Ryan Leaf says Baker Mayfield sounds like his 1998 self. That’s probably accurate, but calling it a ‘red flag’ isn’t really fair.

Ryan Leaf was out of the league after just three seasons, thanks to inconsistent play, injuries, and generally poor behavior toward teammates and fans. Later, Leaf revealed that part of his problem was his addiction to painkillers. In a nutshell, Leaf is the ultimate “don’t do this” example in the NFL.

Here he is on Baker Mayfield:

“A good litmus test for me is always when I listen to radio interviews or TV interviews, I tend to close my eyes and just listen to the voice, and hear the answer,” Leaf said on a Cleveland radio show as transcribed by the New York Post. “I always say, ‘If it sounds like the 1998 version of Ryan Leaf, there’s definitely a red flag that needs to be raised there.’”

Leaf has done an incredible job of becoming a positive role model in recent years. He preaches sobriety on his Twitter account and mentors young adults as an ambassador for a Transcend Recovery program.

It’s no secret that Mayfield is confident. As a shorter quarterback, the odds have always been stacked against him, and he knows that.

“I can make any throw,” Mayfield said at the NFL Combine via Cleveland.com. “Winning is most important, but the way I’ve been able to get my guys around me to play, not just the offensive players around, the 10 guys, but the defensive players, special teams. The energy I bring, the passion I bring, it’s infectious. You can ask anybody on that Oklahoma staff. That’s what I bring to the table.”

And here’s Leaf, from a 2017 post at the Player’s Tribune:

Congratulations. You officially have it all — money, power and prestige. All the things that are important, right? And by this evening, you’ll be on a private jet to Las Vegas to pull a celebratory all-nighter while sportswriters in San Diego write columns that pair your name with the word “savior.” You’ll read them and think, Savior … that sounds about right.

That’s you, young Ryan Leaf, at his absolute finest: arrogant, boorish and narcissistic. You think you’re on top of the world and that you’ve got all the answers.

Well I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the truth is ...

You don’t know shit.

Some comparisons are helpful. Mayfield’s game has been compared to Russell Wilson’s at times.

Does Mayfield have confidence like Leaf did? Yep. Has he had a run-in with the law? Yep, during the 2016 offseason, he was arrested for three misdemeanors — fleeing arrest, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.

But not every prospect should be put into the exact same box as another player just because he shares some similarities. We’ve also seen Mayfield compared to Johnny Manziel, which is fair on a couple levels. So once these comparisons start, it’s easy to predict that Mayfield’s career will fizzle like Manziel’s.

But that leap, like the one Leaf suggests, isn’t all that fair. Mayfield’s brashness isn’t automatically a sign of a career about to go off the rails.