All you need to know about where Baker Mayfield before getting drafted in the NFL by the Cleveland Browns.
The University of Washington made Baker Mayfield the most generous scholarship offer after he graduated from high school. But instead of playing for Mike Leach, he decided to walk on at the school that Leach had previously coached at, Texas Tech. He made history by becoming the first walk-on quarterback to win the starting job at an FBS school and went on to win the award for Offensive Newcomer of the Year from the Big 12 Conference.
Still, Kliff Kingsbury wouldn’t commit to giving Mayfield a scholarship, so he left Lubbock for Norman and, to Bob Stoops’s astonishment, walked on to Oklahoma. Mayfield’s success there surprised Stoops. After sitting out the 2014 season as a transfer, Baker Mayfield defeated Trevor Knight to win the starting quarterback position in 2015. This was the beginning of an unbelievable fairy tale that included three consecutive Big 12 championships, two appearances in the College Football Playoff, the 2017 Heisman Trophy, and a slew of other accolades.
Mayfield completed passes for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns as a sophomore for Oklahoma, after having completed passes for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman for Georgia Tech. He had a junior year passing total of 3,965 yards and 40 touchdowns, and a senior year passing total of 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Baker Mayfield had already established himself as one of the most accomplished athletes in Oklahoma Sooners’ storied past when the Cleveland Browns selected him with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was a darling among the audience, and a lot of people were pulling for him to succeed.
The legend of Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma
The only reason why Mayfield was allowed to play his senior season was that OU and Mayfield petitioned the Big 12 for eligibility relief. A provision of the league states that players who transfer within the conference forfeit one year of eligibility, however, the rule does not differentiate between scholarship athletes and other athletes. Mayfield’s appeal was initially turned down by the Big 12, but the league changed its mind the next day, allowing him to participate in the 2017 season despite the fact that he was a walk-on player. This judgment went down in history books.
Mayfield finished his collegiate career with a total of 14,607 passing yards, which places him ninth all-time in the history of the NCAA. He also completed 131 touchdown passes while only turning the ball over 30 times. Mayfield is the first athlete in the history of the NCAA to have ever achieved both 14,000 throwing yards and 1,000 running yards. He ran for 1,083 yards and scored 21 touchdowns during his career.
As a result of Mayfield’s dominance in both the passer efficiency rating and completion % for the entirety of his collegiate career, the Cleveland Browns decided to select him with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
In spite of the fact that Mayfield enjoyed a great deal of success at the NCAA level, he has had a difficult time adjusting to life in the NFL. Since he was selected, he has already played for three different teams, and during the approaching free agency period, he may sign with a fourth different team than any of the others.
Mayfield guided Cleveland out of the depths of winless despair as a rookie to a 6-7 record as the starter, and nearly a position in the NFL playoffs. He passed for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns with 14 interceptions, and he completed 64 percent of his passes. Mayfield also had a passer rating of 64 percent.
Mayfield currently has a career total of 16,288 passing yards, 102 touchdowns, and 64 interceptions in the National Football League. Throughout his career, he has finished with a completion percentage of 61.4 with a record of 31-38 wins and losses. Soon, he will be eligible for free agency, and a number of teams may try to sign him, with the Los Angeles Rams rumored to be interested in keeping him on the squad alongside Matthew Stafford.
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