Baker Mayfield is the NFL's Next John Elway

     Oklahoma senior quarterback Baker Mayfield is on track to win the Heisman Trophy after a terrific outing against their 11th ranked rivals Oklahoma State in the annual "Bedlam" game where he threw for 598 yards, a school record, and scored 6 touchdowns. No player is having a better season then Mayfield who has guided his 5th ranked team to an 8-1 record while throwing for 3226 yards and scoring 32 touchdowns.

     I was re-watching a favorite movie of mine this past week, Kevin Costner's Draft Day, and they talked about the scouting report for different all-time-great quarterbacks coming out of college, how they thought Manning didn't have the arm strength, Montana was too small, and Elway didn't throw a touch ball, and how those "weaknesses" never seemed to matter. As I watched the Bedlam game on Saturday afternoon, the same thought kept coming into my head as Mayfield kept escaping pressure from a porous offensive line, throwing balls sixty plus yards down the field and firing bullets across his body. Man, I kept thinking, he looks just like John Elway.

     It's true. When you ask someone what they remember about John Elway, the first thing they're going to tell you is his arm. His arm was a mini cannon, and could unload the deep ball so far and so well that people thought he was superhuman. Mayfield has that arm. He proved it in Bedlam with a 85 yard touchdown throw that traveled somewhere around 65 yards through the air. The best thing about that throw was that he put it on a dime. His receiver never broke stride. I believe that was his fifth touchdown throw of the afternoon.

     The next thing people remember about Elway was his escapability. He was so mobile in a league where quarterbacks weren't normally able to move that it was a huge advantage for him as defenders in the league didn't know how to defend against him. Teams had to practice with running backs playing quarterback to prepare for him and no one could out throw the guy. Mayfield has he very same escapability. All through his college career, he has pulled off so many Houdini escape acts that we could probably devote a fifteen minute highlight reel to just the escapes before he throws the ball down the field. His field vision is incredible as he can avoid defenders until the very last second before launching a rocket pass forty yards downfield to the arms of a wide open receiver.

     "Baker the Playmaker" has outstanding playmaking abilities, just like Elway. Mayfield likes to throw the ball downfield forty yards and get the first down rather then run the ten and get out of bounds, but when the field opens up and he doesn't have a clear option, he's off to the races. While he's not the fastest player at his position, it's his vision of the holes and space around him, and he can run circles around defenders and make them look silly. He did in Bedlam on multiple occasions.

     Elway has a passion for the game. It was clear when you watched him perform in a game, the way he inspired his teammates, wore his heart on his sleeve and carried on even when the hopes of winning seemed slim. It's still clear today because he is successfully general managing the Denver Broncos and got himself a third Super Bowl ring doing so. Mayfield has that same passion for the game. We saw it when Baker planted the Oklahoma flag at the fifty yard line in Ohio State and when he plays down, the playoff game as a sophomore against Clemson, and never gives up. It's evident just talking to him that he loves football, and you hear everyone around him say that.

     The amazing thing is that we're not hearing about scouting reports from NFL teams about what kind of a player he can be at the next level. A player with his kind of talent, his skill set and his dynamics, you would think scouting groups would be all over this guy. Twenty-five scouts and three NFL General managers showed up to watch the Bedlam game, and with two quarterbacks who show amazing potential playing in that game (Mayfield and OSU's Mason Rudolph) you have to wonder why there wasn't thirty-two scouts watching. Why not?

     Baker has gotten himself into a little bit trouble off of the field, including an arrest back in March where he was publicly intoxicated and a video surfaced of him running from the police, getting tackled and slammed into a brick wall. NFL teams are being very cautious when looking for their next quarterback, and might overthink the process to an extreme. Nobody wants another Johnny Manziel floating around the league. The biggest concern from that incident, however, was concern for Baker because getting your head slammed into a brick wall usually leads to a concussion, and once you have one it's hard to avoid them after that.

     The NFL is picky about the offensive system you run in college. Very few college programs run pro style offenses. Oklahoma is not one of them. They have good reason to be concerned with the offense you learned in college, because unless you are a super fast learner then it's going to be a while before you will be ready to run an NFL offense. The number of snaps that Mayfield has taken under center are very minimal. Oklahoma runs out of the pistol or the shotgun, and teams are going to want to teach Baker how to take snaps from under center on a regular basis.

     Looking at him on the field, Baker has amazing potential, dare I say Hall of Fame potential, and can step into an NFL offense next year to be the future of the franchise. I'd love to see him land in New Orleans, where he and Drew Brees have very similar skill sets and Brees could pass the torch onto Mayfield in a few years. I think with the right offensive mind to back him up, he could start anywhere in the league. Jay Gruden would love to have him in Washington. I think Jacksonville would love to replace Blake Bortles with a guy like Baker. Buffalo would use him really well. Baker is going to succeed in the NFL at some point, if not right away. Just you wait, folks. He's the real deal.