DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Mayfield Officially Named Starter

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TMI bro.

I have no doubt he's doing that already and will continue to the rest of his career.

That's a concern, but I really think he and Haley can stay ahead of the curve.

+10000

One of the most overlooked facets of what makes solid teams become great... and average teams look like poo-poo. We've been behind the eight ball in that respect for years. That's one of the things that led to Haden being underappreciated. Poor kid couldn't make a mistake or take a chance without everyone blaming the loss on him, even though our offense couldn't score a TD to save their lives.

This defense will be a lot of fun once Greg Williams can turn it loose.

Actually, it's that the Jets played the Bills twice a year and knew that TT holds the ball forever.

No offense to Taylor but this had to be one of the easiest decisions to make for Hue.

Already enjoying some scoring for a change, moving the ball and sticks, fewer giveaways, an insane takeaway margin in our favor, and a defense that works at the game hard.

Mayfield will help these, I hope. Good luck! Gotta carry STs it seems.

Unleash the Elf!

I will be adding one Antonio Callaway to all the fantasy teams I can ...

If this defense gets to play with a comfortable lead, I can see our offense spending LOTS of time on the field.

Ooodles of running to burn the clock in our future.

Why stop there?

Unleash the opossum as well.

Who will be the first person to blame Hue IF Mayfield falls on hard times?

j/c

Multiple posters have expressed concern that opponents will, "get tape on Mayfield" and be able to limit his effectiveness. That concern seems overstated to me. First. right now they have 2 quarters of NFL game tape on him. Not enough to reveal tendencies. Secondly, all teams have film available to them on upcoming opponents. That hasn't stopped offenses from being able to execute their playbooks. His effectiveness will have more to do with his preparation, the ability to command the Browns offensive scheme to adjust in-game by recognizing what defenses are trying to take away and then respond with the correct counter. To get the team to play up to their abilities with high levels of focus on their positional responsibilities. Every team gets film, that by itself won't be the difference between a win or a loss.

Dont like Hue but he has handled this entire situation the way he should have other than giving Taylor all the reps. We had questions all along the OL. Hubbard was new, Joe retires, Zeitler was injured all preseason. We had questions at receiver and we had no idea how this defense was going to be when the real games started.

Anyway, Congrats to Baker. Kid has some serious talent. We are about to embark on the decade of the Dawgs.

Solid.

And I'll add to it.

Many times this film shows a tendency. Locking onto one receiver and even one part of the field.

NOPE. He hit the ENTIRE field and ALL receivers.

Incredible for a Rook on a short week, first game.

I"m actually kinda glad Hue let TT take the beating while the OL worked some thing out. Hopefully, they don't continue to have the same issues they had the first two games. That way, we can keep on rolling in the right direction.

With Baker in, I feel like we are a between a 6-9-1 and 10-5-1 team. It will really depend on how many "rookie" mistakes he makes.

10-5-1 baby!

(Unless we don't win that many, or we win more!)

I do know that we are a much, much more competitive team with Mayfield in, and that he sure seems to have the ability to raise the level of play of those around him.

Browns notebook: Hooray for Baker Mayfield, says Rashard 'Hollywood' Higgins - Sports - Akron Beacon Journal - Akron, OH
https://www.ohio.com/sports/20180924/bro...llywood-higgins

BEREA — “Hollywood” and Baker have been on a first-name basis, buddy boys through and through, for a while now.

They soon went from co-workers to pals who lived next to each other and hung out, all the time.

“It’s just one of those things,” Rashard ‘Hollywood’ Higgins said. “You click with a guy like that.

“It’s a beautiful thing.”

Baker Mayfield threw some very pretty footballs, some to Higgins, in the Browns’ slump-busting 21-17 win over the New York Jets on “Thursday Night Football.” The rookie No. 1 overall draft pick was promoted to Browns starting quarterback on Monday.

If the Browns are to go anyplace special this year, Mayfield must keep clicking with the likes of Higgins, who has watched the Browns go 2-32-1 since he joined them as a fifth-round pick in 2016.

