How Baker Mayfield can avoid an Odell Beckham Jr. like situation with Amari Cooper
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Baker Mayfield and Amari Cooper
Baker Mayfield has absolutely no excuses in 2022. With the Cleveland Browns trading for Amari Cooper, their signal-caller absolutely has to deliver no matter what.
When they made the trade for Odell Beckham Jr., that was hyped up to be one of the best things for Mayfield at the time. Of course, injuries and a lack of chemistry destroyed that which eventually led to the Browns releasing Beckham. What made it worse is that he then went on to succeed in Los Angeles and got a ring with the Rams.
This time around, things have to be different. To find out how they can be, both Baker Mayfield and Amari Cooper have their fair share of work. We’ll break it down from both points of view.
What Baker Mayfield has to do differently in 2022
In 2021, Baker Mayfield played 14 games in which he threw for 3010 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Mayfield clearly struggled quite a lot throughout the season. A shoulder injury made his accuracy issues even worse. He finished the season with a 60.5 completion percentage, the second-worst of his career.
When OBJ was on the team, the chemistry issues were so easy to see. No matter what, Baker Mayfield has to build up the chemistry with Amari Cooper before week 1 of the 2022 season. Remember how Russell Wilson brought his receivers to Mexico during the offseason? Yeah, Baker needs something like that with Amari.
Whether it’s offseason workouts or watching game film together, it all needs to happen. That Mayfield-Cooper connection has to be lights out by week 1. If that happens, then this offense will have a genuinely good chance of succeeding.
A minor note to what Baker needs to do is stay healthy. Of course, that’s not entirely up to him but whatever he can possibly control, he has to. We saw how the injury limited him last year and he absolutely can’t afford that again this season otherwise it’s very unlikely that he remains in Cleveland.
How Amari Cooper can help out Baker Mayfield
Amari Cooper was part of an extremely successful Cowboys offense in 2021. However, he wasn’t exactly the #1 receiver he was supposed to be. Cooper finished the season with 68 receptions for 865 yards and 8 touchdowns. That receptions and yards mark are way lower than what is expected of a team’s first choice receiver.
A bit of that has to do with how teams were playing against him. He still played the role of the #1 receiver meaning teams were doubling him wherever he went on the field. Of course, doing that opens up other receivers. That’s one of the reasons why CeeDee Lamb had such a productive year and finished as the team’s leader in targets and receptions.
When in Cleveland, Cooper will be working with a much different offense than Dallas. The Browns are going to look to feature Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb as much as possible as they look to pound the rock. Having two successful backs means defenses will start committing to the run and that’s where Coope factors in.
He absolutely has to use his fearsome separation ability on play-action passes to give Mayfield a solid target. And when the ball is thrown to him, he can’t be having drops like OBJ did. The timing on throws is also going to be crucial and it’s just as much on Amari Cooper as it is Baker Mayfield for those two to get the reps in during the offseason to make sure they are ready once the regular season comes around.
If Baker Mayfield and Amari Cooper put in the work this offseason and Baker stays healthy, this offense could seriously be lethal. Their fans can also make the most of it by using the best sportsbook bonuses. However, It’s going to be tough enough to stop their run game, throwing in the play-action connection too? The Browns could find themselves in the playoffs despite playing in a difficult AFC North.
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Roshan Anand
(278 Articles Published)