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Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward progress up the Cleveland Browns' depth chart

Despite being in their rookie seasons, quarterback Baker Mayfield and cornerback Denzel Ward have shown enough progress to move up the Cleveland Browns' depth chart.
Credit: Matt Florjancic
Macedonia native Denzel Ward (right) believes Cleveland Browns fans will embrace a competitor like new quarterback Baker Mayfield (left).

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Baker Mayfield with the No. 1 overall pick and cornerback Denzel Ward at No. 4 believing both would be impactful players for the foreseeable future, and their work in the offseason program was rewarded at the start of the final week of Organized Team Activities.

When practice opened up Tuesday, Mayfield was getting second-team snaps, while Ward ran with the No. 1 defense.

“For Baker, it has been playing under center, because that is something that he has not done,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “I think as you have seen, we have not had any balls on the ground. There is no wood to knock on. He has done a good job in that way.

“For Ward, for me just watching him, it is just all of the things we do and the different types of receivers that changes from play to play and who he has to go up against, learning a complicated system that we have on defense. I think that he has handled that pretty well.”

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Mayfield put together a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign where he completed 285 of his 404 throws (70.5 percent) for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns against six interceptions to cap off a four-year career that started at Texas Tech University.

During his three years at Oklahoma and one season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Mayfield completed 1,026 of his 1,497 attempts (68.5 percent) for 14,607 yards and 131 touchdowns against only 30 interceptions.

“He is still getting the same amount of reps,” Jackson said of Mayfield. “It is just now you are throwing to a different group of receivers because I think that he has to have that chemistry with all of those guys. It was good for him to do that. He did some good things.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield avoids a rush before throwing a pass down the field in a drill during Organized Team Activities practice at team headquarters in Berea.

Over 26 career games in three seasons with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ward registered 47 solo tackles, 20 assists, two stops for lost yardage, two interceptions and 24 passes defended.

Playing behind first-round picks Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore in each of his first two years in Columbus, Ward blossomed into a No. 1 cornerback for the Buckeyes ahead of the 2017 season, and by the end of the year, was a consensus All-American in the secondary.

Ward finished his final season at Ohio State with 30 solo stops, seven assists, two tackles for lost yardage, two interceptions and 15 passes defended.

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward runs toward the ball during a drill in Organized Team Activities in Berea.

“Ward being out there is because he is earning it,” Jackson said. “He is working at it. He is doing good things. He plays a position that we think we have been needing a guy to step up. We see things of him improving each and every day and doing the things that we are asking.

“He needs to continue to do that to continue to be out there, but we know that he is very talented. That is why we drafted him. He has displayed that since he has been here.”

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