The Browns, quarterbacks and the silly season

The Cleveland Browns are deep into the silly season of draft speculation as the team continues to evaluate its choices with the No. 1 overall selection.

In 23 days, the Cleveland Browns will open the 2018 NFL Draft by making the first selection of the evening.

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell walks up to the podium and makes the announcement, the selection will be Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

At least that is what a “friend” of general manager John Dorsey believes will happen, according to Peter King at Monday Morning Quarterback:

"“This friend of Cleveland GM John Dorsey believes he’ll go Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen over Sam Darnold with the first overall pick, keep the fourth pick, and take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.”"

Of course, they might select USC quarterback Sam Darnold, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen:

Unless Dorsey is in line with former UCLA head coach Jim Mora that quarterback Josh Rosen is the clear No. 1 quarterback in the draft:

Or maybe the Browns are leaning toward Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield:

We are deep in the heart of the NFL’s silly season as Browns fans scramble to find signs that the team is selecting the quarterback that they think best fits the team.

But it is important to separate what we know versus what people think they know when it comes to the Browns and their draft plans.

This much is certain:

• The Browns are selecting a quarterback in this draft, most likely with the No. 1 overall selection. They did not go through the past two seasons to be in a position to have their choice of quarterbacks only to settle for one later in the first round.
• The quarterback the Browns will select will come from Darnold, Rosen, Allen, Mayfield or Louisville’s Lamar Jackson.
• The Browns are hosting Darnold, Allen, Mayfield and Rosen for visits this week and next at team headquarters in Berea. There is no word on a visit with Jackson, which is odd given that he had 10,375 yards of total offense and 96 combined rushing and passing touchdowns the past two seasons, which absolutely crushes what Allen did at Wyoming.

That is all anyone knows for certain at this point. Everything else is just speculation and hot air.

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Now, that doesn’t mean that Dorsey has not made up his mind about what he will do come draft weekend. He may have known from the moment he was hired which quarterback he planned to select, and the ongoing evaluation process has just been an exercise to confirm his initial assessment.

But even if Dorsey has already made up his mind, there is no reason to believe he is telling anyone outside of the organization what the plan is. He might not be telling certain people inside the organization, either, as he works to shut down the leaks that have plagued the franchise for years.

Dorsey is a big boy and has been doing this for a long time. If he wants to let everyone know the team’s intention in regard to the quarterback, he would simply come out and say it. He is not going to go to the trouble to tell a “friend” so that person can then tell a national writer the details of the plan to broadcast for everyone to read and hear.

If anything, Dorsey is employing the Tyrion Lannister game of telling different people different plans in an attempt to flush out who is leaking info to whom.

Next: Are Jim Mora's comments on Josh Rosen a big deal?

Silly season is upon us and the Browns are once again right in the middle of it. At this time of year it is always best to remember the words of the late, great Marvin Gaye and “believe half of what you see, son, and none of what you hear.”

Hang in there, Browns fans. Only 23 more days to go and this will all be behind us.