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Baker Mayfield Seals Fate as Newest Jets Quarterback

Mayfield recreated the famed draft day picture of Brett Favre lounging on his bed and now, for sure, he is destined to be a New York Jet.
Image via Twitter/@bakermayfield

Last night Baker Mayfield, the swaggering former signal caller for the Oklahoma Sooners announced he was officially ready to take on all comers. Mayfield perfectly recreated a famous picture of Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre when the former Southern Mississippi quarterback was drafted in 1991, complete with jorts and all.

Mayfield is part of a QB class that no one can quite get a consensus on other than that most will be taken early in tonight's draft by quarterback-starved franchises. The Cleveland Browns, selecting first (and fourth), have about as many picks in this year's draft as they have names on the back of that infamous quarterback jersey, and will add another name to it tonight. The New York Giants, picking second, might be looking to draft the heir to Eli Manning. The Denver Broncos are in the hunt for a quarterback, as are the Buffalo Bills and the Arizona Cardinals. Even the New England Patriots have been rumored to be looking at possibly moving up in line to snag a quarterback.

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Mayfield could conceivably land anywhere but, even though the draft is always full of surprises, we know for sure where he's going. The New York Jets.

Having moved up from the sixth pick to the third, there is no doubt that New York will be selecting a quarterback. As surprising a season as Josh McCown had last year, he is still, uh, Josh McCown and approximately 67 years old. It's possible two quarterbacks are already off the board by the time the Jets pick and the— insert NFL draft misinformation qualifier here—scuttlebutt is that the Browns are looking at Wyoming's Josh Allen and the Giants are either going Saquon Barkley or USC's Sam Darnold.

Rumors in New York say the Jets front office is torn between UCLA's Josh Rosen and Mayfield. Most accounts seem to have the Jets leaning towards Mayfield due to concerns about Rosen's durability, but also because Mayfield was the most accurate passer in college football.

Mayfield is not without his shortcomings, however, which include knocks against his height and his brash personality—but many also see those as positives, or at least not negatives. He's been compared to Russell Wilson and Drew Brees, who are both on the shorter side, and many think his personality would be perfect for "dealing with the New York media," which is a thing New York media members love talking about.

It's that last one, and now this picture, that makes it a mortal lock that the New York Jets will select Baker Mayfield later tonight. The bravado is palpable and sitting here as Jets fan who swore to himself that he would not get excited about any specific quarterback going into the draft, I am fully on the Mayfield bandwagon. Look at that fucking picture! Look at that quote!

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I already loved his shit-talking, gunslinging performances in college, but was wary of what a cocktail between that personality and the title of New York Jets Quarterback might look like. Now? Fuck it! I am locked all the way in. Bring me Baker Mayfield. Bring me a rookie starting the season opener. Bring me the Super Bowl.

….

And this is how I know Baker Mayfield, New York Jets Quarterback, is doomed. Jets fandom, against all odds, is built on hope. Not because the team ever gives us anything to be hopeful about, but because the team never gives us anything to feel good about at all. So all we have is hope. For a couple months each summer, your typically deluded Jets fan will daydream about a scrappy team, proving the naysayers wrong because, hey, at least let me have that.

So I have seen this movie before, I know how it ends. But it's April 26, I don't have to worry about real football, and depression, and drinking too much, and losing my voice, and the Giants inexplicably having a terrible year the very same year the Jets need a top pick for a quarterback, and more depression, and the goddamned Patriots winning the division again, and oh my god why do I keep doing this do myself??

For now, I've got a cocky Heisman winner dressed up like Brett Favre who gave all the haters a giant middle finger the night before the draft. I hope it works out.