FOX analyst Chris Spielman sees the Patriots winning Super Bowl 53 and the Browns becoming a playoff team in 2019. The former Massillon, Ohio State and NFL star weighs in on Baker Mayfield and other Browns topics.

Chris Spielman had to think about it before sharing his Super Bowl prediction.

"Patriots by 6," the former Massillon, Ohio State and NFL star said after a pause.

Spielman didn't hesitate when asked to share a Browns prediction for 2019.

"I think they're a playoff team," he said, pegging the record at 10-6.

Time has flown since Spielman was on the cover of the Browns' 1999 press guide, a face of a franchise that had disappeared for three years. He was at the end of his pro career and never got past the '99 preseason because of a neck injury.

As a FOX game analyst, Spielman sees mostly NFC teams (he worked three Rams games in 2018), but he is a lifelong student of the game who keeps tabs on Cleveland.

Nine months ago, he thought the quarterbacks regarded as first-round draft candidates were "pretty even."

"I knew Baker Mayfield could play," Spielman said. "I didn't know he could play this well."

There is a good chance Mayfield will be introduced at the NFL Honors Show in Atlanta on Saturday as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

"He has the one quality everybody is looking for now, and that is everything doesn't have to be perfect for him to throw a perfect pass," Spielman said. "His feet don't have to be perfect. He can be outside the pocket or inside the pocket. His shoulders don't have to be married to the target. He can deliver it at different arm angles.

"Look at some of the successful quarterbacks nowadays. They're not big, strong guys like Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger. Patrick Mahomes can throw at different angles. Baker can throw at different angles. Russell Wilson can.

"That trait gives Baker an edge. And he's obviously an extreme competitor."

Mahomes, who could be named league MVP at the Honors Show, started only one game as a 2017 rookie, the Chief's season finale. In his second season, he threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns. Mayfield played in 14 games (13 starts) and set an NFL rookie record with 27 TD passes.

"Mahomes started to excel at the beginning of his second year," Spielman said. "I think that's going to be our standard, and it's what the standard should be. I think Baker should start off really hot next year."

Mayfield is a shade under 6-foot-1, making him one of the shorter quarterbacks in the NFL. He is three inches shorter than the Super Bowl 53 QBs, Tom Brady and Jared Goff.

"The game has evolved," Spielman said. "There is a place for the type of quarterback Baker is. He has mobility. He has presence, like Drew Brees, to master finding passing lanes. He just sees it.

"My most important physical quality in a quarterback is accuracy. His accuracy is outstanding. He throws the ball to places where not a lot of people can make that throw."

Spielman loves a good football debate. He was in a few on the subject of whether Browns General Manager John Dorsey was wise to spend last year's No. 4 overall pick on cornerback Denzel Ward rather than pass rusher Bradley Chubb.

"Elite corners and man corners are so rare," said Spielman, whose brother Rick is general manager of the Vikings. "That's why in the draft, when corners start to go, they go in bunches. Everybody's looking for man coverage guys because that's what you have to do to stop some of these offenses.

"Denzel was the best man-coverage guy out there last year. I like Denzel, man. I thought that was the right choice at the right time by Dorsey."

Myles Garrett, who made the Pro Bowl with 13.5 sacks, is "as good as advertised," Spielman said.

Naturally, Spielman followed Cleveland's head coaching search.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if Gregg Williams had stayed on," Spielman said, "but I wasn't surprised they went with Freddie Kitchens. He produced when he had his opportunity. The players responded. He and Baker have a great relationship. To me, he was the right guy at the right time."

As for the Super Bowl, Spielman, age 53, likes the Patriots largely because he thinks Brady still has it, at 41.

The Rams' head coach, Sean McVay, has a famous grandfather (John McVay), who played at Massillon, like Spielman. John's career included a head coaching run at Canton Central Catholic.

"I told Sean that his grandfather hired my dad (Sonny), on the Central Catholic staff," Spielman said. "He got a kick out of that."

Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or

steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP