Daily Dawg Tags: Browns on the upswing

The Cleveland Browns will not play a competitive game until September, but the moves made by general manager John Dorsey have the team on the rise.

The Cleveland Browns will not play a game that matters for almost six more months, but the team has been winning the public relations battle in recent weeks.

Thanks to the arrival of general manager John Dorsey, a true “football man,” the Browns have been universally praised by the local and national media for their moves to acquire quarterback Tyrod Taylor, wide receiver Jarvis Landry and running back Carlos Hyde, among others, while saying goodbye to a trio of starters from last season in running back Isaiah Crowell, defensive tackle Danny Shelton and cornerback Jason McCourty.

The happiness will likely continue through the 2018 NFL Draft, when the Browns will select a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick, one of five selections the team holds through the first two rounds.

The only real negative during the offseason was the retirement of left tackle Joe Thomas, who will be seen in five years being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. (While Thomas’ induction is a lock, what the Hall of Fame will look like in five years is very much in question.)

All the good vibes have carried over to ESPN’s entirely too early power rankings, where the Browns, after holding up the list from the bottom for two years, have jumped all the way up to No. 30!

According to ESPN:

"The Browns went winless last season, so it’s no surprise that they’ve tried to overhaul some of the roster. If there’s one thing for sure that we know about the 2018 Browns, it’s that they are young. Punter Britton Colquitt and tight end Darren Fells are currently the only players aged 30 or older on the roster."

That’s an interesting note there at the end. After all the anti-analytics bleating of the past two years that the Browns were “too young,” Dorsey has quickly reshaped the roster to the point that there are only two players over the age of 30.

All hail football guy!

Cleveland Browns news:

Browns draft profile: Baker Mayfield

The Cleveland Browns need a quarterback, and they will have plenty to choose from come the 2018 NFL Draft. Perhaps the most interesting and polarizing of the options in this class is Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield.

Hue Jackson continues to pass the blame

The Cleveland Browns have a toxic person in their organization that passes blame and is not held accountable, sadly it’s their head coach Hue Jackson.

Hue Jackson believes Saquon Barkley worth a top-five pick (ohio.com)

"By now, you know the likeliest draft scenario for the Browns: Pick a quarterback at No. 1 overall and the best available player at No. 4. If April 26 unfolds that way, without the twist of a trade, coach Hue Jackson acknowledged the Browns will need a player at No. 4 who can make an immediate impact while the incoming rookie quarterback watches and learns behind starter Tyrod Taylor to begin his NFL career."

Browns trying to fill Joe Thomas’ shoes (clevelandbrowns.com)

"Every time he thinks about the Browns’ current plight at left tackle, head coach Hue Jackson says his mind flashes back to Joe Thomas’ retirement press conference last week inside the team’s indoor fieldhouse."

NFL news:

Pro Football Hall of Fame expansion hits the skids (New York Times)

"The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is supposed to become a Disney-esque, multiple-day destination with a four-star hotel, a state-of-the-art stadium, a water park, a youth sports complex, a retail promenade, a convention space, a 143-bed assisted living facility for retired Hall of Famers and a small hospital. At the moment, however, it is a project with a skyrocketing budget, stalled progress, a developer with a checkered performance history in the region who has been accused of misusing $25 million in funds from a federal program, and contractors who recently went months without being paid."

Robert Kraft: Patriots obviously have to think about drafting QB (ESPN)

"When rating the possibility of the New England Patriots selecting a quarterback within the first three rounds of the NFL draft, I went all-in as part of the 32-team NFL Nation piece on the topic. The Patriots have traditionally had a developmental prospect on their roster and this looks like a good year for them to add another to the pipeline. The topic also came up over the last two days at the NFL’s annual meetings."

What makes Baker Mayfield tick—and why it might be problematic (si.com)

"It’s been a common theme during his five years in the spotlight: One of Baker Mayfield’s chief motivators—if not the biggest of them all—is criticism. Ask him now, though, at the precipice of his NFL career, and he’ll say he’s only selectively listening to the voices on social media telling him he’s too short, or that his offense at the University of Oklahoma won’t translate, or that his best NFL comparison is a certain first-round burnout from his part of the country."