What to do, what to do

Here we are 23 days from the National Football League’s college draft and the Browns still don’t know what they are going to do with the first overall selection.

Or do they?

Well, if they are, they aren’t saying.

But the guess here is no, they do not know yet what name they will put on that initial card Commissioner Roger Goodell will read as a nation anxiously holds its breath.

The poobahs who will run this draft for the Browns say it’s too early to make that determination. And they are correct.

There is still a lot of work to be done before the critical decision is made as to which of the top four quarterbacks will be the Browns’ franchise quarterback of the near future and the face of the team.

General Manager John Dorsey and his cadre of lieutenants know who those quarterbacks are and enough about them to know how they can have an impact on the club.

Until Dorsey & Co. put together their final boards in the final week or so leading up to the lottery, everything fans see and hear should be taken with sizable grains of salt because they are nothing more than pre-draft pabulum.

The run-up to this draft has taken on such a significant importance to the starved fans of this franchise, it can’t arrive soon enough. They are weighed down by the nonsense spilling out from all corners of the media.

This guy who knows Dorsey tells a writer exactly what the Cleveland GM is going to do with his first choice and it becomes public. Dorsey, someone reported, is reportedly fascinated by quarterbacks who have extraordinary arm and most likely will draft Josh Allen.

You’ve got to be pretty gullible – or naïve – to swallow all that. Why? Because the draft is still 23 days away. That’s why. Too many factors between now and April 26 can ultimately determine those final decisions.

It’s nothing more than a guessing game at this point, anyway. And anyone who says he knows definitely what will take place in Arlington, Texas on the final Thursday of the month is blowing smoke.

What we do know almost for certain is Dorsey will take a quarterback with the initial pick. Almost certain because there are one or two possibilities remaining that could affect that decision. Like, for example, possibly trading out of the slot.

That’s almost certainly unlikely unless Dorsey has big enough shoulders to feel the wrath of Browns Nation if he has a massive brain cramp and chooses to move in that direction. The likelihood is minimal.

First things first, though. Dorsey and his men (including the owner) are meeting with the four quarterbacks this week and next in Berea to further evaluate them and hopefully narrow the reasons they should or should not take one of them.

They probably will go in with an open mind in hopes the candidates will do or say something along the way that will either eliminate them or enhance their chances.

In the meantime, find something else to do for the next three weeks or so and trust that the best front office this franchise has had since the resurrection nearly 20 years ago knows what it is doing.

There is reason to believe this is the case and we will all watch it unveil deep in the heart of Texas in just 23 days.

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