Baker Mayfield quickly established himself as a hero in Rams folklore on Thursday night when he engineered a fourth-quarter comeback against the Raiders less than 48 hours after making his way to Los Angeles.
The former No. 1 pick was thrust into his debut with the Rams and led the team on two touchdown drives in the final minutes to beat the Raiders 17–16. His highlight moment came when he found receiver Van Jefferson for a 23-yard score with just 10 seconds remaining.
Mayfield, who was unceremoniously released by the Panthers on Monday, captivated the entire football world with his storybook-like performance on Thursday Night Football. That included his former college coach, Lincoln Riley, who had an intriguing suggestion for Mayfield with the quarterback now surely in need of some L.A. housing.
“Great stuff @bakermayfield,” Riley wrote on Twitter after the game. “Neighbors?”
Mayfield and Riley—the offensive coordinator (2015–16) and later head coach (’17)—formed a fearsome duo while working closely together at Oklahoma. The Sooners captured three straight Big 12 championships and Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in his final collegiate season, becoming the first and only walk-on player to do so.
Since the two tore up opposing defenses with a pass-heavy offense in Norman, they’ve gone their separate ways. Mayfield was selected by the Browns with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, only to be traded to the Panthers and then subsequently released and claimed by the Rams.
Riley continued to serve as the coach at Oklahoma until the end of the 2021 season when he made a ground-shaking move to take over at USC. In his first year with the Trojans this fall, he led the program to an 11–2 record.
After five years apart, Mayfield and Riley will be at least temporarily reunited in Southern California. They might even find themselves living down the street from one another once the quarterback gets settled in with his new team.
