2018 Browns Draft Revisited - The Homeless Guy vs. John Dorsey - Against The World

The time was April of 2018 and all NFL eyes were on Cleveland. The Browns owned the first pick and the fourth pick in the first round and the first pick and third pick in the second round. An embarrassment of draft riches. The "Land" was breathless with anticipation. A real football guy was finally on board and primed to shock and awe us with his talent acquisition prowess.

Assured that the problem was not Hue Jackson's coaching but the nerds with their spreadsheets not being able to recognize a real football player if he slapped them on the ass, it was time to turn the franchise around. What better man to do it than John freaking Dorsey?

Prior to that draft, we here at Against the World Media touched base with a Cleveland draft legend for all the wrong reasons -- none other than the homeless guy who whispered Johnny Football into the night and manifested chaos. Armed with a few of Mike Brown's discarded draft draft guides, the homeless guy went to work in trying to get inside Dorsey's head to predict his picks. We launched those predictions into the interwebs here days before the 2018 NFL draft with Homeless' predictions for the entire first round and all seven rounds of Browns picks.

With the first and four picks in the 2018 NFL draft, The Browns select Mayfield and Ward

I thought it might be fun to dust them off to compare how Homeless' guesses matched up with Dorsey's picks and which set of picks would have been better for the Browns.

Round 1 pick 1:

Homeless: Josh Allen Dorsey: Baker Mayfield

With the first overall pick, Homeless guessed Dorsey would pick Josh Allen, commenting:

"John Dorsey goes 'big fly' with the most criticized quarterback in this year's draft. Looking at a field of promising quarterbacks who all have some holes in their game, the Wyoming Cowboy's tool kit is too much for Dorsey to pass up."

The Homeless guy had Baker being drafted by the Dolphins with the eleventh pick in the first round, commenting:

"The Dolphins reach for the six foot tall Big 12 quarterback, saving Baker a 'Brady Quinn' nationally televised plummet. In two years time it is the Dolphins' then-former front office with the red faces. The mental image is Dan Marino retching while Bob Griese holds his hair."

Analysis: This all can probably stop here. Homeless wins, game over. Maybe looking at a few spread sheets would have actually helped the talent acquisition guru. One quarterback was surrounded by eight other offensive players who would be drafted in the NFL, playing in a conference that Mason Rudolph also lit up. The other player was asked to win and was expected to be efficient doing it with a complement of tomato cans. That seems like apples to apples to me.

Round 1, pick 4:

Homeless: Bradley Chubb Dorsey: Denzel Ward

Homeless guessed that Dorsey's pick would be Bradley Chubb, stating:

"John Dorsey relives his high school memories of the week leading up to the Sadie Hawkins dance. The watched phone doesn't ring. No Broncos offer to come up to take Mayfield. No Colts deal to come up to take Barkley.

Dorsey 'settles' for selecting the best defensive player in the draft to bookend with Myles Garrett.

Thanks, Sashi. And a big thank you to Robert McNair for not signing Colin Kaepernick when Watson went down. 'Merica!"

Homeless theorized that Denzel Ward would be taken with the thirteenth pick by Washington, theorizing:

"Down a productive corner in free agency, the Redskins look to fill a team need with Ward, believing that his elite speed will help him become an effective cover corner.

Maybe someone teaches him to stay in a trail position where he doesn't have his head turned away from the football at all times? Or maybe he sets the NFL record for face-guarding interference penalties in a season? Either way."

Analysis: Dorsey wins this one. Strangely, this is mostly because Ward has been the more durable of these two china dolls. When healthy both players have been good at premium positions. Ward has been better.

Round 2, pick 33:

Homeless: Carlton Davis Dorsey: Austin Corbett

Of Davis, Homeless said:

"John Dorsey continues to remake Cleveland's defensive backfield in his own image -- or his own image of what real football players look like, anyway.

Rangy, long-limbed corner with press coverage skills and game speed. This guy is gonna be Hanford Dixon's dawg."

Davis slid to the Tampa Bay at the 63rd pick in the second round.

Analysis: Homeless in a landslide. Davis is a super bowl winning number one outside corner who is battle tested. He rivals Denzel Ward in coverage skills and is a better tackler.

Corbett has turned out to be a decent interior lineman, but a mere year after Dorsey drafted Corbett at the top of the second round, he flipped him for a fifth-rounder. If you are going to take an interior linemen this high in the draft he needs to be top five at his position for 10 years.

