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Cleveland Browns Select Baker Mayfield with 1st Pick of 2018 NFL Draft

The Browns selected Mayfield out of Oklahoma

The Cleveland Browns ended weeks of speculation by selecting Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. 

The 6-foot-1 senior is the fourth quarterback the Browns have selected in the first round since 2007, and the first quarterback the team has taken first overall since Kentucky's Tim Couch in 1999. 

"With Baker Mayfield, we have a guy who loves the game of football, who is an ultra-competitor, is revered by his teammates and anybody who has ever been around him," Browns GM John Dorsey said. "He's a guy that has earned everything he has ever had since high school to college and now up here. He is a winner, he's competitive."

According to NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein, Mayfield has the ability to extend plays and throw with accuracy, giving him a good shot at being a sucessful NFL player. 

Mayfield did not attend the draft, but in a tweet said: "Let’s go to work!!"

Later he tweeted:"Can’t wait to run out of that tunnel!" 

At Oklahoma, Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and the Davey O'Brien Award. He led the Sooners to the Big 12 Championship and helped them secure a spot in the 2017 College Football Playoff.

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Mayfield completed 285-of-404 of his passes and threw for 43 touchdowns with just six interceptions. He also rushed for 311 yards and five scores.

The Austin, Texas, native was considered to be a top selection by draft experts and late buzz about the Browns selecting him surfaced Thursday morning around the league.

Ultimately, the Browns and Dorsey showed faith in the confident and distinguished Mayfield, whowill compete with veteran QB Tyrod Taylor in Cleveland. 

At this year's NFL combine, Mayfield said he's the man for the Browns.

"I think if anybody's going to turn that franchise around it would be me," he said. "They're close. They're very close. They have the right pieces. I think they just need one guy, a quarterback to make that difference."

This article contains material from the Associated Press

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