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U gotta crawl before u can walk before u can run ...

Here’s step 1 to crawling for the Baker ...

Baker Mayfield - QB - Browns

Browns first-round QB Baker Mayfield has been practicing taking snaps under center.
Mayfield saw most of his snaps out of the shotgun formation at Oklahoma, so playing under center will be an adjustment. "We are going to hammer that until I am good and it feels natural," said the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. To ease his transition, the Browns have brought in Mayfield's college center, Erick Wren, on a tryout basis.

Source: ESPN.comMay 6 - 8:52 AM

If the Baker don’t make it ... it won’t be because of lack of effort on his part ... and this seems like a VERY LOGICAL first step to me ...

Love his phrasing ... were gonna HAMMER it until it feels NATURAL ....

Good Luck Baker ... get comfie quick dawg ...

If they bring him along slowly, as promised, I think he can become the guy.

the key is slowly. don't skip steps. Literally start from the ground up mechanically and schematically.

I am very excited to see what Baker can do once he has the offense down and gets adjusted to the speed of the NFL. We have been told he has a high football IQ and is a very hard worker.
Patience will be the key and winning will help Hue in keeping his promise not to rush Baker.
Taylor had better play well and lead us to several wins because I have a feeling Baker will be pushing him at some point this season.

Me too. Can't wait for football season to start (even though we might not see much of him this season.... but who knows?)

We can all preach patience, but it will be tougher if/when:

1. Baker plays well in the preseason against backups
2. We lose our first few games
3. Tyrod strings together some poor drives and throws
4. The national/local media continue to ask "when"

Baker Mayfield hammering away at working under center


Baker Mayfield wasn’t surprised by the number of snaps he took under center at Friday’s minicamp practice.

The Browns’ No. 1 pick embraced it, working on it before, during and after the first two practices of his Cleveland career. Why spend practice time in his comfort zone (shotgun) when he could drill away at an area in which he simply doesn’t have much experience?

“We are going to hammer that until I am good and it feels natural,” Mayfield said after Saturday’s walk-through. “That is the way it should be. I can play out of the shotgun, everybody here knows that. Se we are going to hammer that and we are going to work on what I need to work on so that we can go from there.”

With the proliferation of fast-paced, spread attacks throughout college football, this kind of transition is something more and more quarterbacks are forced to undertake when they arrive in the NFL. Mayfield doesn’t hide from it, saying Saturday he simply doesn’t have much experience with working from under center at all, as he was never called to do it in high school and only did so when his teams lined up in jumbo packages on the goal line during his college career.

Mayfield knew it was coming Friday, and he knew there’d be some hiccups along the way, too.

“Once you get used to a center, you are good,” Mayfield said. “It’s just footwork. Just getting used to getting depth from the line of scrimmage. You see guys, you have to get separation. In shotgun, you already have it, so with the drop, you do not have to get the depth. Now the emphasis is on getting back and being comfortable and under control, to where if you do have to step up, you can do that. It is just the footwork and getting comfortable.”

How much Mayfield will have to even line up under center in the NFL remains to be seen.

Last year, Ben Roethlisberger threw the vast majority of his passes from the shotgun while operating from the offense coordinated by Todd Haley, who is now in the same position with the Browns. Former Cleveland quarterback DeShone Kizer ranked 10th in the NFL in most pass attempts out of the shotgun last year.

“I know that he is a guy that adapts to his players,” Mayfield said. “We will see when we put all of the pieces together what time of team we will be.”

Still, it’s an area of game Mayfield and the Browns would love for the rookie to master, especially now when it’s early in the offseason and he’s third on the depth chart behind veterans Tyrod Taylor and Drew Stanton.

“We will work at this,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “I think it is going to be a quick fix because he is athletic enough and he is disciplined enough to do it. I do not think it is going to be something that is going to be a problem. We can’t keep having it in his head. He will keep working through it, and we will keep getting better at it.”

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...16-b76f0ba69f47

Can anybody name one QB who failed to learn how to take snaps from under center?

