A strong endorsement for John Dorsey, wrapped around one of the all-time draft stories involving a quarterback.
It's always a good Monday when old friends get together at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club.
It was especially enlightening this week, when Bo Shembechler's son shared timely insight a week before the draft.
Naturally, some of us were talking Browns draft. Everyone agrees it would be great if John Dorsey knows what he's doing. Almost everyone gets the impression he does.
"He'd better," one friend said. "WE could have drafted better players than the Browns have picked."
Even with Dorsey here, we all have our opinions on what should be done next week.
If I identified a quarterback who convinced me he is a better prospect than the others, I'd take him at No. 1. If, on the other hand, I was fairly certain three of the QBs were even, with good chances of becoming playoff-style starters, I'd think about Saquon Barkley at No. 1, rather than risk losing him before I chose again at No. 4.
Name one Cleveland Browns offensive player who has been excellent for more than one expansion-era season with the ball in his hands. Here comes Barkley, a Marshall Faulk or a LaDainian Tomlinson, certain astute scouts think.
If I went Barkley at 1, I might get a quarterback I like a ton, anyway, assuming there are three who are even.
But this isn't a year when anyone could out-draft the Browns. Dorsey is at the wheel.
Having hung around him a bit, researched him quite a bit, digested what key people say about him, and spent a few months going over his record, I believe he is substantially more qualified to run a Browns draft than anyone else from the Browns in my adult lifetime.
Yes, that includes Ernie Accorsi, for you long-timers who are touting Accorsi's fine work from the 1980s.
Without boring you with Dorsey's long scouting record, he has done it all. He arrives in this position at age 57, with more authority than he wielded in any previous job, fully equipped to exercise wisdom.
He seems to have assembled a formidable group of advisors. He is more than qualified to wrap up all arguments, make the big calls, and say amen.
It might be great fun if Dorsey surprises with the way he handles the No. 1 and No. 4 picks. I mean, "Sam Darnold at 1 and Bradley Chubb at 4" has become almost formulaic and boring.
If that's where Dorsey goes, though, I'll trust it. If he does something that draws a big uproar, such as finding his way to Baker Mayfield and a trade surprise, I'll trust that, too.
The same will apply as the draft rolls to picks 33, 35 and beyond.
It won't be a case of, "What on earth was he thinking?" It will be more of a healthy curiosity. His explanations seem likely to be based on sound thinking and intuition.
Meanwhile, back to Bo Schembechler's son. At the Luncheon Club, Glenn "Shemmy" Schembechler told one of the all-time scouting stories about one of the all-time players, Tom Brady. I'm guessing Schembechler has shared it with Dorsey during their mutual scouting travels.
In the 1990s, "Shemmy" was assigned to evaluate a San Francisco-area prospect as a Michigan scout.
"Tom was 6-foot-4, probably 175 pounds soaking wet," Schembechler said. "He couldn't throw a ball across the street.
"It was the early days of the spread offense. Everything was shotgun. Brady just sat back there for Junipero Serra High School making decisions. But the ball never went more than 25 yards downfield.
"He made all these decisions before the ball was snapped. He would just sit there and play video games with those guys."
The Wolverines signed Brady thinking he would be a helpful backup to a mega-prospect from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
"We thought Jason Kapsner was going to be the next great Michigan quarterback," Schembechler said. "It wasn't but three or four days before the signing date that we brought Brady in. We knew he was going to work his tail off to achieve whatever he could. Even if we thought he would never be a starter, he would set the standard for that quarterback room and be a good buffer for Kapsner."
Kapsner never broke through. Brady did, for the 1998 and '99 seasons. By 2000, Schembechler was at the Combine as a Chicago Bears scout.
"Tom didn't have a very good junior year, but he was great as a senior," Schembechler said. "By then, after watching him beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl, it took Tom from being a late-round draft pick to a first-day draft pick."
Except, it didn't. Brady lasted until Round 6. Schembechler acknowledged the "terrible body" Brady exhibited at the Combine but begged his bosses to draft him.
"If I had won the fight," he said, "Tom Brady would have been a Chicago Bear. That's how it is. Nobody listens to the Combine scout. It was a great lesson for me."
Dorsey has been "the Combine scout." He has been everything else in NFL player evaluation.
I hope Dorsey comes to the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club when the draft blows over. It would be a treat to hear him explain how the lessons he has learned apply to what he is about to do.
Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or
steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP