SPARTANBURG, SC — Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo wasn’t as critical of quarterback Baker Mayfield Tuesday as he was in 2018, when he raised concerns about the Heisman Trophy winner’s height, hand size and playing style en route to the NFL draft .
Mayfield seems to have won over one of his most well-known critics.
“Baker, since he’s been here for the past two weeks, it’s been pretty impressive,” McAdoo said, speaking about the former Cleveland Browns starter for the first time since the Panthers acquired him in a trade last month.
McAdoo didn’t reveal who will win the “open” contest between Mayfield and Sam Darnold, but for the second time in two days a Panthers official used the word “impressive” to describe Mayfield.
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“What he did in 10 days [of camp] is pretty impressive,” said coach Matt Rhule on Monday. “He’s making really big leaps.”
In a 2018 New York Times article, McAdoo ranked Josh Allen as the top quarterback pre-draft, followed by Lamar Jackson, Darnold, Josh Rosen, Mason Rudolph, and Mayfield.
Mayfield finished #1 with the Browns and Darnold #3 with the New York Jets.
McAdoo’s assessment of Mayfield being from Oklahoma was mixed. He was particularly concerned about Mayfield’s height (6-foot-1) and small hands — 8.5 inches, the same initially as Kenny Pickett, the 2022 first-round pick, whose hand size was under close scrutiny prior to drafting.
“He has an advantage; I like that,” McAdoo said of Mayfield in 2018. “He will lead, they will follow him. I haven’t seen much pro football in his college band. And when you’re small, you have to somehow, somehow, make up for it, and personality doesn’t do that.
“I didn’t think he was a great athlete. This guy is sort of like a pocket quarterback that’s short and has small hands, that’s what I’m concerned about.”
McAdoo did not raise any of those concerns on Tuesday. Mayfield’s downing of three passes at the line in Monday practice, he said, had nothing to do with height.
He couldn’t say enough about Mayfield’s leadership.
“One of his strengths is command,” McAdoo said. “He can direct a space, he can command a space, he can command an offensive. He has good presence.
McAdoo also likes that Mayfield got used to his system without much difficulty.
“The thing for Baker is that he was in a lot of offensive systems before he went to college and then went through the pros,” McAdoo said. “He’s smart and really working on it. That helps him. He’s here very early in the morning and I’m sure he’s burning the midnight oil to catch up.”