a ground and pound team. Eventually, the coaching staff should and we believe, will put more on the quarterback’s shoulders.

Even in last Sunday’s game, when Mayfield needed a big throw on a 3rd and 18 situation in the second half, he delivered a 22 yard pass to Rashard Higgins for a drive continuing first down. Cleveland scored its only touchdown on that drive.

Stefanski’s team sits at 6-3, and it’s not because of or in spite of their quarterback. Right now, Baker Mayfield is just one cog in the machine.

And that’s alright.

What Has Gone Right And Wrong For Browns To Date

The Cleveland Browns enter the bye week and the halfway point of the season simultaneously this season at 5-3, better that almost anyone could have hoped for going into the year.

Coming into this COVID-19 affected season, with a shortened training camp and no pre-season games, you have to give GM Andrew Berry and new head coach Kevin Stefanski great marks in putting together a plan that has resulted in winning football, something that hasn’t been seen in this town for a long, long time.

So, since we are at the halfway point, let’s examine what went right or wrong for the brown and orange in an overall surprising first half of the 2020 season.

What went right? First, the Browns haven’t had any issues with the coronavirus to date. They had a scare with some false positives right before the regular season started, but to this point, the Browns have been safe and healthy.

The Browns have been one of the highest scoring offenses in the NFL to date, ranking 9th in points scored, despite being held to single digits in three of their eight contests (the three they lost).

There were questions about the offensive line going into camp because 3/5th of the unit had changed, but it has emerged as a strength. Jedrick Wills has been solid as a rookie, although he’s had some first year moments, and we knew Jack Conklin would be solid at RT, but the huge bonus was RG Wyatt Teller.

Teller, who came from Buffalo with a 7th round pick for a 5th and 6th round pick last year, has become one of the league’s best offensive linemen. With Teller starting, Cleveland ran for at least 124 yards in each game.

They haven’t reached that figure since he’s been shelved with a calf injury. The hope is he’ll be back for the game against Houston on November 15th.

We understand the greatness of Nick Chubb, but thank goodness then GM John Dorsey took a chance on Kareem Hunt last season. Hunt was battled through injuries to rank 5th in the league in rushing and touchdowns.

Hunt has been criticized by some because he’s not Chubb, but he’s still a top flight back in the NFL, and the offense is better with both weapons available.

What went wrong? No one was counting on the Browns’ defensive to be a dominating unit, but injuries have really crippled (no pun intended) them.

The team had big expectations for rookie S Grant Delpit and starting CB Greedy Williams, but both have been out all season, forcing the defensive coordinator Joe Woods to go to his depth.

The best linebacker play has come from Malcolm Smith, picked up as a free agent during camp, and free agent signee B.J. Goodson.

Outside of the tremendous season Myles Garrett is putting together, the defensive line has been a huge disappointment. Really, no one outside of the former overall #1 pick has been able to generate any pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

As a result, only the Cowboys and the lowly New York Jets have allowed more points than the Browns this season.

What is expected? Looking at the remaining schedule, the Browns should remain in playoff contention unless there are injury issues. There are three games against what anyone would consider the bottom echelon of the league in Jacksonville, and both New York teams, as well as winnable contests vs. Houston and Philadelphia.

Of course, the Browns need to play well to win, but with the returns of Teller and Chubb coming soon, it should bolster the offense enough to get to at least 9-7 or 10-6.

Blame Baker? What Is The Alternative?

The Cleveland Browns were no match for the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, as they fell to 4-2 on the season after the 38-7 beat down.

After six games, we can make this conclusion about the Browns. They aren’t in the same class as the Steelers and Ravens, both of whom put a wallop on the brown and orange, over 30 point defeats.

That isn’t meant to be catastrophic news. Both of these things can be true. Cleveland is a much improved football team. They won four straight after an opening loss to Baltimore, and it would not be a surprise to see both Dallas (weak division) and Indianapolis in the post-season.

However, the three best teams in the AFC might just be the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens, and the Steelers, although Tennessee might have something to say about that.

As usual when the Browns lose, the questions surrounding quarterback Baker Mayfield start. Our guess is if you didn’t want then GM John Dorsey to take the former Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, you feel he isn’t the guy long term at QB, so your ire is focused on Mayfield.

If you watched that game on Sunday and determined the reason Cleveland lost by 31 points is Baker Mayfield, then we question your football acumen.

Look, we aren’t saying Mayfield played a good game. His first quarter pick six on the first drive of the game was a terrible throw, and good QBs can’t and don’t make that pass. But the Browns were dominated on both lines of scrimmage.

The offensive line, which has been so good in the four game win streak, was simply out muscled by Pittsburgh’s front seven. And you can blame Wyatt Teller being out, but rookie Jedrick Wills, Joel Bitonio and J.C. Tretter struggled too.

What is the alternative to Mayfield? It certainly isn’t veteran Case Keenum, who replaced the starter in the third quarter and completed 5 of 9 throws for 46 yards, 24 of them coming on his first pass, a busted coverage throw to Jarvis Landry.

We know what Keenum is, he’s a serviceable starter, but mostly a backup QB. He’s not going to become a top 10 signal caller at this stage of his career.

And the Browns have improved enough so they will not be picking in the top five of the draft, barring injuries. Add to this we have seen the quarterbacks coming out of college in the past few years, and most of them don’t look as good in the professional game.

We don’t want to make excuses for any professional athlete, but Mayfield has played 36 games in the NFL and has had four head coaches, and four offensive coordinators. Before we make any judgment on him, we want to see how he grows with Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, who most certainly will be back in Berea in 2021.

That’s only fair.

By the way, Mayfield has a 16-19 record in his 35 starts. Before he came to the team, they won just four of their previous 48 games. Now, Mayfield isn’t the sole reason for this, but it does tell you the kind of ditch the Browns are digging their way out of.

We will also learn a lot about Stefanski and his staff in the coming weeks. The Browns have games against the Ravens and Steelers at home and it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments his staff will make in the second go round.

Based on what we’ve seen, Cleveland will be much better prepared in the second meeting with each of these teams. A good test will come this week in Cincinnati, when the Browns and Bengals match up for a second time.

What have we learned thus far? The Browns are much better, but they aren’t at the Super Bowl contender level. Sometimes teams have to take steps. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the steps are upward.