Consider recent troubles of hot young slingers. Factor in the old guys. Cover the former Pro Bowlers in career lulls. Other than Patrick Mahomes and perhaps a few others, who would you rather have than the rookie awakening the Browns?

BEREA Want to win? This Sunday? Next year? Five years down the highway?

Who would you rather have than Baker Mayfield?

Think it over, and you might have trouble coming up with more than a few names. Or you might even say ... no one. To some, Mayfield seems enough quarterback to catch any of the others while possessing the perfect personality for Cleveland.

Behind Mayfield, the Browns have won four of their last five after a 17-16 thriller at Denver. His radar was off early on in the Rockies, but that will happen to rookies.

Ask any former No. 1 pick in the Hall of Fame or one day headed to Canton how tough it was to break in. Start with these three:

John Elway was 4-6 as a rookie starter in Denver, throwing seven touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. Troy Aikman went 0-11 in his first year as a Cowboy, with nine TDs and 18 picks. Peyton Manning's first year in Indianapolis brought a 3-13 record that included 28 throws caught by the wrong team.

Rules have made it easier for the new generation of slingers, but by any measure Mayfield has done well for a rookie.

The 4-1 run gives Mayfield a 5-6 record as a starter. In light of the Hall of Famers listed above, his 21 TDs vs. 11 interceptions make you forget he threw a ball right to a Bronco in a key situation Saturday night.

Vance Joseph loved coaching Mayfield at an all-star game in January, then hated what happened to his Broncos as Mayfield gathered himself in the second half.

“Baker had a maturity and a confidence, and everyone, even the coaches, gravitated towards it at the Senior Bowl," Joseph said. "His football IQ was high. The work ethic was there ... the smarts, the confidence.

"Once I watched him practice, I saw the arm talent was there. He was kind of a can’t-miss prospect after that.”

Elway, Aikman and Manning were a combined 7-30 as rookie starters. If one counts Mayfield's debut in relief against the Jets (the Browns trailed 14-0 when he entered what turned into a 21-17 win), the record is 6-6. That is astounding for a newbie who joined a team that went 0-16 in 2017.

Mayfield must take plenty more steps to become a classic No. 1 overall pick. For now, he is at least a compelling player, which brings us back to the leading question.

Going forward, who would you rather have than him?

- Some of the field has come back to him.

Jared Goff of the Rams made a huge jump in his second season, 2017, and was tearing it up in 2018. His passer ratings in his last three games, though, are 68.6, 19.1 and 66.8. (Mayfield's season rating is 92.6 after an 83.8 at Denver).

Former Super Bowl champ Phil Simms critiqued Goff's Sunday night home loss for NBC:

“The first thing is locking on to receivers," Simms said. "We know Sean McVay is an amazing play caller and designer. I do think Goff is a little spoiled with the fact that the first guy he looks at is usually wide open. He has had issues getting off that first guy.”

Goff took on a Philadelphia team playing without injured Carson Wentz. Plenty of Browns fans lamented passing on Wentz in the 2016 draft while he was forging MVP credentials in 2017. But he blew out a knee late in the year and is out with a back injury now.

Wentz leads Mayfield 279-260 in 2018 passing attempts but just 3,074-3,065 in passing yards. Both have thrown 21 TD passes. Both of their teams are 5-6 in their starts.

Dak Prescott was 13-3 as the surprise find of the 2016 rookie class. He is 17-13 since.

- Another group includes old-timers who don't need much introduction, but may not be around much longer.

Drew Brees' Saints are a sweet 12-2, but the pride of Purdue turns 40 next month. In his last four games, including a 12-9 win at Carolina on Monday, he has averaged 175 passing yards.

Tom Brady, 41, looked his age in Sunday's 17-10 loss at Pittsburgh. His team is in 9-5 but in a 2-3 slump.

The Packers are in a 2-6 skid behind 35-year-old Aaron Rodgers.

Ben Roethlisberger, going on 37, lost his last two road games (Denver, Oakland).

Philip Rivers, 37, has caught a serious second wind, getting the Chargers to 11-3, but he had been 18-30 the previous three years.

Eli Manning, soon to be 39, is seven seasons removed from winning his second Super Bowl.

- Then there is the cluster of QBs in their primes whose recent work has done a fade pattern from their glory years.

Seattle's Russell Wilson, 30, is 17-13 the last two years, prior to which he was 56-23.

Atlanta's Matt Ryan, 33, lost to Mayfield in November and is 15-15 since his Super Bowl season.

Carolina's Cam Newton, going on 30, lost to Mayfield recently and is 23-20 since his league MVP year.

Detroit's Matt Stafford, 30, is 30-32 across the last four seasons.

Baltimore's Joe Flacco, 33, is 42-41 since his Super Bowl MVP season and has lost his job.

- Another group is an interesting mixed bag of starters who perhaps could play for several teams, but would you trade Mayfield for any of them?

It includes Mitch Trubisky, Kirk Cousins, Jameis Winston, Jimmy Garoppolo, Marcus Mariota, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and Derek Carr.

- Then there are the rookies everyone kicked around in spring debates before John Dorsey ended it by taking Mayfield at No. 1.

So far, Dorsey looks to have been quite right, with one snippet of evidence being records and passer ratings (Mayfield's is 92.6). The group includes Sam Darnold (4-7 with the Jets, 72.8), Josh Rosen (3-8 with the Cardinals, 66.3) and Josh Allen (4-5 with the Bills, 65.5).

The rookie hardly anyone mentioned as a top-of-the-first-round candidate is turning heads. Lamar Jackson is 4-1 since replacing Flacco in Baltimore, with an 82.0 rating. Can he last, running as much as he does (114 carries in 446 snaps; Mayfield has run 33 times in 778 downs)?

- Finally, there is the group most people might prefer to Mayfield for the near- and long-term future.

Patrick Mahomes is 11-3 as a second-year pro, leading the NFL with 4,543 passing yards and 45 TD passes. Good luck finding a weakness.

Deshaun Watson made it through only six starts as a rookie before blowing out a knee, but he has the Texans on a 10-1 hot streak now.

Andrew Luck is back from injury nightmares. He has the Colts on a 7-1 run in which he won a duel against Watson.

Mahomes and Watson, who won handily in games against Mayfield, actually are younger than the Cleveland rookie. Luck is 29.

Meanwhile, Mayfield has gathered quite a following. He is on the verge of finishing the year with a 4-1 home record.

He had everybody laughing when he came off a recent win saying, "I woke up feeling dangerous." Flacco's former Baltimore teammate, Breshad Perriman, caught a TD pass at Denver, and has caught a bit of Mayfield fever.

“It’s crazy, man," Perriman said. "Baker is just ... he’s one of a kind. We all basically just go as Baker goes.”

Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or

steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP