Does Baker Mayfield Have Anything Left?

The headlines in the NFL Media Sphere today make for quite the read. “Baker Mayfield Reflects On Career”. “Baker Mayfield Down To His Last Chance”. And so it goes on. There exists many a piece out there reporting on Mayfield’s recent comments to the media about how his stint with the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of last season was far more enjoyable than his stint with the Carolina Panthers in the first, many of which took on this eulogising tone.

Retrospective laments of the dead seem like the wrong tone to adopt, though, when talking about a 28-year-old merely five years removed from a Heisman Trophy. Certainly, as is often the case, Mayfield’s NFL career has not been the runaway success that his career at Oklahoma State was, but it also has not been that bad.

Except for the bit with the Panthers. And for a little while before that.

In seven games in Carolina, with six starts, Mayfield completed only 57.8% of his passes and had as many interceptions and fumbles as he did touchdown passes (six of each). Having also struggled in his final season with the Cleveland Browns (17 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 46 sacks, 83.1 passing rating), this meant a year and a half of poor play from Mayfield, at a point in his career when he should really be coming into his prime.

That said, the slump was not without its reasons. Specifically, Mayfield played almost all of that final season in Cleveland with a torn labrum; the fact that it was his non-throwing shoulder does not make it much less serious of an injury. Perhaps the labrum injury was still affecting his play in his time in Carolina, but what is definitely true is that a high ankle sprain was, as were injuries to other key players around him.

In the NFL, of course, everyone gets injured. Yet for a quarterback to get hurt in multiple ways, change teams, downgrade and have to learn an entirely new offense is a combustible mixed. If Mayfield looked as though he had too much to think about in too little time, that is likely because he did.

Nevertheless, no matter how unfavourable the circumstances were, Mayfield was unquestionably poor with the Panthers. So much so, in fact, that by ESPN’s reckoning, it was the second-worst season of any quarterback since 2006. Although his play recovered somewhat in the second half with the Rams, his aforementioned numbers were boosted mostly by his performance in just one game. And they were still below average overall.

Baker Mayfield at his best has a quick, powerful and accurate arm, along with some rushing game and good reads of the defence. Baker Mayfield at his worst cannot throw a pass without it being deflected by the defensive line. Circumstances, not least of which was his own health, conspired to bring about the latter Mayfield too often. But the solid Baker Mayfield of 2020 is still fresh enough in the mind and legs to return.