Baker Mayfield’s height, Lost in Space and the Draft: While We’re Waiting

Happy Friday everyone. Thanks for continuing to come and support WFNY. I haven’t pushed Patreon lately, but I’ve held to my word to be more active over there in 2018. Many of you have jumped on board to support even without me running a commercial for it all the time. For that, I say thanks!

Baker Mayfield: How Short Is He?

I don’t want to get on Baker Mayfield’s list. I like the pick and I have no trouble buying that he was the best available quarterback prospect in this year’s draft. I’ve been on record saying that I loved his tape as a player and never bought the idea that he was another Johnny Manziel. That said, I wanted to see just how short he is compared to the field of former first overall players. There’s something to be said about John Dorsey, his process, and his willingness to boldly defy archetype to select the guy that he thought would be best to eventually turn around the Browns from the sport’s most important position. Here are the stats.

So how notable is it for Baker Mayfield to be selected first overall at his height? He’s tied for 6th in the last 50 drafts. Only Ki-Jana Carter, Earl Campbell, Michael Vick, Irving Fryar and Bill Sims were shorter. The next shortest QB taken first is Matt Stafford at 6’3″.

Here’s the rest of the data.

Lost in Space was really fun…

I recently watched Lost in Space on Netflix with my wife. We blasted through it and were left wanting more, which is a compliment for any Netflix show. Interestingly enough, my wife really knew nothing of the Lost in Space lore. She had heard “Danger, Will Robinson!” in pop culture, but had never taken in any of the source material.¹ It makes sense that she and I both liked it because we also love Swiss Family Robinson. That storyline was the inspiration for the original Lost in Space, and conceptually, it’s fascinating to wonder what you’d do and how you’d live if you were stranded on a deserted island or lost on an empty planet. Beyond the concept, Lost in Space delivered, despite a bit of cheese in the dialogue and storyline.

The biggest twist to this version of the story is that they cast a female, Parker Posey, as Dr. Smith. In the original, Smith is an old kooky white guy. Now, Dr. Smith is a gracefully aging kooky former indie darling. The other shift is how strong a character the wife, Maureen Robinson is, played by Molly Parker. She’s the rock star of this show for my money.

You might not know Molly Parker, unless I remind you that she played Jackie Sharp on House of Cards, and Callie Senate on the Amazon show starring Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath. In Lost in Space she outshines her co-star Toby Stephens who plays former Navy Seal, John Robinson. I think if you’re in the mood for some really light sci-fi, you’ll love Lost in Space. I certainly love more challenging sci-fi as well, but it’s nice to kick back and watch something that doesn’t make you think too hard. This show easily could be on the CW or whatever that channel is calling itself now. Somewhere more serious than Smallville and The Flash, but not as heavy as other Netflix shows like House of Cards.

Talking Browns draft with Ben Axelrod

After some time away from the podcast, Ben and I got together again this week to discuss the Browns’ draft.

Last, but not least, I’m leaving you with the song I’ve been listening to all week. I don’t know why this one came back to me, but it did. I was never a giant fan of Gaslight Anthem, but when I heard this song, I was hooked instantly.

1. I don’t mean to digress, but I love when singular tidbits make it into pop culture and outlive the thing that gave them life in the first place. [↩]