Who was it that suggested otherwise?

No one in this particular thread, but it is something that people have expressed worry about in other threads.

Brings up an interesting point. He's said in so many words he wouldn't be working on his mechanics, basically if it's not broken don't fix it. There have been issues with his throwing motion discussed by analysts, for example, throws with a stiff front leg on occasion, so I wonder if coaches will insist on tweaking his delivery.

Flipper? Leaf?

Trying to wrap my head around being behind our brand new #2 import QB. That cannot be allowed going forward IMO.

Both did it fine. It was everything after the snap that killed them.

I think it would be a mistake to try and teach him too much all at once.
Let him keep his throwing motion the way it is while he learns the playbook and how to drop back.
Once he is proficient in those, then if deemed necessary we can tweak his throwing motion next offseason.

I think that is one of the things we did wrong with Couch. We put too much on his plate all at once.

I can name several, but the board isn't interested in educational posts. They prefer agenda type posts.

Enjoy.

Can't blame the FO, coaches or Baker in this approach. It's the right thing to do. Gotta start with step #1 and build from the ground up with this kid. Painful, but true.

Some might say that this is something required with any rookie QB coming out of the spread-happy college ranks, which in general is true. However I'd rather be one of the lucky teams to find one of those rare guys who can hit the ground running on Day 1 in the NFL and can skip these baby steps.

Just so happens we had TWO of those options available to us this year in Darnold and Rosen...and we didn't even have to worry about people drafting them ahead of us. Talk about luck!

Alas, we're the smartest team in the league. Our track record speaks for itself. Relax, nobody should have any reason to doubt.

I'm not so sure Darnold is a day one starter although that's likely what they'll do with him. I think Rosen is most likely to start day one but he's got Bradford ahead of him, which for him is a god send since it will give him some time to become accustomed to the NFL. I think time would benefit all rookie QBs.

And (at best) this post was neither.

I thought the question was a good one. I can't recall a QB that struggled to master technique and footwork associated with executing a play from under center. Even the illustrious Weeden figured this one out (if my memory serves me right). What would be interesting is if those QBs unfamiliarity with taking snaps from under center contributed with their post-snap issues.

I would posit that it does exacerbate the issue and I’d like to see the stats of the QBs success rate at snaps under center and snaps from shotgun. You’re giving the defense more time to get to you and you’re taking longer to set up your reads of the coverage.

Give me some random QB names, from the past several years, and I’ll take a look

https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/snap-rates--shotgun-v-under-center--off-.html



The team with the highest pass plays under center last year was San Fran, they passed 44% of the time from under center.

Oakland Pittsburgh and Carolina passed from under center only 22% last season.

The league as a whole passed only 31% of the time from under center last season.


Very interestingly Oakland Carolina and Pittsburgh ran the ball from under center the most at 78% of the time.



The Superbowl champs ran less than 1/3 of their offense under center at 28%.


Certainly it's important to learn how to play under center, but this isn't 1995 and teams don't play under center a lot. Even the highest % in the league under center is 59%, the league as a whole operates more time 58% out of shotgun than under center 42%

Probably more about making sure he doesn't trip over his own feet when he does have to play under center. What I want to see is him getting distance from the line quickly in his five and seven step drops. The further back he can get, the better he'll see the field. Also, no fumbled snaps.

I definitely remember he was working on that prior to his pro day when watching the "Behind Baker" series.

j/c

Good to hear.

I am actually starting to feel a bit better about Baker. I still don't know if he'll be a better pro than Darnold will be. I thought that Baker would be a solid enough pro, but not a superstar. I figured that maybe he'd fall in to an area like a Teddy Bridgewater, in that he'll be a good QB, but not a great one. I am starting to feel a bit better, even though it is early, and we've only seen a little from him.

