Cleveland Browns: John Dorsey Hijacked Prospect at Senior Bowl
By Erik Lambert
The Cleveland Browns hired John Dorsey because he was basically the polar opposite of Sashi Brown. Old school NFL with prior GM experience.
It was a smart hire, something considerably rare for the Browns these days. If anybody knows what to do with the ammunition this team has, it’s Dorsey. He did great work in Kansas City and has a wealth of prior scouting experience coming with him. It would seem he’s already putting that to good use down in Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl. This includes applying a particular trick of the trade that underscores the gamesmanship involved this time of year.
Some might call it underhanded but the truth is craft executives find a way to “kidnap” certain prospects during events like this for extended interviews. It gives them a chance both to get to know the prospect better but also decreases such an opportunity for other teams. The overall effect may be minimal but every little advantage helps to go into the draft. Dorsey seemed to hatch such a plan involving one of the top defensive players down there according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo.
#SeniorBowl: Notable on Tuesday, #Browns GM John Dorsey snagged #UTSA DE Marcus Davenport and disappeared with him for more than 40 minutes. Apparently unscheduled. A few other #NFL teams got their nose out of joint trying to find Davenport for interviews.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) January 24, 2018
Marcus Davenport is one of the big hypes and mysteries of 2018
One can understand why Dorsey would do this. Davenport is one of the big unknowns of this draft class. At this point, the UTSA edge rusher is considered a physical freak of nature with all sorts of tools. Still, his tape has proven underwhelming to this point due in large part to his raw technique issues. Dorsey though, being a former scout, is always looking at the long-term. Davenport is like a mold of clay. Get him to the right craftsman and he could be a work of art two or three years down the road.
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It’s important to remember that Cleveland has a bounty of picks in the first two rounds. There’s every reason to think Dorsey might like to use one of them, most likely a 2nd, to scoop Davenport for his developing defense. He and Myles Garrett would certainly make for a fascinating combination under Gregg Williams. Whether other teams care for his tactics? It’s doubtful he’ll lose sleep over it. All is fair in love and war.