5 Cleveland Browns whose stock are down after close call vs Bengals

5. OBJ

Odell Beckham’s stock isn’t down because he’s injured. I have no doubt he’ll rehab and be back as good as new.

But the truth is on the turf: Baker Mayfield is better without Beckham on the field.

This shouldn’t be a controversial statement. You’ve watched all the games. Which Mayfield would you want? The guy who set the rookie record for touchdown passes in a season when Breshard Perriman as his big target, or the Baker who looks locked into forcing the ball to his big-name, high priced receiver?

It’s really the easiest sports question you’ll answer this year.

It stinks OBJ went out that way. Nobody wants to see any player leaving the field with an injury.

But the truth is, after he left, Mayfield played his best game as a Brown, completing 22 of 23 passes with five, I repeat, FIVE touchdown passes.

Mayfield looked free, like the Heisman winning quarterback at Oklahoma that John Dorsey bet on with the No. 1 pick. There was no need to force anything, he threw to teammates who were open. Rashard Higgins caught all six of his targets and had 110 yards receiving.

Donovan Peoples-Jones didn’t have.a catch entering this game. He caught all three of his targets, including the game winning touchdown.

Truthfully, Beckham’s future in Cleveland was already in doubt, as paying two receivers (OBJ and Landry) a combined $30 million would seem to go against everything analytics is about.