The New York Giants took a chance by selecting Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, just like the Cleveland Browns rolled the dice by choosing Oklahoma signal-caller Baker Mayfield with the No. 1 pick in 2018.
Mayfield was the reigning Heisman Trophy winner with a track record of success at a national powerhouse, though, making it much easier to justify the Browns’ decision. The Giants, on the other hand, really reached for Jones, drawing immense criticism from a bunch of draft experts and football talking heads.
Mayfield evidently is skeptical of the Giants’ decision, too, based on his reaction to an ESPN “SportsCenter” segment during a recent sitdown interview with GQ.
“I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones,” Mayfield told GQ’s Clay Skipper. “Blows my mind.”
Jones finished his college career with a 17-19 record as a three-year starter at Duke, far inferior to Mayfield’s 39-9 record at Oklahoma. Mayfield already has begun to prove his own critics wrong by leading the historically lowly Browns to six wins in their final 13 games last season, but his logic suggests Jones might find it a bit more difficult to achieve success at the next level.
“Some people overthink it,” Mayfield told Skipper of predicting what makes a good NFL quarterback. “That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”
“Either you have a history of winning and being that guy for your team, or you don’t,” he added.
Mayfield, 24, is coming off an excellent rookie campaign with the Browns in which he threw for 3,725 yards with 27 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. Expectations are sky-high in Cleveland this season, especially with the Browns adding All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to their offense, and Mayfield appears ready to accept the heightened scrutiny while staying true to his outspoken ways.
