HIGH SCHOOL
Mayfield, from Grand Rapids (MI) Catholic Central, was recruited to Minnesota by then-Gophers offensive line coach Ed Warinner, but he flipped to Michigan when the Wolverines came through with an offer. He ended up playing in the Army All-American Bowl and finished the 2018 recruiting cycle as a 4-star, the #16 offensive tackle, and #268 overall. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 84 (LINK) before bumping him up to an 87 at the end of the cycle (LINK).
Hit the jump for more.
COLLEGE
Mayfield redshirted in 2018. He became a 13-game starter in 2019, earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten on the offensive line. He initially declared for the 2021 NFL Draft when the Big Ten’s 2020 season was canceled, but he was able to come back when the season was scheduled to start once again. Unfortunately, he got injured in the second game and never returned to the field.
CAREER STATISTICS
18 career games played (15 starts)
AWARDS
Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (2019)
SUMMARY
Boy, this is going to be a short summary. Mayfield was a very athletic and exciting recruit who needed a year to work on his body. He had a rough start to the 2019 season against Middle Tennessee when he made some mental mistakes, but as the year went along, he improved significantly. He was Michigan’s best lineman in the early part of 2020, and his injury was part of the beginning of the submarining of Michigan’s season. As the only returning starter on the offensive line, the right tackle spot was going to have to be the anchor, and the anchor didn’t even last for two full games.
I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR…
…leaving too soon. It’s not up to me to say that someone shouldn’t leave early, because it’s their body, their finances, their time, etc. But his career was too short for my liking. Lots of good offensive linemen at Michigan have played 30+ or even 40+ games, and to only get 18 games and 15 starts out of Mayfield is disappointing. If he gets drafted, I would venture a guess that he will be the least experienced (in games played) Michigan lineman to get drafted, at least in the modern era of the NFL Draft.
PROJECTION
It’s not often that we have to project a redshirt freshman sophomore lineman to the NFL, and I have no idea which players will be entering the 2021 draft. If he were eligible for the 2020 draft, he would not have been a first round pick like some said. He simply wasn’t playing at that level. But he did show a ton of athleticism. Some people think he’s too short for tackle at 6’5″, but I think he has enough length to stick at tackle at the next level. If I had to guess right now, I would say he would be a third round pick in 2021, but that’s only a slightly educated guess because everything is so fluid.
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