Baker Mayfield's flag-planting
Joe Kelly Jersey , crotch-grabbing antics didn't deter the Browns. They ignored his height, did their homework on an off-field arrest and cross-checked his character.
Mayfield passed all the tests.
As far as the Browns are concerned, he's nothing like Johnny Manziel 鈥?except for his Heisman Trophy.
After months of dissection and debate, the Browns selected Mayfield, Oklahoma's cocky and charismatic quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday, a somewhat surprising selection by a team that figured to play it safe with such an important decision.
But coming off a 0-16 season, the Browns are betting that Mayfield is a better player than USC's Sam Darnold, Wyoming's Josh Allen or UCLA's Josh Rosen, a talented group regarded as the top QB class in years.
They're also confident he won't be a headache like Manziel, who fizzled out in two party-filled seasons with Cleveland.
"In doing all of our research with Baker Mayfield, he has earned it, from high school, to college, he has earned it," Browns general manager John Dorsey said. "I have no qualms whatsoever about him as a man or as a football player."
The Browns followed Mayfield's selection with another surprise, using the No. 4 pick on Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward. Cleveland was thought to be high on North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb or Alabama cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick
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Mayfield understands the Manziel comparisons, and the 23-year-old knows there are Cleveland fans who see him as Johnny Football 2.0.
However, Mayfield insists he's his own man.
"Johnny and I are two completely different people," Mayfield said on a conference call from his home in Austin, Texas. "That's nothing against him, but what I've been able to do is be upfront and honest about who I am during these meetings. I'm confident that I showed that with this coaching staff and with the management throughout this process.
"But for me moving forward it's just being myself. I'm not going to go out and try and prove I'm not Johnny, I'm going to be myself and in the end that's going to take care of the rest."
When Dorsey called Mayfield and asked him, "Let me ask you a question, you want to be the first pick in the draft?" Mayfield broke down and cried.
Mayfield said he became emotional after looking around at people who stuck with him through good and bad.
"It just kind of brought out all of the emotions of the tough times that we went through and the good ones," he said. "To think about it all there in that moment, it was going to be a fresh start, and it was a whole lot of emotion packed into one phone call."
At Oklahoma, he was college football's top player last season, passing for 4,627 yards
Saquon Barkley Jersey , 43 touchdowns and winning the Heisman last season. But his size (he's just over 6-foot), and the questions about his character following a 2017 arrest in Arkansas and some on-field antics 鈥?a flag planting at Ohio State and lewd gesture at Kansas 鈥?seemed to eliminate him from being picked first.
But as Dorsey, coach Hue Jackson and others in Cleveland's organization spent more time with him, the Browns became convinced that he's the one who can finally end their long search for a franchise quarterback. Cleveland has started 28 QBs since 1999.
"My faith says every man deserves a second chance," Dorsey said. "Young men do certain things. We all learn from our mistakes. I like the guy. I have no problems with a young man making mistakes and moving forward."
Mayfield, who went 33-6 in games he started (he sat out the first quarter of his final game with a suspension) is the fifth quarterback taken in the first round by the Browns in their expansion era 鈥?and first since Manziel.
And although he may be Cleveland's quarterback of the future, the present belongs to Tyrod Taylor, who was acquired during the offseason in a trade from Buffalo. Jackson has already named Taylor as his starter in 2018, and the plan is for Mayfield to develop as a backup.
For now, Mayfield is going along with it.
"That's a veteran that's been in the league," he said. "He's a guy that I could sit behind and learn from. For me, when I say those type of things, it's because I'm competitive. If I came in with the mindset of just being happy I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn't be myself."
This is the second straight year the Browns have picked first. Cleveland addressed a major defensive need and selected defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick in 2017.
Dorsey revamped his secondary with a trade and three free-agent signings. But he was missing a shutdown cornerback and believes he's got one now in Ward, a Cleveland kid who feels he's ready to help his hometown team win.
"I'm very confident in my ability and I look forward to that pressure," Ward said. "Being at Ohio State
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Amari Cooper's upward career trajectory took a major detour last season when a combination of drops, injuries and overall poor play plagued him all season.
After topping 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first two seasons in the NFL for Oakland, Cooper didn't even reach 700 yards last season in a fall that was emblematic of the Raiders descent from 12 wins in 2016 to just six a year ago.
That all contributed to the move to bring Jon Gruden back for a second stint as coach and Gruden made it clear earlier in the offseason that fixing Cooper would be a priority and that he expected him to be a focal point of the offense.
"It was cool. Obviously as a receiver, you want to go out there and make plays for your team and win," Cooper said Tuesday. "So for him to say that, it really meant a lot to me. I'm just ready to come out here and work and prove that I deserve to have those opportunities."
Cooper was on a star track after being drafted fourth overall by the Raiders in 2015. He had 72 catches for 1,070 yards as a rookie and then 83 receptions for 1,153 yards in year two, becoming the third player to start his career with back-to-back seasons with at least 70 catches and 1,000 yards receiving after Odell Beckham Jr. and Marques Colston.
But he took a major step backward last season when he had just 48 catches for 680 yards with nearly one-third of that production (210 yards) coming in a Thursday night win over Kansas City. Cooper had more than 70 yards receiving just one other time all season, when he gained 87 of his 115 yards on a single catch in the season finale.
Cooper caught just 50 percent of his 96 targets last season for the third-worst mark in the NFL last season, according to SportRadar.
"I wouldn't say it was great," Cooper said. "Definitely some things I need to work on coming into this year and some things that I have been working on so that I can be better on for this season."
Holding onto the ball will be a big key. He dropped three passes in the opener and five in the first four weeks, according to SportRadar, to get his season off on the wrong track. He reduced those as the season went on
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But drops have been a recurring problem for Cooper in his career with his 30 dropped passes since entering the league in 2015 ranking worst in the NFL. The Raiders have 135 as a team in that span, also ranking last in the league and a priority for Gruden to fix.
"Sometimes the quarterback throws the ball in there early. Maybe he didn't take the proper drop. Sometimes the receiver might lack concentration. There's a lot of reasons. You have to catch the football," Gruden said.
"We have to catch the ball better. We have to improve. Our receivers have to rise up, play better than they've ever played. We've made changes there in this core and they have to obviously take the torch and run with it."
Cooper is part of an offense that should maximize his talent this year. In 11 years as a coach, Gruden had a 1,000-yard receiver every season, including two in 2001. The Raiders also bolstered their receiving group by signing Jordy Nelson to replace the departed Michael Crabtree and adding a deep threat in Martavis Bryant, whose game-breaking speed should create more opportunities underneath.
Having two talented receivers by his side also should allow Cooper more opportunities to play from the slot, where his deft footwork and route running should make him a difficult matchup.
"We have a whole lot of plays even right now this early," Cooper said. "We have something for everything. Every defensive look, we can audible to something to get in the right play for any defense."
NOTES: The Raiders traded a conditional seventh-round pick to the New York Jets for quarterback Christian Hackenberg, a second-round pick in 2016 who has never taken a snap in the NFL. ... Edge rusher Khalil Mack remains out of the voluntary offseason program while seeking a long-term contract. ... S Obi Melifonwu, a second-round pick in 2017, remains sidelined by a hip injury and Gruden said he's not close to returning. "I haven't seen much of Obi except in the training room," Gruden said.
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