It doesn't take much to stoke a fire in New York. When Jets coach Todd Bowles gave some praise to Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield on Tuesday, of course the media ran with it making it out that the Jets are definitely going to draft the controversial quarterback with the third overall pick in next months draft.
However, if you read through the tea leaves that is the NFL rumor mill, the Jets are heads over heals for Mayfield as Brian Costello of the New York Post points out. "There has been heavy buzz at the NFL League meetings that the Jets love Baker Mayfield, and he is the one they want to pick in next month's draft."
When Bowles was asked about Mayfield, he gave a lot of generalities and some praise, including that Mayfield's size isn't an issue as long as he finds a way to win ballgames.
The praise might be deserved. Mayfield is a Heisman trophy winner after all, and he did complete about 70 percent of his passes while in college. Yet there are a lot of red flags surrounding him as well.
Mayfield's maturity and personality has been the topic of discussion for a long time now, and Mayfieldd has done little to quiet the chatter. Wether it is the on-the-field outbursts, which includes planting a Oklahoma flag at midfield in Ohio State and grabbing his groin and yelling at players from Kansas. Or whether it is the off-the-field issues that include an arrest for running away from police for public intoxication, Mayfield worries a lot of folks.
In fact, many point to the incidents, the lack of maturity and Mayfield's diminutive size and compare him more with NFL bust Johnny Manziel than future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
Then there is this: the Jets traded three second round picks to move up three spots from the sixth overall to the third overall pick to take a quarterback. Of the four top prospects, everyone feels that Mayfield could slip in the draft and would be available at the sixth had the Jets stay put. It makes little sense for the Jets to basically trade away all those assets for a guy who would have been there had they done nothing.
This is not to say that Mayfield can't be a good quarterback, but the odds are stacked against him. The Jets need a big quarterback with a big arm to cut through the winds of MetLife Stadium. Mayfield is accurate, but doesn't have a big time arm. His size would mean that the Jets would need to be creative in designing their offensive schemes for him.
For a team that has to get the right guy at quarterback, drafting Mayfield because he is the flavor of the month is not the right decision. We'll see what the Jets decide to do, but if all rumors are true -- get ready for a bumpy ride with Broadway Baker at the helm.
However, if you read through the tea leaves that is the NFL rumor mill, the Jets are heads over heals for Mayfield as Brian Costello of the New York Post points out. "There has been heavy buzz at the NFL League meetings that the Jets love Baker Mayfield, and he is the one they want to pick in next month's draft."
When Bowles was asked about Mayfield, he gave a lot of generalities and some praise, including that Mayfield's size isn't an issue as long as he finds a way to win ballgames.The praise might be deserved. Mayfield is a Heisman trophy winner after all, and he did complete about 70 percent of his passes while in college. Yet there are a lot of red flags surrounding him as well.
Mayfield's maturity and personality has been the topic of discussion for a long time now, and Mayfieldd has done little to quiet the chatter. Wether it is the on-the-field outbursts, which includes planting a Oklahoma flag at midfield in Ohio State and grabbing his groin and yelling at players from Kansas. Or whether it is the off-the-field issues that include an arrest for running away from police for public intoxication, Mayfield worries a lot of folks.
In fact, many point to the incidents, the lack of maturity and Mayfield's diminutive size and compare him more with NFL bust Johnny Manziel than future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
Then there is this: the Jets traded three second round picks to move up three spots from the sixth overall to the third overall pick to take a quarterback. Of the four top prospects, everyone feels that Mayfield could slip in the draft and would be available at the sixth had the Jets stay put. It makes little sense for the Jets to basically trade away all those assets for a guy who would have been there had they done nothing.
This is not to say that Mayfield can't be a good quarterback, but the odds are stacked against him. The Jets need a big quarterback with a big arm to cut through the winds of MetLife Stadium. Mayfield is accurate, but doesn't have a big time arm. His size would mean that the Jets would need to be creative in designing their offensive schemes for him.
For a team that has to get the right guy at quarterback, drafting Mayfield because he is the flavor of the month is not the right decision. We'll see what the Jets decide to do, but if all rumors are true -- get ready for a bumpy ride with Broadway Baker at the helm.
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