CLEVELAND -- As the Cleveland Browns head toward the 2019 season, the expectation of many fans is that Baker Mayfield will make the jump from promising rookie to top-10 quarterback.
According to one league analyst, however, the Browns' second-year signal-caller still has some work to do in order to get there.
With the NFL offseason in the midst of its annual lull between minicamps and training camp, NBC Sports' Chris Simms has been counting down his list of the top-40 quarterbacks in the NFL. And while Mayfield's placement is the best for his draft class, which also included Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen, it could also be construed as lower than expected at No. 17.
Simms, however, wasn't shy to heap praise on Mayfield, who Cleveland selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
"I've seen enough from Baker Mayfield to say that he's better than Derek Carr or Jared Goff going into the 2019 season," Simms said. "I don't look at Baker Mayfield and look at many weaknesses in his game other than being inexperienced and a rookie and not having played a full season. His physical ability is off the charts. His arm is big time. His ability to improvise and make those plays -- big time."
The film from Mayfield's rookie season shows as much.
Appearing in 14 games -- including 13 starts -- last season, the former Heisman Trophy winner completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 3,725 yards and an NFL rookie record 27 touchdown passes. In doing so, he helped lead the Browns to a 7-8-1 record -- the team's best since going 10-6 in 2007.
With another season playing under Freddie Kitchens, who served as Cleveland's interim offensive coordinator for its final eight games before being promoted to head coach, and the acquisition of star receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Mayfield only figures to take a giant step forward in his second season with the Browns.
Simms, for his part, agrees. But for now, he's not willing to rank Cleveland's quarterback any higher than 17.
"With some of the quarterbacks when we talk about the top 10, you're gonna go, 'Yeah, it's kind of f---ing hard to put him in front of that guy,'" Simms said. "It goes back to there's a lot of damn good quarterbacks in football right now."
For what it's worth, the entirety of Simms' list, which concluded on Thursday, was as follows:
- Aaron Rodgers
- Patrick Mahomes
- Russell Wilson
- Andrew Luck
- Deshaun Watson
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Matt Ryan
- Cam Newton
- Tom Brady
- Drew Brees
- Carson Wentz
- Phillip Rivers
- Dak Prescott
- Matthew Stafford
- Kirk Cousins
- Nick Foles
- Baker Mayfield
- Derek Carr
- Jared Goff
- Mitchell Trubisky
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Sam Darnold
- Josh Allen
- Kyler Murray
- Joe Flacco
- Andy Dalton
- Jameis Winston
- Case Keenum
- Marcus Mariota
- Lamar Jackson
- Jacoby Brissett
- Josh Rosen
- Ryan Tannehill
- Eli Manning
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Robert Griffin III
- Drew Lock
- Dwayne Haskins
- Colt McCoy
- Tyrod Taylor