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Did Patriots exec’s philosophy change after drafting Baker Mayfield at No. 1?
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield walks off the field after their loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
quarterback class was one of the most fascinating in recent memory, and Eliot Wolf had a front row seat for the scouting of it.
Serving as Cleveland’s assistant general manager at the time, the Browns held the No. 1 overall pick and were in obvious need of a signal caller. The top of the board featured Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson, who evaluators were all over the place on.
When the draft opened, the Browns selected Mayfield with the first overall pick, and he’s yielded mixed results at the NFL level. There was immediate success as a rookie, a regression, and ultimately Mayfield was done in Cleveland after four seasons. He’s since found Pro Bowl form in Tampa Bay, but it took a couple more pit stops along the way.
Meanwhile, Jackson (No. 32 overall) has blossomed into a two-time MVP and Allen (No. 7 overall) has become a franchise quarterback in Buffalo, while Darnold (No. 3 overall) and Rosen (No. 10 overall) were both unmitigated busts.
So with the Patriots now seeking a quarterback, has Wolf’s philosophy changed at all after seeing how everything with that class played out?
“I don’t think it has,” Wolf said. “Every situation is unique. I mean, obviously Lamar Jackson is a Hall of Famer, and we didn’t pick him. So that’s not a great look. But also, if we picked Lamar Jackson at one, we’d probably have had to pack our bags at that point, too.
“So, nothing’s really changed. We’re still looking for the good player. And I think in this situation, we’re going to have the support that’s needed for that quarterback, if we draft one, whoever it is, we’re going to have a situation where they’re supported in every way possible to make them succeed.”
At the time, scouts saw Mayfield as more of a ready-made player, while Jackson represented a project. It’s why every team but the Ravens passed on Jackson in the first round. And that played out in the short term, as Mayfield finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, while the rawer Jackson rode the bench for more than half of his first season. However, now a two-time MVP, Jackson has obviously turned into a far superior long-term player.
So will that have any bearing on next week’s draft? A Drake Maye vs. a J.J. McCarthy, perhaps?
Another interesting note about the ‘18 class: After being fired as Giants head coach, Ben McAdoo — who now serves as a senior offensive assistant in New England — still scouted the entire group. In an interview with the New York Post in July of 2018 (before any had played an NFL snap), McAdoo ranked the quarterbacks based on his research:
- Josh Allen
- Lamar Jackson
- Sam Darnold
- Josh Rosen
- Mason Rudolph
- Baker Mayfield
