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The sophomore slump is very real for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Through eight games, the former Heisman Trophy winner has put up worse numbers than Johnny Manziel did in his second year with the Browns.
Which is rather surprising considering the Browns were expected to be thick in the playoff hunt after a very encouraging 7-8-1 season in 2018. A season in which Mayfield broke the record for most touchdown passes by a rookie with 27, and an offseason in which the Browns added another weapon for him to play with in Odell Beckham, Jr.
Now, after a 2-6 start and an embarassing loss to the Denver Broncos and with Brandon Allen making his NFL debut, the Browns are looking for some answers.
Former NFL star Michael Vick, who knows a thing or two about struggling and making comebacks, thinks he may have the solution.
“Baker’s my dude,” Vick told TMZ Sports. “Just keep pluggin’. All the outside noise, you’re gonna get that. You gotta be mentally tough at the quarterback position.”
“He has a long career ahead of him,’ Vick added. “Just gotta start winning more than losing.”
Bet he didn’t think of that.
As for Mayfield being so prominent on social media, Vick said not to worry about that.
“That’s Baker’s personality. You never want to change a guy at the quarterback position who is outspoken, outgoing… it’s something that, it’s just him,” said Vick. “At the end of the day, you gotta throw the ball to Odell Beckham.”
While that may seem obvious (and it is), so far, as Odell Beckham will tell you himself, that isn’t happening nearly enough.
Odell Beckham was open on that 4th-and-4, but Baker Mayfield didn't throw his way.
Per CBS sideline report, Odell said after this, "I can't get the ball to save my life."#Browns | #CLEvsDEN pic.twitter.com/IelygRRjOI
— Kevin Boilard (@KevinBoilard) November 4, 2019
Through eight games, Beckham has been targeted 67 times and caught just 39 of them for 575 yards and one touchdown. At that pace he will end up with 134 targets, 78 receptions, 1,150 yards and 2 TDs. Decent numbers to be sure, but barely better than OBJ’s last season with the Giants (124 targets, 77 receptions, 1,052 yards, 6 TDs) and he only played in 12 games that year.
It would also be a far cry from Beckham’s two biggest seasons where he averaged 164 targets, 99 catches, 1,409 yards, and 12 TDs, and certainly not worthy of being the 10th highest paid player in the NFL in 2019 ($16,750,000).