The Cleveland Browns raised eyebrows when they replaced Sashi Brown with John Dorsey last December as the team’s general manager. But the franchise’s decision looked prescient when the Browns got their first win of 2018.
The Browns’ streak-snapping win had GM John Dorsey’s fingerprints all over it
Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, Jarvis Landry, and Carlos Hyde were marquee acquisitions for John Dorsey and they all played crucial roles in the Browns’ win vs. the Jets.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
It was Dorsey’s roster moves that were the backbone of a 21-17 victory over the New York Jets.
Brown left Dorsey with a treasure trove of resources to work with in the offseason. The former Chiefs general manager took over a team that had two of the top four selections of the 2018 NFL Draft, and five picks in the top 65. Additionally, the Browns entered free agency with over $100 million in cap space.
Dorsey got straight to work with the most significant roster overhaul in the NFL. Cleveland has just 19 players from the 2017 season still around in 2018, and Dorsey’s biggest acquisitions of the offseason played a central role in the win for the Browns.
Dorsey’s first-round picks were the stars Thursday
There’s no question who the star of the night was for the Browns. Baker Mayfield came in late in the second quarter and immediately jolted a flat-lining Cleveland offense back to life.
He dug the Browns out of a 14-0 hole and finished his regular season debut with 17 completions on 23 attempts for 201 yards. He even caught a two-point conversion thrown by Jarvis Landry. It was the Mayfield show and the world ate it up.
But Dorsey’s second first-round pick has been a gem too.
Instead of taking pass rusher Bradley Chubb — who most expected to be the Browns’ fourth pick — the team instead drafted cornerback Denzel Ward with the No. 4 overall selection. And through three games, Ward is making a case for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Ward is tied for the league lead in interceptions with two, and added a forced fumble and fumble recovery Thursday night.
The Browns are the defense with the most takeaways so far in 2018 with 11, just two behind their 2017 total of 13. And it’s Ward who’s leading the way.
Cleveland’s other draft picks — including second-round picks Austin Corbett and Nick Chubb — haven’t done much yet. Fourth-round pick Antonio Callaway, who had a big game the week before, broke free on a couple deep routes early in the game but finished with four receptions for only 20 yards.
What’s really important, though, is that the early returns on Dorsey’s top two picks look promising.
Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde did the rest on offense
Acquiring Landry, a catch magnet with 400 receptions in his first four seasons, was a big move for the Browns. The team sent fourth- and seventh-round picks to the Miami Dolphins, but really invested when they gave him a five-year, $75.5 million contract.
He looked worth the price tag Thursday when he caught eight passes for 103 yards against the Jets.
No reception was more important — or more difficult — than a 29-yard catch in traffic that put the Browns on the doorstep of their first touchdown of the night:
Finishing up the drive was Hyde, a former 49ers running back who joined the Browns on a three-year, $15 million deal in March. On a night when Hyde was focused on not only the Jets, but also the imminent birth of his son, he totaled 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
If Mayfield is the starter for the Browns for the remainder of 2018, it’ll be important that veterans like Hyde and Landry continue to step up to help out the rookie.
Sam Darnold struggled vs. the new-look Browns secondary
Ward wasn’t the only new addition to the Cleveland secondary. After the Browns finished 2017 with a strong rushing defense, but an inability to stop the pass, Dorsey tore it all down.
He jettisoned starting cornerbacks Jamar Taylor and Jason McCourty, and replaced them by adding Terrance Mitchell, T.J. Carrie, E.J. Gaines, and Damarious Randall, as well as Ward.
The moves have worked out for the Browns, because the defense isn’t letting any quarterback off easy anymore. Darnold had the worst game of his young career, completing just 15 of his 31 passes for 169 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns.
So far in 2018, opposing quarterbacks have a collective 70.4 passer rating when throwing against the Browns. That’s a strong mark, considering the league average is over 90.
Sashi Brown deserves some respect
It’s not all Dorsey’s doing. It helps that the defensive line — which has Brown-era draft selections Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi wrecking worlds — is causing so much problems up front.
And the hole that Mayfield pulled the Browns from Thursday was dug while Tyrod Taylor was at quarterback. Dorsey was in charge when Cleveland traded a third-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Taylor, who may not even see a fourth start with the Browns.
After the game, Browns coach Hue Jackson wouldn’t commit to his Week 4 starter. Taylor is a team captain and has had difficulty with an offensive line and a game plan that hasn’t done him many favors. But the Cleveland offense unquestionably looked better with Mayfield at the helm, so it seems likely that the rookie will take the reins moving forward.
Brown still deserves some credit for constructing a Browns roster that has finally inspired hope. But it’s Dorsey who found the players who were most important in the team’s win over the Jets.
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