Baker Mayfield Explains Why He's QB1 In NFL Draft, Calls Browns An 'Incredible Situation'

At this point in the proceedings, Baker Mayfield is a pretty big longshot to be taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Browns have not decided who they will take with the first pick, but by all accounts, it's down to a choice of either Sam Darnold or Josh Allen to be the next in a long line of potential franchise quarterbacks.

However, Mayfield thinks he is more than deserving of being the top pick and, like most young quarterbacks, believes he is the best QB in this class. 

Joining Bill Reiter on CBS Sports HQ's "Reiter's Block," Mayfield explained that he's the best quarterback in this class, above Darnold and Allen and Josh Rosen, because not only of his mentality but his ability to take care of the football.

"I bring to the table a winner's mentality. Something I had to work for my whole life. I think, for me, I had to learn at an early age -- I wasn't always the biggest guy or the strongest, so mentally I had to prepare myself to be tough," Mayfield said. "So I'll bring a toughness and an edge to me that I think, you know, you have to have if you want to win and be one of the best.

"And also, I take care of the ball. And in the game of the football that's one of the most important things."

Mayfield finished his career with 30 interceptions, which is actually more than Allen (21), Darnold (22) and Rosen (26). However, Mayfield played more games and threw the ball significantly more times (1,497 at Texas Tech and Oklahoma combined). He only threw an interception every 49.9 passing attempts, which is just wild. Take his time at Texas Tech out and it climbs to 55.5 attempts per interception. He's not wrong: he takes care of the ball. 

And he's going to be fun to watch, especially if he's surrounded by playmakers, which might be the case if the Browns ended up drafting him. Reiter pointed out that Cleveland could add Saquon Barkley (potentially at No. 1) to Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry before nabbing Mayfield, and the quarterback seemed rather enthralled at the idea.

"Oh my gosh. If you're surrounded by those guys, you better be able to put numbers up. That'd be an incredible situation for me," Mayfield said. "They're making the right moves, they're bringing in the right guys, they're really turning it around. You know, whether I'm on that team or not, I'm excited to see how it turns out, because their guys are working for it and I'm excited to watch."

And how about that? Even if the Browns don't take him, he's interested to see how they work out as a team. That's a strong attitude to take. 

Mayfield remains a pretty polarizing prospect, because of his size, the system he came from, various off-field situations, some on-field situations and general draft-related nonsense we stir up around this time.

He's going to be fun to watch and he has that winner's approach that's hard to ignore. If he falls too far, teams might end up regretting it the same way they got stung by Deshaun Watson last year.