Round 2, pick 35:

Homeless: Orlando Brown Dorsey: Nick Chubb

This is what Homeless said about Orlando Brown:

"John Dorsey could not give a rat's ass about combine numbers or SPARQ scores. Dorsey is a "football guy" and the eye in the sky and the tape don't lie. Son of Zues it is. Or should we call him the $16 million man -- as that is what this draft pick cost?

Now put that calculator back in your pocket protector, son and come sit at John Dorsey's feet while he continues to wreck this league."

Analysis: The call is tougher than you think. Chubb is a spectacular running back. Orlando Brown has been consistently good since moving to left tackle. So good that the Chiefs traded multiple picks including a first rounder for the right to pay him. Brown plays a premium position and solving the left tackle problem in the second round of the 2018 draft would have left the Browns free to pick a Justin Jefferson or CeeDee Lamb in the 2020 draft instead of Jedrick Wills.

Chubb's the better player at his position. But does even a great two-down back hold the value of a quality left tackle?

The real shame is the Browns could have had both. Brown was drafted in the third round. After personally attending all those Oklahoma Sooner games, Dorsey overlooked the biggest guy on the field and selected Chad Thomas in the third round instead.

Round 3, pick 67:

Homeless: D.J. Moore Dorsey: Chad Thomas

We really can't judge this one straight up because Moore was long gone before this selection rolled around. Two options. Homeless had the Browns taking a second wide receiver Darius Fountain over seventy picks later at pick 150. That would turn out to be the same level of "nothing" as Dorsey's selection of Chad Thomas (at least if one is to forget that Dorsey traded Emmanuel Ogbah and cut Carl Nassib to make room for Thomas). If you look at Homeless' first round selections and take the best player still available, you get perennial pro bowler Mark Andrews -- another guy that Dorsey missed when personally attending all those Sooner games while fixating on Baker's "swagger." If you take Homeless' best receiver who was still available at this slot it is Michael Gallup, who Homeless had going to the Panthers with the 24th pick.

Round 4, pick 105 and 114:

Homeless: James Hearns (114) Dorsey: Antonio Callaway (105)

Dorsey traded up with the Patriots for the 105th pick in the fourth round to nab Antonio Callaway, who Dorsey proclaimed to be a first-round talent. He gave up the Browns' 2018 fourth round pick (114th overall) and 2018 sixth round pick. Both Hearns and Callaway are out of the NFL.

Round 5, pick 150:

Homeless: Darius Fountain Dorsey: James Avery

Neither Fountain (who was selected by the Chiefs at pick 159) nor Avery has made an impact in the NFL. Dorsey flipped Avery for a fifth round pick two years later, so he gets a slight edge here. Homeless provided an alternative wide receiver pick here of Cedric Wilson. Wilson's production last season would have made him Cleveland's top receiving threat.

Round 6, pick 175:

Homeless: Chase Litton Dorsey: Damion Ratley

Nothing came of this pick either way it was used. Ratley contributed little to the Browns in his time here and spent some time on the Vikings practice squad last season. Litton has bounced around as a training camp arm.

Round 7, pick 188:

Homeless: Martez Carter Dorsey: Simeon Thomas

Nothing came of this pick either way it was used.

The Final Tally:

With Dorsey's historic draft from an asset standpoint, the Browns came out with an average-at-best quarterback who the Browns will need to pay a team to take, an elite cornerback who has an injury history that makes a long-term commitment risky, and all pro running back. After that? A whole lotta nothing.

With Homeless' top pick, the Browns would have landed themselves a bona fide franchise NFL quarterback. On top of that cherry, Homeless would have brought home a talented edge defender who is exceedingly risky to re-sign, a lock-down, top 15 outside cornerback, and a solid NFL left tackle. Homeless would have secured the future of the Browns at three premium positions: quarterback, left tackle and corner. He would have left the franchise with a difficult fifth-year option decision on the edge rusher he hoped to pair with Myles Garrett. Arguably from Homeless' first round board and targeted positional preference, the Browns would have also come away with Michael Gallup in the third round (he was projected to be taken at the 24th pick and remained available at pick 67 when the Browns selected Chad Thomas). Gallup has proven to be a solid number two NFL receiver, potentially addressing a fifth premium position.

I think it is fair to say in hindsight by comparing Dorsey's draft with Homeless' that a lack of competent talent evaluation in the 2018 resulted in a great deal of lost opportunity. Just taking Homeless' picks in 2018 instead, the Browns might not be looking at an empty trophy case today.