Browns Digest

Former Cleveland Browns QB Lands In Tyreek Hill's Wild Rankings

The star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins listed his top five quarterbacks in the NFL. The shocking list included former Browns and current Buccaneers starter Baker Mayfield.

Cole McDaniel

Browns QB Baker Mayfield Syndication Usa Today
Browns QB Baker Mayfield Syndication Usa Today / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA
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Tyreek Hill is one of the fastest and most dangerous wide receivers in the entire NFL. The 30-year-old veteran wide receiver led the league with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season last year. Despite being great on the field with the Miami Dolphins, many are questioning his ability to rank the best quarterbacks in the league.

Hill recently took to Instagram live and responded to a viewer who wanted to know his top five quarterbacks in the NFL. The wide receiver rattled off the names of Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa and Lamar Jackson in quick succession. After pausing for a few seconds, he added Dak Prescott and paused once again. After three seconds of thinking, he concluded with Baker Mayfield.

For good reason, NFL fans of many different teams are discussing this rather interesting list of top five quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes makes total sense because he is undeniably a top quarterback and also happens to be the former teammate of Tyreek Hill when Hill was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Lamar Jackson is the other player not being questioned on the list after the Baltimore Ravens quarterback is coming off an MVP season. As for the other three, that is where the questions and opinions begin to start flying.

Tua Tagovailoa is Hill's current quarterback with the Dolphins, so the bias is understandable. That being said, the Dolphins quarterback has struggled to lead his team to victories in cold-weather playoff games and has battled with some serious head injuries in his NFL career to this point. Despite putting up massive numbers in the regular season, Tagovailoa has not yet had an easy path to a contract extension with his current team.

Dak Prescott is in a similar situation with the Dallas Cowboys at the moment. He is looking for a big contract extension as he enters the final year of his current deal. Prescott has put up big numbers in the regular season and last year threw for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns. His impressive passing touchdown mark led the NFL. The problem for Prescott is that he has not been able to lead his team towards a deep playoff run. Last year, a very talented Cowboys team got bounced in a wild-card upset by the Green Bay Packers.

If the Tagovailoa and Prescott names ruffled some feathers, then the Baker Mayfield mention was the final straw. The former Cleveland Browns quarterback has been on a wild ride in recent times. Back in 2018, the Browns elected to take Mayfield with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. He quickly became the starting quarterback after replacing an injured Tyrod Taylor in Week 3.

Quarterback speaks with head coach and offensive coordinator.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield meets with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, center, and head coach Kevin Stefanski during the first half against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, in Cleveland. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK

From that point, Mayfield never looked back and was in-line to become the team's franchise quarterback for many years to come. The bad news for the Browns was that his time in Cleveland was inconsistent. There were some high, highs and low, lows. Unfortunately for Mayfield, things derailed as he tried to power through an injury during the 2021 season. The organization decided to part ways and go a different direction for the 2022 season and beyond.

After being sent to the Carolina Panthers, Mayfield's time there was short-lived. He was released after struggling through seven games. Due to a Matthew Stafford injury, the Los Angeles Rams picked up Mayfield to hold them over for a short period of time. He ended the 2022 season in Los Angeles after playing five games with the Rams. That stint was better than the one in Carolina.

In 2023, Mayfield found himself back in the NFC South but this time as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield replacing a retiring Tom Brady was not on the bingo cards for most people, but that is exactly what happened. Mayfield had a great year though, throwing for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns. This landed him a spot in the Pro Bowl. The next step for Mayfield in his career is proving that he can be consistent and find success once again this coming season.

As to why Hill placed Mayfield on his top five list, that is still unknown. Could it just be recency bias from last season? Could it be that Hill just respects Mayfield as a former Big 12 quarterback? Hill spent 2014 at Oklahoma State, while Mayfield was at Texas Tech in 2013 prior to playing for Oklahoma from 2015-2017.

Regardless of the reasoning, Hill managed to leave us with some real head-scratchers. If his top five take was simply for engagement, then Hill did a great job at creating a buzz.

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Cole McDaniel

COLE MCDANIEL

Cole McDaniel is a contributor to both Browns Digest and Cavs Insider. He is the Vice President of Operations for Kee on Sports, most notably serving as lead NFL Draft analyst and the play-by-play voice for high school football. He can also be heard on numerous Baldwin Wallace University athletics broadcasts and has served as Cleveland SC's color commentator since 2019. Cole is a 2019 graduate of Baldwin Wallace where he also played soccer. 

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