2018 NFL Draft: Baker Mayfield quickly establishing first round status

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield is having another monster season, and is looking more and more like a first round draft pick…

While other quarterbacks stumble over inconsistency and failure to meet expectations, Oklahoma Sooners star Baker Mayfield is establishing himself as a legit first round player in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Some others in the national media are finally starting to catch on, as there have been plenty of reasons to ignore Mayfield up to this point.

Not the least of which are his off-field issues, which can’t be ignored and will have to be investigated by NFL teams, as Mayfield will no longer be the big man on campus, but a millionaire and likely starting quarterback in the NFL.

The spotlight will be brighter, and Mayfield will be under the microscope unlike ever before.

That being said, this guy has done nothing in college except prove that he’s a highly capable field general, and his skill set is expanding seemingly by the game.

Mayfield is capable of taking over football games with his physical ability, sure, but the way he runs the Oklahoma offense and manipulates defenses and their coverages is really something to watch, especially this year.

Last season, Mayfield was playing with arguably the most talented group of skill players he ever had while at Oklahoma. NFL draft picks Joe Mixon, Samaje Perine, and Dede Westbrook were all major pieces in Oklahoma’s offense last season, and all needed to be replaced this year.

As a matter of fact, in Mayfield’s three seasons with Oklahoma, he’s had a different leading receiver every year (Sterling Shepard, Dede Westbrook, Mark Andrews) as well as a different leading rusher.

He’s had to adapt to new targets, and although all have been very talented, Mayfield has not struggled in his production level one bit.

Mayfield’s completion percentage is at an insane 73.8 percent this season, and was over 70 percent a year ago. Of course, Oklahoma utilizes plenty of short passes to maintain that high completion percentage, but Mayfield is also one of the best and most accurate deep ball throwers in college football.

He might only be six feet tall, but Mayfield is as tough as they come and has never proven his height would be a major problem at the next level.

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When you watch Mayfield play, it’s hard to ignore what he’s been doing getting the ball to every level of the field, showing off his NFL arm talent, athleticism, and ability to make plays out of the pocket as a runner and passer.

We’ve fallen into the trap before of short-changing NFL prospects because of height. Remember Russell Wilson? He proved at Wisconsin that he could be an NFL starter right away, but teams shied away from him because of his height.

Wilson always had the arm strength, athleticism, and intelligence to play at the next level, but was looked over because of his stature.

Whoops.

Mayfield is bigger than Wilson, and has a similar playing style in terms of his ability to improvise, get the ball deep downfield, and make plays on the run just as well as he plays from the pocket.

Because of the consistency with which he has played, I would most definitely take Mayfield in the first round, no matter what he does the rest of this season on the field. He’s quickly solidifying himself as potentially the top quarterback in the class of 2018.

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