Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 overall draft choice, but the Oklahoma quarterback will start his career No. 3 on the depth chart.
Coach Hue Jackson told reporters in Cleveland that the Browns will list Tyrod Taylor and Drew Stanton ahead of Mayfield, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Jackson reiterated that Taylor is the starter for 2018, adding the Browns will resist the temptation to throw Mayfield into the fire “too soon.”
Mayfield’s biggest adjustment will come in learning to play under center, Jackson said. The Heisman Trophy winner played 95 percent of his college snaps in the shotgun but will play only 60-70 percent in the shotgun in the NFL, per Cabot.
Mayfield said at the combine he wasn’t “going to settle for the backup job.” But after the Browns drafted him, Mayfield said he understood why the Browns have named Taylor the starter.
“I know exactly what they said, and exactly why they said that,” Mayfield said, via quotes distributed by the team. “That is a veteran that has been in the league, a guy that I can sit behind and learn from. When I say those types of things, it is because I am competitive. If I came in with the mindset of just being happy that I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn’t be myself. I am going to come in and compete but also with the hunger to learn from a guy that has been in the league that has seen things that I haven’t seen.”