John Dorsey preparing for the great quarterback hunt of 2018
By Thomas Moore
Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey is singing a familiar tune about needing a quarterback. Can he pull it off come draft night?
Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey hit all the boxes on his “how to win the introductory news conference” last week.
From talking about awakening the “sleeping giant” (with no attribution, sadly, to the late Gabe Paul, who coined that phrase about the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s), to “proud traditions” and “rolling up the sleeves” and an ownership that “wants to win,” Dorsey clearly had been spending some time getting ready for his next gig.
Of course, no opening press conference can be complete without mentioning how the Browns are going to solve the ongoing quarterback issue — and this time they mean it. Looking at the transcript of Dorsey and owner Jimmy Haslam’s time in front of the media, the word quarterback was used 10 times.
It was Haslam, rather than Dorsey, that slipped in the most eye-opening quote, per clevelandbrowns.com, about what it will take for the Browns to finally be competitive:
"“Let me say it this way, the Cleveland Browns are not going to be successful until we get a quarterback. We are going to look at free agency, and we are going to look at the draft. As was mentioned earlier, we have a substantial amount of capital. We are going to do whatever it takes to find a quarterback we need to be successful.”"
While that certainly sounds good to Browns fans, it doesn’t bode well for the future of rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, who has had more downs than ups this fall.
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The Browns are on the verge of locking up the No. 1 overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, meaning that they will have their pick of any draft-eligible quarterback they want. Browns Twitter would burn if Dorsey traded out of the No. 1 spot, so let’s assume, rather safely, that the Browns stay in the top spot and select a quarterback.
The question then becomes — which one? By the time that all the pre-draft analysis and tearing down of players is complete, there will likely be five quarterbacks in consideration: Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, USC’s Sam Darnold, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen.
Even though no one can jump ahead of the Browns if they have the top pick, Dorsey isn’t going to give away who he plans to make the next starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. But it was still interesting to read his answer when asked about the subject by Peter King for his Monday Morning Quarterback Mail Bag:
"“I want to be able to project and articulate my opinion when the time comes and it matters. I saw [Baker Mayfield] at Kansas this year, in the OU-Kansas game. You’re darn right he’s a good quarterback, no matter how tall he is. Some would say he’s too short, but I would ask you: How tall is Russell Wilson? How tall is Chase Daniel?”"
Let’s forget for a moment the comment about Chase Daniel, who is exactly the type of quarterback the Browns have been trotting out for far too long. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but the fact that Dorsey is fired up about Mayfield might mean something.
The Browns still have to make it through the final three games of the season and secure the top spot before everyone can go deep into draft preparation.
Next: Browns need to add wide receivers in 2018
But judging from Dorsey’s comments during the first few days of his tenure, he realizes the game is already afoot, which is going to make the next four months highly entertaining.