"Carries a combative personality and play style that powers him to be great and attracts teammates and fans but won't be as entertaining if it's coaches/execs he’s getting into it with."
Strengths:
Fiery leader, smart, athletic and accurate. Good arm strength particularly down the field. Arm talent steadily improved in college. Especially precise deep ball passer and overall good ball placement. Anticipates well and can fit it into tight windows.
Quick release. Looks off defenders and finds passing lanes. Good play action passer that sells fakes and sees the field. Comfortable hanging inside the pocket or improvising out of it.
Efficient runner that keeps the chains moving and is a threat in the red zone. Throws accurately on the move and from different arm angles. Can reset quickly on the move and generate arm strength. Quick feet setting up and a quality runner with shiftiness and decent speed. Proved reliable and fairly durable in college.
Charismatic guy that earns respect and raises the play of his teammates. Quick learner that carries a forever chip and prepares well.
Regardless of how he tested, Mayfield is an adept athletic scrambler that can turn a disastrous play into a back breaking one for the defense.
The OSU defensive front from the first two clips here is pro talent laden and had it's troubles tracking him when he bought time.
In this clip Mayfield stays patient in the pocket and senses pressure without dropping his eyes. He keeps a good base after subtle movements to elude and rips a corner pass for a TD to his 2nd or 3rd read.
Weaknesses:
Rarely faced consistent pass pressure. Mechanics and his base can get loose when free wheeling or too amped up. Turns his back to pressure at times and tries to street ball. Refuses to slide, drops his shoulder and tries to finish runs. Over ambitious with his running ability at times and tries to do too much.
Shows immaturity from time to time. Occasionally lacks self control and discipline on and off the field. Faces the transition from the college raid spread scheme.
Overall:
Mayfield carries a sizable chip and got better every year as a two time walk on college player. He's a short, quick leader with a big arm and a combative play style that teammates and fans respect. As he began to play with a more consistent base his velocity jumped out on film.
His high profile incidents of mostly semi-inappropriate behavior lead to questions about his self control, maturity and trustworthiness as a face of the franchise QB. His missteps individually aren't egregious and, looking half full, have helped drive him to be better. Half empty, he's a undisciplined hot head that might need some close mentoring.
The same combative personality that makes him a great player won't be as entertaining if it's coaches he’s getting into it with. A good sync with the OC and HC will be crucial. I think his candor on social media is largely harmless but, at the same time, a thin skinned online personality is a problem.
Boiling it down I see a special QB who's a smart, accurate thrower with a strong arm. I think he'll pick up an offense quickly, start placing the ball and lift up an offense. But he'll also continue to be a chippy guy and give the football media their food.
Overall success as a pro will be largely determined by how he handles heavy pass pressure. Can he read, anticipate and throw strikes or will pressure consistently rattle him into over ambitious scrambles and throw him off his throwing base.
NFL Comp: slower, sketchy Russell Wilson
