But chances are, Dorsey’s ability to make it work in Cleveland, a place so many others couldn’t, will ride largely on his ability to get the first one right. That’s because, while he won’t yet commit to taking a quarterback (“Best available player,” he said when I asked him about that), the assumption is the Browns will. And that means chances are Dorsey will be tying his professional future to that player.
“Stress is self-induced,” Dorsey said with a smile, when I asked if he’s feeling the pressure. “You can’t worry about it. Control what you can control.”
He’s comfortable, because he’s done the work. Without a job, the ex-Chiefs GM spent the fall studying about seven hours of film per day. Mondays and Tuesdays were for pro scouting; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were for college scouting. Then, on plenty of Saturdays, he’d head out to live-scout a nearby college game.
One of those was Oklahoma vs. Kansas in November, which happened to be the afternoon of Baker Mayfield’s infamous crotch grab. After Dorsey took the Browns job, he saw USC’s Sam Darnold live in the Cotton Bowl. And this week presents Dorsey’s first live exposure to Wyoming’s Josh Allen, leaving UCLA’s Josh Rosen as the only presumptive top four quarterback who Dorsey hasn’t yet seen in person.
Dorsey told me he’s also watched eight games of tape on each of the four, and when I asked if he believes they’re all high first-round picks, he didn’t stutter. “From a talent perspective, each in their different way, with what they bring?” he said. “Yeah, I do.”
