It isn't a narrative, the reality is Baker Mayfield has played much better without Odell Beckham Jr.
There’s been a lot of talk about Odell Beckham Jr. needing to get away from Baker Mayfield, but not enough about Baker being better without Beckham, as all the evidence says he is. This isn’t about some narrative, it’s about what is happening out on the field.
Of course a sample size of one game like Baker’s perfect passer rating at halftime sans OBJ against the Bengals wouldn’t be sufficient. But we are looking at a clear pattern here. Baker’s numbers jump across the board whenever he has played without the now released receiver.
Since 2019, the Browns record, Baker’s completion percentage, touchdown to interception ratio and passer rating have all gone up when Beckham hasn’t been in the lineup.
I’m not certain why this is the case, though the best theory is that Baker’s timing in a precision offense improves when he isn’t looking for Odell who prefers a more improvisational style and therefore he is simply more decisive with his throws.
Though it’s been a minute since we’ve seen Beckham look like a star, this isn’t to say he won’t have more success in a different situation either. However, I’m not one to ignore reality, which saw the Browns as contenders in OBJ’s absence a season ago.
So for all the talk about freeing Odell Beckham, it appears that Baker Mayfield is the one who has been freed. Because he is clearly a better quarterback without his former teammate.
His dad doesn’t even need to make a compilation video to show us that.