Baker Mayfield named best No.1 pick by Cleveland Browns of the decade

The Cleveland Browns struck gold with Baker Mayfield. He is undoubtedly their best draft pick of the decade.

Baker Mayfield was not the consensus top pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, but John Dorsey and the Cleveland Browns did not care. Mayfield won the Browns over with his obvious playmaking ability and moxie on the field and they stuck to their guns and made him the first overall selection over guys like Sam Darnold, Saquon Barkley, Josh Allen and Bradley Chubb.

The Browns are an extremely talented squad and should be considered among the favorites in the AFC. They have made a lot of moves over the last few years to set themselves up for this kind of success. However, no single move was as impactful as bringing Mayfield into the mix.

The quarterback position has been a complete black hole for Cleveland for a very long time. The Browns have not had a legitimate franchise quarterback in many years, but Mayfield changes everything.

For some reason, Hue Jackson decided that he didn’t need to begin the 2018 season with Mayfield under center. Despite only playing in 14 games (13 starts), Mayfield put up impressive numbers as a rookie.

He completed 63.8% of his passes for 3,725 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. You’d like to see him cut down on those turnovers a bit, but overall, Mayfield was absolutely incredible during his rookie season. Perhaps most importantly, Mayfield injected some life into the Cleveland Browns. He is an incredibly brash and confident player who is the perfect leader of this franchise.

Myles Garrett certainly deserves some consideration, but Baker Mayfield is the best draft pick made by the Browns in recent memory. In fact, according to Barry Werner of USA Today, Mayfield is the best first-round pick made by the Browns in this decade.

"“It might be a bit early to tab Baker Mayfield as the best Browns pick of this generation,” Werner wrote. “However, the Heisman winner out of Oklahoma has shown the ability to turn a struggling team into a winner. The future is exceptionally bright for Mayfield.”"

The Browns are arguably the most talented young team in the entire NFL. They are undoubtedly an extremely dangerous team going forward and Mayfield is a huge reason why.

Mayfield came in and injected some much-needed energy into this franchise and is the perfect guy to lead them into the future. He is not only their best draft pick of the decade, Mayfield could quickly become the Browns’ best draft pick of all-time.