Getty Baker Mayfield throws it between two Chargers defenders on January 1, 2023 in Inglewood.
A franchise legend has spoken: Baker Mayfield has found his home for 2023 — with the Los Angeles Rams.
Kurt Warner, who led the franchise to their first Super Bowl win in 2000 while in St. Louis, not only compartmentalized Mayfield’s game on his You Tube show “Study Ball,” but the Super Bowl 34 Most Valuable Player says that the embattled quarterback has found a home in the “Rams House.”
“It’s about finding the right place,” Warner said in his video. “He bounces around to a couple of places and it’s not a right fit.”
But as Warner says: “He’s found himself in a place that plays to his strengths. Even though he has only been there a short period of time, what they do makes it easier for a quarterback like Baker Mayfield.”
While Warner’s path to the NFL involved going undrafted and was far different from Mayfield’s with the latter a past first overall pick, Warner brought up how he felt relatable to the former top pick of the 2018 draft — by bouncing around multiple teams before finding a prime fit.
“You guys may or may not know, I’m all about reclamation projects,” Warner said. “I love it when there’s different groups of quarterbacks and you have different groups of people that say ‘Ah, they can’t play. They were good at one time but they can’t play anymore.’ Or, ‘They’re not a very good quarterback or they’re not a starting quarterback in the NFL’…I went through that.”
But as the 2017 Hall of Famer put it: “A big part of it is finding a place that plays the way you play as a quarterback, that plays to your strengths as a quarterback” before breaking down what makes Mayfield more effective in the Rams offense.
How the Rams Get Mayfield Comfortable in the Offense as Kurt Warner Explains
Warner, now a prominent NFL Network personality, shared the first strength that makes Mayfield a fit for the Sean McVay-led offense.
“Get the ball out, and that’s who Baker is,” he explained. “When he knows where he wants to throw the football he can make big-time throws.”
But while Warner is on board with Mayfield playing for his former team and is a fan of his play, he did point one flaw he’s noticed from him.
“Where I think he’s had some trouble in the past is when they play drop-back,” Warner dove into. “They’re asking him to see the whole field, and he’s unsure of exactly where he wants to go. That makes him tentative and that led to a lot of the bad decisions over the years.”
But, “pure progression system plays to his strengths” as Warner reminded before sharing how a naked bootleg passing play Mayfield ran against the Denver Broncos exemplifies Mayfield’s prowess as a passer — the one where he hit tight end Tyler Higbee that got the Rams inside the Broncos’ 10.
“It’s one of the reasons why I say he can still be a starter in this league because he makes throws like that,” Warner said.
‘I’ve Always Been a Baker Fan’
Warner shared consistency will be pivotal for Mayfield moving forward.
“To be a starting quarterback in this league, you’ve got to be consistent. You’ve got to show me that stuff every time out,” Warner explained. “And that’s been one of the knocks on Baker’s game: One game you’ll have that, the next game you’ll have something that doesn’t resemble that at all. You need the consistency.”
A prime example is the ebbs and flows Mayfield has been on as a Ram. He’s 2-2 as a starter but, following his highly efficient game versus Denver that saw an 85.7% completion percentage, his percentage dipped to 57.89 in the 31-10 loss to the Chargers on New Year’s Day. And in both losses to the Green Bay Packers and Bolts, Mayfield was held to 111 and 132 passing yards respectively.
“But I believe if you put him a system or you’re able to play games that way, Baker can be a starting quarterback and a good starting quarterback in the NFL,” Warner said.
Warner didn’t shy away from the fact that he’s rooting for the Rams’ QB1 for the rest of the 2022 season.
“I’ve always been a Baker fan within the framework of what he is because I believe a lot of different quarterbacks in this league find the right system,” Warner said.