How UNDERRATED Is Baker Mayfield Actually?
As a number one overall pick, Baker Mayfield has never come close to a Super Bowl. On the other hand, Troy Aikman, another number one pick, has multiple Super Bowl wins.
Ironically, Baker’s career quarterback rating is actually better than Troy Aikman’s! People have called Baker a bust, but was it maybe just his bad luck to go to an awful organization? In NFL history, there are only 6 quarterbacks drafted number one overall who won a Super Bowl as a starter, and Baker Mayfield’s career rating is better than almost every one of them. He’s even taken that awful Browns franchise to places they haven’t been for 26 years. So, how underrated is Baker Mayfield actually?
Baker has always had a chip on his shoulder, and you don’t need to look any further than his unlikely rise in college. He was underrecruited and wound up being a walk-on at Texas Tech. After an injury to starting quarterback Michael Brewer, Baker was named the Week 1 starter, becoming the first player in FBS history to start a season-opener as a walk-on freshman. After an impressive freshman year at Texas Tech, he transferred to Oklahoma. And all three years at Oklahoma, Baker led the conference in completion percentage, and twice he led in touchdown passes. His sophomore year he was 4th in Heisman voting, and his junior year he was 3rd in Heisman voting. In both those years, he was actually right behind Deshaun Watson, but more on that later. In his senior year, behind his 70.5% completion percentage, 43 passing touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions, he finally won the Heisman!