Baker Mayfield getting fitter will benefit Cleveland Browns offense

The fitness of Baker Mayfield is going to be in focus for the Cleveland Browns this offseason and improvement in that area will help the offense.

Baker Mayfield‘s sophomore season and first full year as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns did not go as planned, hoped or expected. After setting the rookie passing touchdown record (27) and throwing for 3,725 yards in only 14 games in 2018, the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma was a massive letdown.

In his second NFL season, Mayfield threw for 3,827 yards, 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. His interception total was up seven from his rookie campaign, his yards per game dropped noticeably and his dip in completion rate was even more startling, falling 4.4 percent and under 60 percent for the season in 2019.

There were certainly excuses to make for the quarterback in the 2019 season. Freddie Kitchens was the wrong hire at head coach, Odell Beckham Jr. was saddled with an injury and never truly gelled, and the offensive line was downright atrocious. But amidst all that, Mayfield did himself no favors, panicking behind the line and making one poor decision after another.

Mayfield isn’t making excuses in the 2020 offseason early on. After already addressing how he handled himself mentally and changes he’ll make in that regard, the team and their quarterback are also focusing on his fitness. As reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Browns are hoping to make Mayfield slimmer and faster after he bulked up ahead of last season:

As mentioned, Mayfield’s poor performance under pressure last season wasn’t all on him. The shortcomings of the offensive line were obvious and must be addressed this offseason, both at tackle and guard. And early at the NFL Combine, the Browns are doing their part to address that as they’re already meeting with the top players at the position, per Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com (Jedrick Wills was mentioned in a subsequent Tweet):

But even with an improved offensive line, one thing that made Baker Mayfield special at Oklahoma and even as a rookie was his escapability in the pocket and the plays he could make on the move. No, he’s never going to be an athlete the caliber of Russell Wilson or Lamar Jackson but he could make something out of nothing.

That ability, however, was almost nonexistent and was a contributing factor in his struggles. He often looked sluggish and was simply not able to get out of sticky situations with the same regularity as he previously showed.

Mayfield getting in better shape and focusing on his fitness this offseason will be a tremendous boost for the Cleveland offense. It will allow him to recapture one of the things that allowed him to become the first overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft and, thus, allow the Browns offense to function properly.

When you couple the improved fitness of their quarterback with the assumed focus on improving the offensive line and the addition of head coach Kevin Stefanski, the Cleveland Browns could look much closer to what many thought they would in the 2019 season. Frankly, it would be hard for them to look much worse.