The Cleveland Browns selected Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. In his first season, the quarterback posted fantastic numbers en-route to making the All-Rookie Team.
Mayfield was a major factor in the turnaround that the Browns saw in 2018. They went 7-8-1 last year, and 6-7 in games he started.
Things will only get better from there. The Browns have made major moves to improve even further (the most obvious being the acquisition wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.).
With so many positives, it's easy to see the future is bright for both the Browns and Mayfield. What about the immediate future though? Next season could be a massive step forward for the soon-to-be 24-year-old.
Here are three bold predictions for his 2019 season.
Mayfield will eclipse 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns
Last season, Baker Mayfield posted 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns. He did so in 14 games (13 starts). If he would've played the entire season last year, he would've flirted with 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns.
No, Mayfield more than likely would have reached those numbers, but they would've been close. Close enough that even if the roster was 100 percent the same, you'd expect him to improve on them a little and possibly reach those marks.
The roster isn't the same though. Yes, he'll have Nick Chubb and David Njoku both returning. Those young studs will also improve though. Jarvis Landry is returning as well. After the suspension, they'll get the help of Kareem Hunt too. Of course, Odell Beckham Jr. makes any quarterback infinitely better as well.
So you have Mayfield improving naturally with a year of NFL experience under his belt. You also have his weapons around him improving naturally. Then you add in two stars in Hunt and Beckham Jr. and that's a recipe for success.
Finish Top-3 in MVP voting
Last season, Baker Mayfield did something that seemed impossible for years and helped make the Cleveland Browns relevant again.
After going 3-13 in 2015, they went 1-15 in 2016. They followed that up with a historic 0-16 in 2017.
Mayfield came in (admittedly so did some other players, but let's not pretend like a QB isn't important) and turned the team around. He helped get them to a 7-8-1 record and did so while putting up solid numbers.
Now he has even more help. He'll improve naturally from his NFL experience and seems to work well with Freddie Kitchens as head coach. With Beckham Jr. on offensive, Mayfield's numbers will definitely see a major improvement. Meanwhile, the defense has added some help as well with players like Olivier Vernon.
All this will add up to Mayfield churning out a massive season. It will also mean the Browns will win more games in 2019.
They're also in a weird division. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a major question mark. They missed the playoffs last season and now don't have Antonio Brown either. Meanwhile, not much is expected from the Cincinnati Bengals.
That leaves the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns could definitely win the AFC North or maybe sneak in to the playoffs with a Wild Card spot.
With that in mind, the MVP tends to go to a player on a winning team. Mayfield will be the leader of the Browns – a team expected to win.
There's a lot of competition for this award so he probably won't win it in year two. Mayfield will assert his dominance in the NFL in 2019 though, and in doing so find his way into the top three voting for the award.
Leading Pro Bowl Vote Getter
There are three factors that come into play when talking about Pro Bowl voting.
- Player popularity
- Team's fanbase
- Player performance
That's probably the order of importance too, at least when it comes to the fan voting portion.
So let's take a look at those piece-by-piece.
Player popularity – Baker Mayfield is one of the most popular players in the NFL. Fans from every fanbase seem to be enamored with him, and most love him.
Team's fanbase – the Cleveland Browns have one of the most rabid fanbases in the the NFL. All those years of being terrible has caused the fans to get really attached to their team. They constantly have one of the loudest voices on social media.
Player performance – Mayfield is poised for a monster year in 2019. The fans that actually base their votes off of how a player is doing will probably be inclined to vote for him anyways. This will also help him when it comes to player voting and coach voting.
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