The Cleveland Browns had a very successful season with quarterback Baker Mayfield leading the charge of an explosive offense. Under the guidance of Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, Mayfield completed 63% of his passes for over 3,500 yards with 26 touchdowns and only eight interceptions.
Those stats are increasingly impressive when you add the limitations due to COVID-19, Stefanski calling plays while also being a first-time head coach, and Mayfield learning to play from under center for the first time.
With a year under his belt with Stefanski and continuity in an offensive system for the first time as a pro, expectations for Mayfield are sky-high for the 2021 season.
Pro Football Focus has high expectations for Mayfield, ranking him as the tenth best quarterback for the 2021 season:
Give Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski a ton of credit for how he helped set up his quarterback for success. The Browns protected Mayfield early in the season, but when Stefanski opened up the playbook, Baker excelled. He was the second-highest-graded quarterback in the league from Week 7 through the playoffs. He also ranked in the top five from a clean pocket, on standard dropbacks and on early downs for the entire season — all of which are important and stable metrics.
There are a couple of interesting names listed just ahead of Mayfield with Lamar Jackson and Matt Ryan ranked eighth and ninth. It will be interesting if Mayfield is able to build on his 2020 season will he threaten the top five of these kinds of lists?
