Should Baker Mayfield be considered as yet another first-round bust?
The full story of Baker Mayfield is yet to be told. At the moment, he is in an unenviable position. The former No. 1 overall pick is essentially stuck with the Cleveland Browns until they trade him away or release him. The former is no longer looking like a realistic option.
It appears that his performance declined so much that the Browns decided to trade for Deshaun Watson and start a new era in Cleveland. That has the conversations raging on about whether Mayfield is a bust or not.
The situation is a complex one and unique in NFL history. Of course, he can turn things around and silence his critics for good. But let's focus on the now. Should he be considered a bust at the moment? The answer to that is no, for one very important reason.
Baker Mayfield played injured all of 2021
NFL fans and analysts alike seem to forget that Mayfield played nearly the entire 2021 season with a torn labrum. It was his non-throwing shoulder, but it was obviously something that affected his play all year.
There is a fair argument to be made that he should not have played if he was hurt. If the Browns didn't bench him, why would he bench himself? Football is not a sport filled with individuals looking to sit out if they are deemed healthy enough to play. That is just the nature of the competitiveness of the NFL.
The quarterback burst onto the scene in 2018 with 27 touchdowns in a season that saw head coach Hue Jackson fired midway through. He then had 22 touchdowns in 2019 with Freddie Kitchens as head coach, only for him to get fired too.
2020 was the year that prevents Mayfield from being considered a bust. He threw 26 touchdowns under the tutelage of another new head coach, Kevin Stefanski. That season, he led the Browns to their first playoff win in several decades. Was he considered a bust then?
Context is important in any discussion of this sort. However, it is easy to get caught up in the recency bias of a player. In Mayfield's case, one has to purposely ignore his past stats to call him a bust because of his injury-riddled 2021 campaign.
Let's also remember that he has played in a new system for nearly every year of his career. It also needs to be mentioned that his best season came when teams could barely meet in the offseason because of COVID-19.
The quarterback has already proven himself to be a success in the NFL. His lack of a trade market is more due to his contract than his performance and potentially the fact that teams are in no rush to help the Browns clean up their mess.