Browns: Stat analytics won’t give Baker Mayfield credit for
Analytics can’t give Browns QB Baker Mayfield his due for this important statistic.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is 7-3, yet there’s still a debate over whether he can lead the organization to the promised land.
After a rookie campaign in which Mayfield sent the single-season passing record for touchdowns, fans were expecting the Oklahoma product to be a gunslinger in the form of Brett Favre. Alas, 2019 came and went and Mayfield was statistically, one of the worst quarterbacks in football.
His coach was fired, a new one hired, and Mayfield was on his way to learning another new system–his third in three years as a pro.
And now, under Kevin Stefanski, the Browns are finally winning, but Mayfield isn’t the reason why. Backed by a rushing attack featuring Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the Browns are finding ways to win with Mayfield playing like a prototypical franchise quarterback.
Even Pro Football Focus has turned on the 2017 Heisman winner. Remember, Mayfield was the PFF darling of the 2018 NFL Draft. So when John Dorsey drafted him No. 1, the selection seemed to be the perfect marriage of analytics and the old-school football mentality.
Just a month ago, following a deplorable loss to the Steelers, PFF published an article about how it was time to panic about Mayfield. Just two weeks ago, the site wrote about his “lackluster” play when gauging the Browns’ options concerning his fifth-year option.
But the Browns are winning. They never win–and they’re winning. So, as classic analytics critic Tony Grossi will tell you, the data and statistical forecasts aren’t accounting for perhaps the game’s most important statistic, via TheLandonDemand.com
"“Mayfield is 7-3…That’s the most important statistic, despite what the analytics Websites would tell you. The job of the quarterback is to manage the team to wins…Analytics Websites don’t account for wins, either. They are so wrong.”"
Nobody should know that wins matter more than anything else than Browns fans, who’ve seen a turnstile of quarterbacks at FirstEnergy Stadium since the team was re-born in 1999.
Mayfield winning more than he loses should be good enough, at least for now. He’s going to have beat the Steelers and the Ravens if he truly wants the narrative to change.
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As for the stats, it goes against today’s societal expectation of instant gratification, but it’s the truth: Mayfield just needs more time–and winning, is a good way to secure more time on the field.