NFL rookie minicamps are a time for newbs to dive into the playbook, get a taste of coaches and earn instruction to inform the rest of their offseason. Outside of those amorphous benefits, there was tangible on-field work done over the weekend.
Case in point: No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield.
The former Heisman Trophy winner spent the overwhelming majority of his college career playing from the shotgun. This weekend the Cleveland Browns' top pick took the bulk of his snaps during rookie camp from under center.
"We are going to hammer that until I am good and it feels natural," Mayfield said, via ESPN's Tony Grossi. "That is the way it should be because I can play out of the 'gun. Everybody here knows that. We are going to hammer that and we are going to work on what I need to work on so that we can go from there."
One concern about Mayfield entering the draft was his ability to run a pro-style offense from under center. Those issues should be mitigated by the increased usage of shotgun in NFL offenses. Grossi even noted that Mayfield's snaps under center over the weekend were likely more than offensive coordinator Todd Haley would use in a game.
The weekend was just a start. Mayfield will spend the rest of his offseason drilling relentlessly on taking snaps from under center until the motion becomes a natural aspect of his game.
