5 Cleveland Browns who earned their stripes against Detroit Lions

Baker Mayfield, QB

Baker Mayfield has the safest job on the team. So what’s this talk about earning his stripes?

Well that white line sandwiched between two brown stripes Mayfield will receive when practice resumes symbolizes something else The Browns have found their quarterback of the future.

OK, a bit dramatic considering Mayfield went up gainst opposing first-team defenses on just two drives (during the Eagles game), but he showed enough to leave everyone confidence that if he has to step in for Tyrod Taylor, the Browns are going to be OK.

I’ll go even further here because don’t you just want to fast forward through this season so we can get to 2019, when Baker will have a year of experience under his belt and the Browns will be ready to roll?

Mayfield was drafted to be the franchise quarterback and so far, he looks every bit the part. He’ll continue to improve as he practices with the scout team and takes extra reps in additional session Hue Jackson plans to tack on to practice to bring Mayfield along.

Mayfield finished the preseason 35 of 61, for a 57.4 completion percentage.  He only took four sacks and threw one interception.

Perhaps the best thing about Mayfield is that he’s like Bernie Kosar in that he hates checking down. His eyes are always fixed down field as he’s looking for the big play.

And that’s not to say he’s running scatter-brained in the backfield. Mayfield showed great poise in the pocket, while also highlighting his ability to extend plays when he needed to get out of the pocket.