If those two look natural working together at Oakland on Sunday, it’ll be partly because they spent spring practice, training camp and preseason games running together with the “2s.”

In the first half against the Jets, with Tyrod Taylor at QB, Higgins didn’t catch a pass. Taylor went to the medical tent late in the second quarter. Mayfield inherited a 14-0 deficit en route to a storybook win.

With less than half of the fourth quarter left and the Browns trailing 17-14, Higgins caught his third pass of the second half from Mayfield. On a tense third-and-5, short of midfield, Mayfield delivered a 19-yard strike to Higgins on the right side.

Higgins played most of the snaps in the second half in three-wideout sets including Jarvis Landry and Antonio Callaway. He seems confident he and Mayfield can make some plays at Oakland.

“Baker is ready,” Higgins said after practice Monday. “Now he’s got to get the job done.

“We’ve worked a lot together. He has his own swagger about himself. He’s confident but not cocky. He knows what to do.

“He got us our first victory since my first year.”

One issue with Mayfield spending months behind Taylor was the people on the field with him. He hadn’t worked a bunch with the No. 1s, such as tight end David Njoku. With just six catches for 69 yards in three games, the Browns need the talented Njoku to do some business with Mayfield.

“Baker is a smart person, a very smart football player,” said Njoku, who has been quiet since making one touchdown catch from Taylor and one from Mayfield in the Aug. 9 preseason opener. “He knows where we are when a play is developing. He just has that quarterback instinct. He looks the part.”

What is Mayfield’s appetite for throwing to tight ends?

“He throws to people he thinks are open,” Nojoku said, “no matter who you are. If you’re open, he’ll get you the ball.”

Running back Carlos Hyde, like Njoku, has worked mostly with Taylor until now. Hyde caught 59 passes out of the backfield last year with the 49ers, but he has only three catches through three games with the Browns.

Coming off a 98-yard, two-touchdown rushing day, Hyde is in the plans for a big role in the Mayfield offense.

A fifth-year pro, Hyde offered the following advice for the rookie QB:

“Stay close to the guys in this locker room. Block out all the media, even if it’s good things. Block it out.

“Focus on what you’ve gotta do to be sure you’re ready to go Sunday. It’s very simple. Baker’s already a winner, though. I think he already knows that.”

Taylor to be backup

Browns coach Hue Jackson is hopeful Taylor will be cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol in time to serve as the team’s No. 2 quarterback Sunday on the road against the Oakland Raiders.

“I think there is a good chance,” Jackson said after Monday’s practice.

Taylor suffered his third documented concussion in 13 months and was replaced by Mayfield late in the first half of the Browns’ victory over the Jets.

“Tyrod will be the backup if healthy,” Jackson said. “He’s still in the concussion protocol as far as I know. If [Taylor] is not able to go, [the backup] will be Drew Stanton.”

Jackson said Taylor handled the news of his demotion like a professional.

“Nobody wants to hear that they’re going in a different direction, but he understands it, too,” Jackson said. “I think the most important thing he wants is to get healthy and make sure he’s ready to help the football team. Any competitor is disappointed in that situation, but he’s a pro.”

Jackson insisted the Browns have no desire to trade Taylor, who’s in the final season of his contract after spending the past three seasons as a Buffalo Bills starter and being traded to Cleveland in March for a third-round selection (No. 65 overall).

“He’s going to be right here. He’s not going anywhere,” Jackson said. “I think that’s important. I think part of Baker being able to play like he did was because of Tyrod and Drew. I don’t want to upset that room that way. I don’t think there’s any reason to.

“Tyrod is going to be needed. He’s the backup quarterback on this team if he’s healthy, and he has played. His teammates know who he is and how he goes about the rhythm of his game. I think it’s always good to have that kind of depth at that position.”

Not practicing

Taylor was one of six Browns players who didn’t practice Monday.

