How bad is Baker Mayfield?

[R0CKnR0LLA]

8 hours ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

Me watching Baker Mayfield slump out of the stadium after yet another loss: "He gonna cry in the car"

[electro's horse]

It’s hard to believe this is the same guy I watched carve up the panthers in Cleveland. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by electro's horse

[poundaway]

The question that set off the Fowler/Tepper tiff was: why now?

I think Baker's injury played a role.  We were 1-4 after an easy part of the schedule, but Tepper was probably hoping that McAdoo and Baker just needed  to get acclimated and settle in.   But with Baker out, there would be no acclimation and  we were walking into the buzzsaw of Rams, Bucs, Ravens and Bengals with PJ at the helm.  If Baker is indeed out 6 weeks, Tepper concluded the season was over already. 

[ncsdawg]

Baker appears broken.  His feet have always been a bit sloppy, but he got away with it (mostly) until last season.  Watching the pump / pick 6, that was a throw that used to be a big part of his game.  But he violently torques his body to generate the velocity for off platform throws, and post injury he doesn't seem to be able to generate that velocity or accuracy.  Cleveland clearly rushed him back into service too soon, PT for labrum tears is several weeks otherwise you risk additional damage (which is exactly what happened).  But he was also playing with a high ankle sprain which could also have affected that throw.  Regardless of the ankle sprain, he has looked broken ever since the initial labrum tear.

[Khyber53]

3 hours ago, electro's horse said:

It’s hard to believe this is the same guy I watched carve up the panthers in Cleveland. 

And that has been my problem, too. Baker has not been himself. I don't know if it's the prior injury or if his confidence was crushed during the whole DeShaun Watson ordeal (and really, what QB's confidence would come through all that crap intact?) or if we have such horrible coaching at the QB, OC and HC level that he never had a chance.

I mean, there's no way anyone, even his detractors would have thought he'd be this bad. He's got a better line in front of him than we fielded last year (not just on paper, but on turf in truth). He's got two excellent receivers who can move the ball (DJ and CMC), some receivers he is familiar with and Robby Anderson who is good for one long sprint and catch per game. We don't have a TE for crap, but we didn't last season either.

The guy has been demonstrably worse than Darnold was, and that's saying something that shouldn't make any sense whatsoever. What gives?

[Jon Snow]

It's going to be hilarious around here when Sam has to start. The wailing and nashing of teeth will epic. It will be even more hilarious if he performs well.  And the same folks that he's touched in their privates are going to go full on meltdown. 

But anyway, it's going to be a revolving door between the qbs this season. 

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, Khyber53 said:

And that has been my problem, too. Baker has not been himself. I don't know if it's the prior injury or if his confidence was crushed during the whole DeShaun Watson ordeal (and really, what QB's confidence would come through all that crap intact?) or if we have such horrible coaching at the QB, OC and HC level that he never had a chance.

I mean, there's no way anyone, even his detractors would have thought he'd be this bad. He's got a better line in front of him than we fielded last year (not just on paper, but on turf in truth). He's got two excellent receivers who can move the ball (DJ and CMC), some receivers he is familiar with and Robby Anderson who is good for one long sprint and catch per game. We don't have a TE for crap, but we didn't last season either.

The guy has been demonstrably worse than Darnold was, and that's saying something that shouldn't make any sense whatsoever. What gives?

Kurt Warner told everyone that he didn't think Baker was a franchise QB, and advised of his limitations, but plenty of Huddlers simply glossed over it in their zeal to place Mayfield on the Panthers franchise QB pedestal. You have to simplify things for Baker by essentially taking one side of the field away and allow him to play under center. His mechanics have always been suspect, if not sloppy. His accuracy in college was markedly better than what he's shown since being in the NFL, especially those midrange, second-level passes that require touch. That was pre-injury. Now? His ceiling looks pedestrian at best--backup level.

I brought up the point a few weeks ago that perhaps Baker's injury has affected him more than we know, perhaps irrevocably.