It can be hard to recall real bright spots in the 2019 season from Baker Mayfield. The Browns quarterback did not have a great follow-up season to his record-setting rookie campaign in 2018. His numbers were worse across the board under rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens, with one notable exception.
Mayfield was outstanding on the opening drives of games. Really. In fact, nobody in the NFL was better.
Pro Football Focus broke it down for every quarterback on the first possession for his team in all the 2019 games. And sure enough, Mayfield edged out Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees with the highest PFF grade on those initial possessions.
Highest-graded QBs on opening drives in 2019:
1. Baker Mayfield – 92.7
2. Russell Wilson – 90.6
3. Aaron Rodgers – 90.5
4. Drew Brees – 87.8 pic.twitter.com/lqHtXxbMRv— PFF (@PFF) September 2, 2020
Interestingly, Mayfield wasn’t statistically at his best in the first quarter of games. He had a higher QB Rating and better TD/INT ratio and yards per attempt in the second and third quarters. Perhaps new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski can help Mayfield fill in those gaps with more consistent play from No. 6 in 2020.
