Mayfield eager to compete with Taylor, but understands role as backup
If the Cleveland Browns are to be believed, NFL fans will have to wait until 2019 to get a look at No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield.
Tyrod Taylor has already been named the starting quarterback for next season, a decision the Browns reiterated to Mayfield after he was drafted. While the former Oklahoma standout again said he won't settle for a backup role because of his competitive nature, he made it clear he's eager to learn from Taylor.
"I know exactly what they said, and exactly why they said that," Mayfield stated, per Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams. "That is a veteran that has been in the league, a guy that I can sit behind and learn from. When I say those types of things, it is because I am competitive. If I came in with the mindset of just being happy that I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn't be myself. I am going to come in and compete but also with the hunger to learn from a guy that has been in the league that has seen things that I haven't seen.
"I have said multiple times that the best things that happened to me throughout the process at Oklahoma was sitting the year after I transferred. It was a great year for me to be on scout team, to learn from going up against great defensive coaches in coach Mike and Bob Stoops every day in practice. I was able to develop things that I needed to with my body and my mind."
Mayfield is arguably more ready to step into the starting lineup than Josh Allen and Sam Darnold - the other two quarterbacks in play at No. 1 overall - so it's possible he forces the Browns' hand.
Regardless of who ends up under center in 2018, Mayfield is confident Cleveland's painful quarterback history is finally at an end.
"It is a mentality," Mayfield said. "You come in and think about the past, so that you can focus on the present and work for the future. For Cleveland right now, we are making the right moves. Tyrod and I, we are going to put an end to that list of the QB names on the back of the jersey."