“The worst thing that ever happened to him” - Skip Bayless blames Odell Beckham Jr. for causing people to turn on Baker Mayfield
FOX Sports Skip Bayless seems to have a theory as to why fans and the media have turned on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Bayless blames Odell Beckham Jr. for why the public has turned on Mayfield. At some point during the season, Beckham's and Mayfield's relationship soured, leading to Beckham leaving the Browns for, eventually, the L.A. Rams.
Bayless said this on his podcast about Baker Mayfield:
“And then, right on cue, here comes Odell. The worst thing that ever happened to Baker Mayfield? Odell. I've never seen anything like Odell Beckham Jr. I've talked about him on previous podcasts, shows. I'm not going to belabor the point on Odell. But given his stature on social media, he's the most beloved internet influencer in all sports. Given how beloved he is, how protected, how defended, how idolized he is on social media for reasons I can't quite fathom or grasp. He's just overrated and overhyped. He’s never been that great. He puts on a better pregame show than an in-game show. He's just not special to me. He's not a difference-maker because he's not made of that potent stuff Jerry Rice or Michael Irvin, even a Devonta Adams has inside them. I’ll even go Tyreek Hill."
Bayless continued his bashing of Beckham and why he thinks he is overrated.
"They just have that thing inside them, that burning desire to take games over. And Odell doesn't have those kinds of intangibles. Gifted hands, gifted athlete, obviously. It's like a Harlem Globetrotter putting on a show before the game. That never quite translates into the real game, except for that one night against my Cowboys in his rookie year where he made the greatest catch ever. That launched Odell. But Baker loved Odell, loved him, idolized him like everybody else did. Socialized with him, vacationed with him. Said ‘I got to get the ball to Odell.’ Force-fed him. An Odell-centric offense to a fault and it started to fall apart. And remember, Odell was there for parts of three seasons in Cleveland, and he had three surgeries. Three. What do you think, it's becoming a shell of himself in Cleveland to Baker's detriment. And yet, the more Odell struggled, the more it had to be ‘it’s Baker’s fault. It's Baker’s fault.”
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Why Skip Bayless is wrong about Baker Mayfield
First of all, understand that Skip Bayless is a Baker Mayfield apologist and has been called out by FOX Sports NFL analyst and co-host Shannon Sharpe for being one.
It feels like I'm the last man on earth still defending Baker Mayfield.
A new episode of @SkipBaylessShow is out NOW: apple.co/skipbaylessshow
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He is quick to make excuses for Mayfield's poor play, but the stats didn't lie. Mayfield has barely thrown for more than 3,000 yards and 17 touchdown passes this past season, and that's not a lot for a starting quarterback in the NFL.
The Browns did think the problem was Beckham, until they discovered Mayfield didn't make his team any better when Beckham departed.
They lost faith in Baker Mayfield's abilities to make plays on his own and moved on to Deshaun Watson. Had Mayfield proven his worth, he'd still be starting for the Browns.