Colin Cowherd: “I don’t like being labeled I’m a ‘hater’ for anything, it’s one of the few things that bothers me. I add context to stuff. I don’t like this whole label of ‘you don’t like Baker Mayfield!’ I said I wouldn’t draft him, a little too much off-the-field nonsense, but he’s a ‘franchise quarterback’ – not mine. I said his ceiling is lower than what everyone is saying, but he’s a franchise quarterback. His comp. is not Drew Brees, that’s stupid. His comp. is Case Keenum, to which people were outraged. Case Keenum went like 11-3 one year when he had a good Minnesota team. Keenum can play, he’s one of the best backups in the league. Baker is better than Keenum, but they have similarities physically. They don’t have a huge arm. Baker has a better arm than Case. They aren’t great athletes, they don’t have big size but the guys can ball. When I said that I had a GM text me and he’s like ‘you’re right on that, nobody will ever give you credit.’ Yesterday, Kevin Stefanski came out and said ‘I think Baker Mayfield is just going to get better and better.’ My takeaway is NO. What you saw last year is his ceiling, and it AIN’T a bad ceiling. He had the highest-graded offensive line, the best running back duo, and they had an easy schedule. They went 8-0 against the awful NFC East, and the mostly awful and dysfunctional AFC South. The other eight games they went 3-5 and he completed 59% of his throws. Against the awful NFC East and AFC South he was 8-0 with 14 touchdowns and only 2 picks. This year Cleveland’s schedule gets WAY tougher… If you look at Baker Mayfield last year and Case Keenum’s best year ever it’s the same guy. That’s it, that’s ALL I’ve ever said… The minute you pay Baker you can’t have both running backs, you can’t have the best graded offensive line, and you can’t have the most underrated receiver in the NFL Jarvis Landry… Last year when they told Mayfield to carry the team and throw over 35 times he was 1-4… This is not a shot at Baker. I’m just saying what I’ve always said. He’s a franchise quarterback, and his ceiling is lower than all the nonsense on the interweb… It’s very troubling, Cleveland takes a lot of shots at me, it’s very personal, and it’s very painful!!!” (Full Video Above)
Listen to Colin Cowherd reaffirm his stance that he’s not a ‘Baker Mayfield hater’, as Colin says Cleveland Browns fans seem to keep thinking he’s grading Mayfield way lower than what most media pundits and fans alike would access him as out of spite.
Cowherd notoriously once said that Baker was ‘undraftable’, and even traded barbs with Mayfield on Twitter in the past.
Check out the video above as Colin details why he’s sticking with his original take that Mayfield is simply a better version of Case Keenum.
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