John Dorsey’s 5 best moves as Cleveland Browns general manager

2. Drafted Baker Mayfield first overall

Baker Mayfield is the Franchise. This is the quarterback with the rocket arm, with the toughness to stay in the pocket against the most ferocious athletes in the world, and with the savvy to find the open receiver in less than two seconds and deliver the ball accurately.

Nobody in Browns’ history has ever thrown the ball as well as Baker Mayfield. Perhaps because he’s not that huge, many observers do not realize how strong his arm really is. But Baker posted the second fastest thrown ball in NFL combine history at 60 mph, behind only mutant quarterback Josh  Allen at 62 mph. Ask Odell Beckham, Jr. about arm strength. Back in June, after encountering Mayfield for the first time, he reported “Wow!  This is completely  different.”

It’s not like OBJ’s former quarterback Eli Manning was lacking in arm strength. It’s just the truth that there has never been a crop of young quarterbacks who can throw like Mayfield, Mahomes, Allen and others. These kids are literally throwing the ball as well as John Elway and Dan Marino, and maybe even a bit better.

There has never been a talent like this under center for the Cleveland Browns.  it is only going to get more exciting as he develops. But perhaps what is more important than arm strength is the ability to assess his receivers’ routes and the coverages to determine who is open and get the ball airborne in a hurry. Although it is way too early to compare Mayfield directly to Drew Brees, the skill that Brees has in making decisions and delivering the ball quickly  is the type of potential that the experts see in Mayfield.

This isn’t to say that the Browns are going to automatically win with Mayfield at the controls, nor are they done if Drew Stanton or Garrett Gilbert has to step in. However, Mayfield is the franchise guy that the Browns have been looking for under center.

As long as he stays healthy and keeps working, he will be fine.

So why is Baker only ranked as the second best move by John Dorsey? Because there were  many stars in the 2018 draft, and many general managers were made to look like heroes in Round 1 that year.

It was hard to mess up in the richest first round in NFL  history. Saquon Barkley, Denzel Ward, Bradley Chubb, Lamar Jackson, Quenton Nelson, Roquan Smith, and most of the others from that historic round are  terrific players who are going to go to Pro Bowls and will be winning All-Pro awards and the like. Dorsey picked the right player in Baker Mayfield, at least in this analyst’s opinion, but it wouldn’t have been a disaster if he had selected someone else with that pick.

Moreover, despite the Browns’ amazing ability to identify first round busts, you are supposed to pick someone good with the first overall pick. It shouldn’t be a surprise or shock to get someone very good with the first overall pick.

It is a better trick to get a star player in the second round, which bring us to the best move by John Dorsey.