6 BECK E T T.COM
B
EING THE UNDERDOG IS ALL
BAKER MAYFIELD KNOWS.
Even though he capped a stellar
high school career with a 25-
record and a 2011 Texas state cham-
pionship, he didn’t sign with any
college. He walked on at Texas Tech in 2013 and
became the irst freshman walk-on to start an FBS
season-opening game. Ever since, Mayield has
proven that all he needs is a chance.
Ater disputes with coaches, he transferred to
Oklahoma and again showed up as a walk-on. Af-
ter having to sit out one year due to NCAA rules,
Mayield earned the starting job as a sophomore.
During his three years at OU, he won three Big 12
Championships, led the Sooners to two College
Football Playof semi-inal games, and won the
Heisman Trophy before becoming the irst pick in
the NFL Drat.
Now, Mayield has a chance to inally turn the
Cleveland Browns around ater 11 straight losing
seasons. He took over for an injured Tyrod Taylor
in Week 3 and led the team to a 21-17 victory—
their irst win since 2016. Cleveland inished with
a 7-8-1 record—more wins than the previous
three seasons combined. Four losses came by three
points or fewer.
he Browns narrowly missed the playofs, even
ater the iring of head coach Hue Jackson in the
middle of the season. he team even went 5-
to inish the year. Mayield became Cleveland’s
30th starting quarterback since the franchise
was revised in 1999. he team’s embarrassing QB
carousel might have inally come to a stop with the
former two-time unwanted college walk-on.
YEAR PLAYER TEAM COMP ATT PCT YDS TD INT R AT E
2018 Baker Mayfield CLE 310 486 6 3.8 3,725 27 14 9 3.
2017 Deshaun Watson HOU 126 204 61. 8 1,699 19 8 103
2016 Carson Wentz PHI 379 607 6 2.4 3,782 16 14 79.
2016 Dak Prescott DAL 311 459 6 7. 8 3, 667 23 4 104. 9
2015 Jameis Winston TB 312 535 58.3 4, 042 22 15 84.
2015 Marcus Mariota TEN 230 370 6 2.2 2,818 19 10 91.
2014 Derek Carr OAK 348 599 58 .1 3,2 70 21 12 7 6.
2014 Teddy Bridgewater MIN 259 402 64. 4 2,919 14 12 85.
2012 Andrew Luck IND 339 627 54. 1 4,3 74 23 18 7 6.
2012 Ryan Tannehill MIA 282 484 58.3 3,294 12 13 7 6.
2012 Robert Griffin III WAS 258 393 65. 6 3,200 20 5 102. 4
2012 Russell Wilson SEA 252 393 64. 1 3,118 26 10 100
Mayield inished his irst NFL season, which included 13 starts,
completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 3,725 yards, 27 touch-
downs, 14 interceptions, and a 93.7 passer rating. His 27 touchdowns
set an NFL rookie record, and his yards ranked sixth all-time among
rookies. In fact, his stats measure up with some of the best rookie
quarterback seasons of the past six years. he list below compares
Mayield’s rookie season with 11 other rookie quarterbacks going
back to 2012. Most on the list started all 16 games in their rookie
seasons. His completion percentage ranks ith, passing yards rank
fourth, touchdowns rank irst, and passer rating ranks ith.
Mayfield was the
focus of just about
everyone last
season.