Starting defensive ends Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah (ankle), backup tight end Seth DeValve (hamstring), starting free safety Damarious Randall (heel) and backup linebacker James Burgess (knee) were the others. Garrett, Ogbah and DeValve rode stationary bikes beside the field during the portion of practice open to media. Like Taylor, Randall and Burgess were not on the field.

“There’s really nothing to report,” Jackson said. “Myles is fine. Damarious still has the heel, but I think he’ll be fine.”

Starting linebacker Christian Kirksey returned to practice. He missed the past two games with an ankle injury.

Different schedule

The Browns usually travel for road games on Saturdays, but this week will be different because of the long trip to the Bay Area. They’ll practice Friday morning at team headquarters in Berea and then board their flight.

“We’re going to go out a day early,” Jackson said.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his Browns coverage at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ByNateUlrich and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.

Rashard Higgins on Baker Mayfield: 'He might be on the LeBron wall' | cleveland.com
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.s...art_river_index

BEREA, Ohio a Browns receiver Rashard Higgins is all in on Baker Mayfield as next King of Cleveland.

"I keep saying this is The Baker Era and stuff,'' Higgins said Monday after Mayfield was named the starter. "If it pans out how it's supposed to be, Baker might be the next big thing. He might be on the LeBron wall, what I like to call it. I'm excited to see what he can bring to the team. Nothing but good things for him."

Higgins was referring, of course, to the LeBron James' iconic mural across from The Q, on the Sherwin Williams building that was taken down shortly after he signed with the Lakers in July.

"Just the work ethic he brings, the desire he has, the confidence he comes out in the huddle with a it only excels us in the huddle,'' said Higgins. "That's what we look for in a quarterback a somebody to pick us up when we're down and to tell us, 'Hey, man. I'm the leader. I got y'all. Let's do this."

Mayfield made a star out of Higgins in training camp and rescued him from the possible scrap heap. Instead of getting cut again, he's a valuable member of the receiver corps.

"I'm excited,'' Higgins said. "Me and Baker and the timing that we got, it's unbelievable to have something like that with another guy, it's pretty well worth it. I hang out with Baker all the time. We live at Crocker Park and I'm always at his house. I'm always asking him, 'Hey, man, do you need anything to eat? Anything?' All jokes aside, I'm very excited for him. I'm happy he's here."

Tight end David Njoku, who caught two passes from Mayfield for 36 yards in the come-from-behind victory over the Jets, agreed it could be the start of something big for the Browns with Mayfield at the helm.

"The sky's the limit for him,'' said Njoku.

Higgins said Mayfield has nothing to prove to his teammates when he makes his first NFL start Sunday in Oakland.

"Not at all,'' he said. "He does it in practice. Even if he's going against the look squad, he's still making those acrobatic throws, those tight spiral throws and getting it in between two defenders. In a quarterback, that's what you look for. He came into the huddle, it was nothing big. It was like, 'Guys, let's do this. It's just like practice."

For Higgins, Mayfield gave him something he hadn't had in 635 days.

"He came in and performed and got me my second W since I've been in the NFL,'' he said. "Wonderful feeling. Can't describe it. The energy in the stadium was unbelievable. I'm glad it came."

Higgins is the best hype-man teammate ever. He compliments everyone. Very selfless.

It is, and that is what good teams do...they need the press.

Getting film and recognizing tendencies on a young qb does not happen after a game or two. It's over the course of several games.

Furthermore, I think waht is being "overstated" is how many posters are acting like Mayfield is a sure thing after one game.

When a player doesn't play well in a game, a handful of games, or an entire season.........we always hear you gotta give the guy 3 years before we criticize them.

How is the reverse not applicable. Do you think it might be too much to ask to see Baker play well over a period of time instead of saying he is great and should be on LeBron's wall? LOL

I am not bashing Baker. I've been impressed w/him. I'm hopeful moving forward, but people are getting carried away. He might end up being as great as many are saying he is going to be. I am not saying he won't. But man, people are getting carried away.

So you're admitting to spanking it on the board???

It is, but you can see the talent is there. You can see that the leadership is there.

If you have the talent and your team believes in you, good things usually happen.

