DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2018 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 18 Saints 21 Drew Brees heaps praise on Browns rookie Baker Mayfield

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24656...d-lot-better-me

Drew Brees has high hopes for Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield.

"I think he can be a lot better than me," Brees said on a conference call Wednesday.

The statement came from a quarterback headed to the Hall of Fame and was made about a guy who began the season as the backup to Tyrod Taylor.

Mayfield was the first overall pick in the draft, but he has yet to throw an NFL pass. Brees, meanwhile, has thrown for 70,884 yards, completed 67 percent of his throws and won a Super Bowl in an 18-year career.

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Brees, who will lead the New Orleans Saints against the Browns on Sunday, has his reasons, though.

"Man, he's got all the tools," Brees said. "He's more athletic. He probably can run around better. He's got a stronger arm."

Brees has never met nor spoken to Mayfield, though the two grew up in Texas and went to high schools that are about 12 miles apart in Texas.

"I followed his college career," Brees said. "Couldn't have been more impressed with what he was able to accomplish, especially last year. Really impressed with the way he plays the game. I think he's a great competitor."

Brees noted Doug Flutie was the starting quarterback for San Diego when he first entered the NFL in 2001 and said he learned from him. Flutie was listed at 5-foot-10, Brees at 6-foot.

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Neither are prototype height for what is considered the standard for success in the NFL.

"We call it the 6-foot-and-under club," Brees said. "All the 6-foot guys kind of ... we kind of know what it's like. We kind of have the chip on our shoulder because we've heard it our whole life.

"I just kind of chuckle at it."

Is Mayfield now a member of that club?

"Well, is he 6-foot-and-under?" Brees asked.

Mayfield is listed at 6-foot-1, but he was measured at 6-foot-3/8 at the Senior Bowl and 6-foot-5/8 at the combine, so call it 6-foot-1/2.

"Well, all right, that counts," Brees said. "He's in. He's in the club."

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Brees is one of my favorite QB's, but i'm trying not to buy in until we actually see baker in live action. part of me wishes he started the season, especially this game, but man....i wonder which one of our QB's right now will hit Gordon in the dome. cause Gordon will be open.....

Assuming it's not just lip service, that's high praise.

Yeah when the GOAT of nonprototypical QBs says you can be better than him that means a lot.

Unless he’s just trying to get us to play a rookie vs them this week

Nice words, but from what I saw with Eagles in PRESEASON, Baker would be destroyed if he were in a regular season game against a somewhat decent defense.

I'm not ready to buy into Drew's kind words or anything really until I see it for myself. Brown's fan and "hype" have usually led to one thing... disappointment.

Well he didn’t say he’s better NOW. CAN BE. Which you can say about anyon really cuz it’ll be 10+ years before we can see if he was right, by which time we will all forget about this

I hope he is right. I hope Baker is our franchise. I didn't like the pick, but I supported him the second he was drafted as a Brown.

...

People that followed Baker in college, does he really have a stronger cannon than Brees? I've seen some missiles from Drew.

Baker has shown he has the arm and physical talent. What isn't known is if he can master the mental side of the game. Brees reads defenses pre-snap very well. He goes through his progressions quickly. He throws w/anticipation. We don't know if Baker can do those things or not.

J/C

Lets just not pull a charger move and ship baker out because a Philip rivers comes along.....

Rivers is good, but hes no Brees. Worst trade in history, nah. but its up there as a blunder.

Not only is Brees one of my favorite QBs to watch, he is just a first class human being too.

A little bit of this might be for show but he wouldn't say it if he didn't believe most of it was true.

Second question, if he retires at the end of this year, can we hire him as QB coach immediately?

What is it u see from him that makes u think he will have no problem with his reads/progressions?

Very curious cause i respect your opinions ... and from what i saw inthe pre-season ...

He locked on to his primary and that slowed him way down going through his progressions quite a bit ... at least thats what i saw ...

I definetly know he was SLOW ... VERY SLOW going through his progressions almost all the time ...

So I’m curious as to what u see that makes u confident this won’t be an issue for him? ...

Baker missed some obvious pre-snap reads in preseason. He had three glaring ones where he failed to recognize who was blitzing. Even I saw the damn things.

And he was not quickly going through his progressions. If his primary receiver was open, he got rid of it quickly. If he wasn't, Baker struggled.

I am not saying that is a final evaluation. He can certainly get a lot better at the pre-snap reads by studying and I think he will put the work on. The post-snap stuff concerns me, but I haven't seen enough to say he can't do it.

j/c

I think a lot of us saw potential from BM. He wasn't going through his progressions quickly nor on a regular basis. But coming from the system he played in college, I expected that to be a work in progress. His pre and post snap reads need a lot of work. To me, that too was to be expected.

But his pocket presence, accuracy and command of the huddle were certainly impressive. He's a work in progress with great potential.

I don't believe that Brees sees any more than I do. But I do think he sees that potential and is excited to see someone of his stature and general skill set at this point in his career as something exciting. As such I think he wants to encourage Baker and sees a little bit of himself in Baker.

Damn. If there was 3 of us that wanted NOTHING to do with Mayfield pre-draft, it was U, Vers and Me. I despised this dude.

That's changed. MAJORLY for me anyways.

I think we've got the Kat to carry us for a long time for many reasons. It's just a matter of time before it starts.

I'm EXCITED.

Well that's the thing. I always want what's best for the Browns. I didn't feel that was Mayfield. I also have no problem admitting that I'm wrong.

I may not be as sold on Mayfield as you are at this point, but I can certainly see that the potential is there and discuss his strong points.

I'm not sure if he'll be a franchise QB or not. Those reads, especially post snap reads are the hardest thing for a QB to develop. But the kid is certainly smart enough. So to me the jury is still out but I'm far more optimistic about him than I was before the draft. That's for sure.

He'll probably become a broadcaster if not taking a break from working. I'd hire him as a QB coach in a HOT second though and put him on a fast track to O-Coordinator lol his knowledge on offense is only paralleled by a handful of QBs to ever play the game.

Thanks bro ... appreciate it ... i learned ...

Not sure what your first couple lines meant but the sole intent of my post was to find out what i was missing that u saw ... that was the sole intent bro ... not sure how u took so i just wanted to clear that up real quick ...

Thanks again for the post dawg ... i learned a lot ... hope some other did also ..

Very interesting stuff in there that i had never considered ...

There’s a lot to LOVE about the kid and he has the qualities to be a damm good one ...

Will be interesting to see how he does when the time comes ... will also be interesting to see WHEN and WHY his time comes ...

Good Luck Bake ... we need u bud ...

I really liked the comments by Brees. In the pre-season, I found myself agreeing more and more with the Mayfield/Brees comparison.

One thing about it, though, is that Brees is a physical workout machine. If Mayfield can emulate that, as well as Brees dedication to the mental side of the game, well, I think we drafted our (fingers crossed) champoinship QB.

P.S. and build a good team around him, lol.