It appears that his arm is stronger than I thought, and he seems willing to work had, and long hours. It appears that he does have great leadership ability, and he is an accurate QB. The deep TD throw against Denzel Ward was a thing of beauty. (and yeah, it's practice .. buy you have to start somewhere)

I was a little concerned about him talking about not wanting to work with a "guru" ..... especially since he does need to develop the ability to work under Center, footwork, and other aspects of the game. I hope that he goes and works with House, because I think that it can only help him in areas where he needs to develop new skills. I do worry that he has a little attitude in this regard, and he needs to humble up a bit, and do everything he can to be the best he can be. He also sets the example for other players, who may, or may not, go and work with a "guru" at their positions. He needs to set that example as a leader.

Anyway ..... thus far I am hopeful, and concerned ..... but I do feel somewhat better about this pick than I did when it was made.

Glad some are coming around on him...

I believe Mayfield will be a much better pro quarterback than Darnold and it won't even be close.

I'm curious to read these comments Baker made about not wanting to work with a "guru" and if you can post a link, I'd like to see the context and why "guru" is in parenthesis.

Browns notebook: Hue Jackson expects Baker Mayfield to find ‘quick fix’ for struggles with snaps under center
https://www.ohio.com/akron/sports/browns...ps-under-center

Before practice, Mayfield made an interesting comment while discussing workout plans this offseason.

“I’m not a ‘QB guru’ kind of guy,” said Mayfield, who trained with former NFL quarterback Jimmy Clausen during the pre-draft process. “I don’t think you can reinvent the wheel.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jackson frequently sends his quarterbacks in the offseason to train in Los Angeles under the guidance of throwing coach Tom House, but based on Mayfield’s comment, he might not do it.

People tend to get so focused on hoping we've selected the next Hall of Famer reincarnation of Peyton Marino they forget to consider just how good we could be if we simply got a guy that solves the QB problem and settles the position for the next decade.

It would be incredible if we end up with "Great" over the long haul, but for the immediate time frame, we just need "Good Enough" so that we know we can stop looking.

It's no secret that I was not one who was hoping we would draft Mayfield. My issues were more about (what I saw) as immaturity and a lack of control. Things that I did not see as coming from a "competitive nature" as some tried to get me to accept.

I will admit that since the draft there has not been one thing said or done that makes me worry. And I will not look to twist every little thing into a "I told you so." I, too, am warming up to the idea of Baker as our QB.

He is a Brown, and for that I will support him. And as long as he doesn't give me a legitimate reason to stop supporting him, I will continue to do so.

I have concerns about how his game will translate to the NFL, as he will no longer have the talent disparity he is used to, and will have tighter windows to throw into. Not saying he can't, I surely hope he does.

And I will have no problem admitting I was wrong about him if that day comes. I hope it comes to that.

First step is getting out of the AFCN basement.

completely disagree. He has the best mechanics in the draft by most accords. If he was an inch taller he would have been the best prospect out since Luck.

On Darnold - I heard they had to stop practice cause he was fumbling so much. three fumbles, handful of sacks, and an INT.

Link.

Not surprising. I always said Darnold was going to be a strip sack machine. PLayers revert to their old ways under pressure and in the NFL pressure is an every play thing.


Found it




https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports...test/583816002/

Just a thought but.. if Mayfield is used to taking most of his snaps from shotgun, then wouldn't his college center be used to MAKING most of his snaps to the shotgun?

I mean, the QB/center exchange is as much about the center as it is about the QB.. so we brought in a center that isn't used to doing it?

that crossed my mind too lol

I agree, "Great" is great, but at this point, Good is also great. You can win with good in the shotgun.

I believe he means it when he says he's going to hammer it... He turns down LBJ to go to the game so he can practice...I remember Johnny the Swan rider being at a Cavs game when he first got into town.. I dont see the Baker/ Swan connection most said there was..


baker

I respect your commitment to Baker, and congratulations. I still would have taken Darnold, but have to admit I am excited to see him play. My only knock on the guy is his height - I still wonder about it in the AFCN - but if he can make it a non-factor and becomes, say, the next Brett Farve, Steve Young or something, we'll all be lovin' life.