I was in the stadium Thursday night. It was electric when he came in.....far different from when Brady Q came in...that was cheering, the other night was a buzz. We saw throw after throw, catch after catch....It was special. I am telling you, it was special.


Now he gets to work with the ones. Baker saved Higgins from the cut line because Higgins was the best he could work with.

With work with the ones, how much better and Bake make them and how much better can they make him? It's going to be fun to watch.

Some receiver, maybe Calloway needs to become Shake, because Shake and Bake works.

Bakers going to have a tough go of it the next six weeks....you have all seen the schedule I am sure.

I know there will be good and bad, but I am hoping he is up to the challenge.

In the least, we have something to watch the next few weeks.

First off Big Ben had no problem being a successful rookie QB.

I expect the same for Mayfield.

Sure, he wont be perfect, but he is going to show us things we have NEVER seen at the QB position from OUR team. Good, good, good things!

He is the One.

PS, I thought we should have drafted Darnold...

Thank goodness John Dorsey didn't!

I have to admit I wanted Darnold over Mayfield thank the Lord Dorsey picked Mayfield who is looking like the real deal while Darnold is a TO machine ...

I posted the Higgins article because I thought it was interesting, not for any other reason. Higgins seems really sold, and he is probably the guy on the team who has spent the most time with Mayfield since he got here.

I wasn't dogging you. I just think there are a lot of people overvaluing one game.

OK. That's fair.



Super Bowl! Super Bowl!

Actually, that would be really good today.

I agree. It was an electric feeling, and you could tell the Jets were caught off guard do to the quickness of his decisions. Many say the line played better, I think they played about the same, the difference was the speed that the ball was coming out at.


One thing I did notice, and it is why I am responding to you, and it is that he seemed to be making the post snap reads. I'm not someone who can really tell if that is happening, but it appeared he knew what was happening after the ball was snapped and while he was in his drop made a quick decision. What do you think? I know you are someone with some knowledge of these things and have commented on him and this process before. Do you think he improved at it?

I think most of the throws were his first read. Too early to say at this point, but I will keep an eye on it as we move forward.

I will add that he did throw w/anticipation, though. That was very impressive and encouraging.

Big Ben was second fiddle to a dominant run game and historic defense his rookie year.

They appeared the same to me. Look for defensive coordinators to double team a lot and use a lot of max coverage instead sending a heavy rush.

They'll try to make Baker force his throws into more crowded passing lanes.

And that's when the running game opens up.


If, IF most of his throws were to his first read, he knows how to read I guess. 17 of 23, with for sure 2 drops, if not 3 drops?

That means his first read was open (downfield, to boot), and he was hitting them.

That isn't necessarily the case. The running game doesn't open up just because you stop blitzing.

He was forcing that 1st read a lot and there were a few passes that could have been intercepted as easily as they were completed.

I like Baker and think he will be the QB that we're all waiting for. Guys need to temper their enthusiasm though. He's gonna take his lumps and will soon be throwing a bunch of INTs. A lot of guys expecting a Super Bowl championship this year will be wanting to run him out on a rail. That will be too extreme as well.

His debut was so electrifying fans can't help but be excited.

However, I agree with you and others who are saying pretty much the same things.

He will have bad games, make bad throws, toss INTs. In other words, perform like rookie QBs usually do. So, we can't get down on him when he does.

I like him so far, though.

2004
PIT
13-0 196 295 66.4 2,621 8.89 17 TD's 11 INT's
98.1 Rating

Those stats are second fiddle? When was the last time we had a rookie look that second fiddle? NEVER!

Here's to Baker besting those stats.

Yes, people are getting carried away. You can see this but you also are aware of all of the pent-up suffering, for years, that fans have endured. Any sliver of hope is held onto with a certain amount of desperation.

It is emotionally risky but it is also very human.

One person who seems to be emotionally stable in the aftermath of Thursdays' win is Mayfield. That's a good sign. The way he handled himself with the media immediately following the game. He kept his composure his demeanor was calm but he was confident.