Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield is a major difference maker

Since he stepped onto the field for the first time, Baker Mayfield has been a complete difference maker for the Cleveland Browns.

Baker Mayfield has it.

Whatever ‘it’ is, Mayfield’s got it in spades.

The Cleveland Browns’ rookie quarterback looks like a superstar in the making, taking over in the Browns’ come-from-behind win over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football what feels like months ago.

Mayfield has been such a big difference maker for the Browns, the team has looked like it might even contend for an AFC North title or at least a Wild Card playoff spot in the not-so-distant future.

What has Mayfield done to elevate the Browns from the dumpster to the penthouse? Let’s take a look.

Through the first 2.5 games of his NFL career, Mayfield leads all rookie quarterbacks with an adjusted completion percentage over 74 percent (Pro Football Focus). He’s helped the Browns to two wins in their last three games when before he took over as the quarterback, their last two wins as a franchise came in late 2015 and late 2016 respectively.

It took Mayfield just over two quarters of football to get a win for Cleveland, and he nearly went out and won a shootout the following weekend in Oakland, which the Browns lost by a field goal in overtime.

Mayfield is elevating the Browns along with their revamped defense, which might be one of the most improved units in football. The Browns are among the league leaders in dropped passes since Mayfield took over.

Between Mayfield and Tyrod Taylor, the 15 dropped passes from Browns quarterbacks rank second in the NFL overall this season.

Needless to say, this team could use a player like Dez Bryant to come in and provide a spark, but do the Browns mess around with the good thing they have going, even if it’s taking nearly five full quarters every other week for them to complete games?

That may be a different discussion for a different day but as of right now, there’s no denying the Browns have changed, even the slightest bit, with Mayfield’s presence in the lineup.

That’s the type of impact this franchise was expecting over the long haul from their number one overall pick, but he’s been as-advertised even earlier than maybe anyone expected.

As fiery as Mayfield is as a competitor, sometimes his ability to diagnose and process things quickly gets overlooked. He’s one of the smartest players to come out at the quarterback position in recent memory, and just flat out gets the game of football.

Mayfield is a natural, and he’s making plays when it counts. As a result, the Browns are 2-2-1 with their two losses the result of the kicking game. They also showed resilience by coming back and tying the first game of the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At this point, the Browns are yet to lose a division game with an AFC North record of 1-0-1.

They play host to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, and can really establish themselves as a possible playoff contender with a win over Philip Rivers and company.

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