The Cleveland Browns unleashed a new offense in 2020 with Baker Mayfield having yet another person calling plays in his young career. Under Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, Mayfield showed a very high ceiling last year with hopes of more to come.
Despite missing Odell Beckham Jr. for half the season and relying on less explosive pass catchers, Mayfield still thrived in passing down the field. His yards per completion was lower than his first two seasons in the league and his yards per attempt lower than his rookie season, and just a bit above 2019 but he was still successful when he took shots.
According to data from Pro Football Focus, compiled and tweeted out by one of their fantasy football staff, shows that Mayfield was near the top of the league in both completion percentage and accuracy:
Comparing 2020 QB deep passing (20+ yards) completion percentage to accurate throw percentage (@PFF). pic.twitter.com/ZzDgZjRBZ3
— Kent Weyrauch (@KentWeyrauch) July 12, 2021
The data is quite interesting. Joe Burrow was both inaccurate and didn’t complete many deep balls. Cam Newton was inaccurate but his teammates bailed him out while Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers were highly accurate but were failed by their guys more than others.
Mayfield falls near the line with a lot of accuracy down the field while also completing a lot of those balls with the help of his receivers. With the return of Beckham and the addition of Anthony Schwartz, the Browns have a chance to be even more explosive in 2021.
NFL.com had Mayfield ranked as the sixth-best deep-ball passer in 2020.
Mayfield made it to this list at No. 10 after a dreadful 2019 season for the Browns, so it’s no surprise he’s ranked higher after Cleveland turned things around in a big way in 2020. Mayfield wasn’t quite one to light up the scoreboard on deep passes, but he was incredibly effective out of play-action.
Like PFF, NFL.com includes any pass of 20 or more air yards in their data. Mayfield was 23 of 47 for 714 yards last season. That Mayfield “wasn’t quite one to light up the scoreboard on deep passes” has more to do with his teammates than him.
Expect Mayfield’s accuracy and completion percentage to stay relatively stable on deep balls in 2021 while his attempts, completions, yardage and touchdowns all increase. Expect the Browns to “light up the scoreboard on deep passes” in 2021.
