Friday 27 April 2018 17:34, UK
Cleveland Browns No 1 overall Draft pick Baker Mayfield insists he is happy to sit behind veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Unlike the other four quarterbacks selected on Thursday night - Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson - Mayfield wasn't present in the green room in Dallas.
There were also no cameras set up in his home to share his reaction to the pick. He has been laying low.
However, the shock No 1 Draft pick was spotted entering the Browns' facility in Cleveland on Friday and he shared his first thoughts on the quarterback situation in a conference call with cleveland.com.
"I know exactly what they said and I absolutely respect that," he said. "That's a veteran that's been in the league. He's a guy that I could sit behind and learn from.''
Taylor, a sixth-round pick in 2011, has had varying levels of success in the league so far. Early in his career, there was no room for him in Baltimore behind Joe Flacco, but he eventually got his chance to become a starter in 2015, signing with the Buffalo Bills in free agency.
As a Bill, Taylor was efficient (51 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions in three seasons) and added a new dimension to the offense with his rushing prowess. Over those years, he ran for over 400 yards and four touchdowns in each.
Despite leading the team to the playoffs last season, he fell out of favour with the new regime under now second-year head coach Sean McDermott. They agreed to trade him to Cleveland for a third-round pick earlier this offseason, and Buffalo ultimately ended up going in a new direction by choosing Josh Allen with the seventh selection this year.
A third-round pick is a lot to give up, and Taylor was presumed to be the starter even with a rookie addition, but Mayfield had said at the NFL Combine that he wouldn't settle for a backup job, and he was asked about it.
"For me, when I say those type of things, it's because I'm competitive,'' he explained.
"If I came in with the mindset of just being happy I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn't be myself. I'm going to come in with the mindset to compete but also with the hunger to learn from a guy that's been in the league, that's seen things that I haven't seen.
"I've said multiple times that the best thing to happen to me throughout this process at Oklahoma was sitting for the year after I transferred."
It looks like another year of sitting is the Browns' plan for Mayfield, as both head coach Hue Jackson and general manager John Dorsey emphasised that long-term success is more important than the now.
"It's really important that he understands. When he is ready to play, he will be ready to play," said Jackson.
Dorsey added: "To make this guy the best long-term - that's what he's thinking about - you have to teach him to understand the game of football first.
"I've always said, in college you play the game and in the pros, you're going to learn the game of football."
The next two days of the NFL Draft are exclusively live on Sky Sports with day two underway from midnight on Saturday on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix.
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