A GAMBLE THAT BLEW UP IN DORSEY’S FACE

By STEVE KING

 General Manager John Dorsey took a gamble on a guy from the state known for gambling and he – and the Browns — lost big-time.

 It has been known for a while that Dorsey’s pick at the top of the second round, at No. 33 overall, of the 2018 NFL Draft, Nevada offensive guard/center Austin Corbett, was a colossal bust, and that became official on Tuesday when the GM dealt him to the Los Angeles Rams.

 So what did the Browns get in return?

A fifth-round choice two drafts from now, in 2021.

Yikes!

 Double-yikes!

 In a year and a half, Corbett’s worth went from being nearly a first-round selection to that of garnering a fifth-rounder.

 It’s akin to buying a new car – a pretty high-end one at that – and then trading it on a clunker in just 18 months. Who the heck does that? Who swings and misses that badly with a high-end draft pick?

 Dorsey, it appears.

 But before we tar and feather the guy – that is, Dorsey, not Corbett, although I’d like to do so to the latter for the way his inability to play has hamstring the Browns along the offensive line, arguably the second-most-important position area on a football team behind quarterback – we need to point out that all teams blow high draft picks. It happens. It just happens. It’s a normal part of the game – an uglier-than-heck normal part, to be sure – but a normal part nonetheless.

 You just hope your team doesn’t do it often, for it can set a franchise back substantially.

 Before Dorsey arrived, the Browns, in the tenures of dimwitted personnel chiefs like Sashi Brown and Ray Farmer, made a habit of bungling high picks. Dorsey has a pretty clean record regarding that during his short time with the Browns.

 Let’s hope Dorsey learns from his mistake and doesn’t do it again – at least not for a long while.