Baker Mayfield: Heir apparent to Tom Brady in New England?
By Chip Rouse
Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield is expected to be one of the early names that will go off the board when the 2018 NFL Draft gets underway on April 26 in Arlington, Texas.
Just how high the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner will go in the upcoming draft is still a matter of wide debate, depending on who or what source you reference.
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One popular pro football publication actually has Mayfield going No. 1 overall. And the latest rumor cycling throughout the NFL is that the five-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots may be considering trading up in this year’s draft to select Mayfield.
Most draft experts have the Sooner unanimous First-Team All-American falling somewhere between the third and seventh overall pick. The teams you hear Mayfield’s name associated with the most are the Cleveland Browns, who own the first and fourth picks in the first round, the New York Jets, with the third pick, and the Denver Broncos, who will select fifth.
This is a rich draft for NFL teams looking for quarterbacks, and it is anyone’s guess which of the available QBs will be the first to be selected, but the chances are really high that the one who goes first will be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
The Browns, the first team on the clock on day one of the draft, have held their cards fairly close to the vest regarding who they will select with the No. 1 pick.
Pro Football Focus , believes the Browns will surprise quite a few people by selecting Mayfield with the coveted first pick. At least that’s the projection in PFF’s Mock Draft 4, issued April 3. PFF has three quarterbacks – Mayfield, San Darnold of USC and Josh Rosen of UCLA – going in the first three picks to the Browns, New York Giants and New York Jets, respectively.
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The editors at PFF have five quarterbacks going in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, with Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner going to the Arizona Cardinals with the 15th overall pick, and Mason Rudolph of Oklahoma State being selected No. 22 by the Kansas City Chiefs. Of course all of this is an educated guess on the part of just one source and is almost certain to be different when April 26 rolls around later this month.
The point is that quarterbacks are in high demand in this year’s draft, and Mayfield is one, if not the best of, the bunch.
The Patriots are one of the NFL teams that have shown a strong interest in Mayfield. The Pats have four of the first 63 picks in the 2018 draft, but their earliest is at No. 23, and Mayfield and the other top quarterback prospects are expected to be available that late in the first round.
New England Sports Network’s Zack Cox wrote on Thursday:
"“After trading wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday in a deal that netted New England the 23rd overall pick, the Pats have the assets to trade up for a top-tier QB if they so choose.”"
The current talk is New England might try to work a deal with either New York team – the Giants own the No. 2 pick and the Jets are set to select third in the draft – to move up and select Mayfield with an early pick. That notion also drew some attention and a brief discussion on Friday morning on ESPN’s “Get Up!” program with Mike Greenberg.
A lot would still have to happen between now and April 26 for Mayfield to land in New England, but it’s good to see his stock continuing to rise as the 2018 NFL Draft fast approaches.
Not a bad climb for a former college walk-on…