Should the Jaguars Have Any Interest in John Dorsey As a GM Candidate?
One of the biggest decisions of Shad Khan's tenure as the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars is set to take place over the coming weeks. Who will he pick to lead his front office into the future and decide on the next head coach, quarterback, and high-profile picks and signings beyond that?
Khan has hired two different front office executives in his nine years as owner and his track record of success at doing so is less than stellar, to put it lightly. Former general manager Dave Caldwell, who was fired after a Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns, served in his role for nearly eight seasons but had a 39-87 record as general manager.
Meanwhile, front office executive Tom Coughlin had a three-year reign of terror that saw him alienate some of the team's top players and make several swings and misses at the quarterback position. There is no question that Khan's third attempt at finding the right architect for his team will have to be a marked improvement over either of his past two hirings.
While Khan can't officially interview executives who are currently employed by other teams until the regular season ends, he can speak with those who are currently not affiliated with any clubs. This is a wide-ranging pool of candidates that includes Scott Pioli, Louis Riddick, Daniel Jeremiah, and others.
Among those that Khan can talk to as of today is another former general manager who spent last season out of the league but has plenty of experience and wins on his resume: former Chiefs and Browns general manager John Dorsey.
Dorsey was fired as the Browns' general manager at the end of the 2019 season following the Freddie Kitchens debacle, but the former front office leader has an interesting track record and a history of experience that will likely be appealing to owners throughout the league.
So, should the Jaguars have any interest in hiring Dorsey to right their ship, even after his failures in Cleveland? We take a look at the pros and the cons.
While Dorsey comes with some baggage after recent firings, there is plenty on his resume that says he could be a solid hire for the right franchise. There is a true pros and cons aspect to what he brings to the table, leading to the question of if the risk is worth the potential award.
His first draft in Kansas City was filled with misses after the first two rounds, but he brought in high-quality talents in offensive tackle Eric Fisher and tight end Travis Kelce in the first two rounds. He also would go on to bring in key Chiefs contributors to Kansas City through the draft or free agency, such as Marcus Peters, Tyreek Hill, Mitchell Schwartz, Mitch Morse, Chris Jones, Dee Ford, and Kareem Hunt.
In Cleveland, Dorsey played major roles in drafting or acquiring Nick Chubb, Denzel Ward, Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Sheldon Richardson, and Wyatt Teller. Most of the best players on each team were acquired by Dorsey, with only a few notable exceptions.
It should be noted that Dorsey's actual hit rate wasn't actually that great. His drafts featured some home runs with a lot of duds. But his home runs ended up paying off in bigger ways than many others, which could always interest an owner.
Then there is the quarterback position. How much credit Dorsey deserves for the Chiefs moving up to select Patrick Mahomes has always been in question, but Terez Paylor did a fantastic story on Yahoo! Sports that detailed how the Chiefs scouted and acquired Mahomes.
"To get Mahomes, Dorsey, the man in charge of actually working the phones, had to get creative. The Chiefs were selecting at No. 27, and thanks to the league-wide connections of Reid, Dorsey and Veach, they knew a handful of other teams were just as interested in Mahomes as they were," Paylor wrote.
The Chiefs would end up winning the Mahomes sweepstakes over other interested teams such as the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals, trading the No. 27 overall pick, a third-round pick and their 2018 first-round selection to the Buffalo Bills to move up to No. 10 to select Mahomes.
Dorsey and Kansas City parted ways before Mahomes ever took a snap with the Chiefs, but he was a huge part of the Chiefs actually being able to select Mahomes.
Dorsey was then spearheading Cleveland's front office in 2018 when they selected Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick. Mayfield hasn't always lived up to the status of a No. 1 overall pick but he is a solid quarterback for a 9-3 squad. Josh Allen has turned out to be a better prospect and Lamar Jackson won the MVP last year, so it is hard to say Mayfield was a perfect pick. Dorsey did appear to make the right call in picking Mayfield over Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, however.
It remains to be seen whether Dorsey is a grade-A evaluator of quarterbacks, but the fact he has been a key part in the evaluation of two first-round quarterbacks over the last four years. One of those picks is the most talented player in the NFL and the other is at least a serviceable passer, so the fact that the Jaguars also have to pick a quarterback early is this year could always play a factor.
Finally, there is the Eric Bieniemy factor. Dorsey was with the Chiefs at the same time Bieniemy was rising up the ranks in Andy Reid's coaching staff, and there could always be a chance that the two comes as a potential pairing.
Bieniemy, Kansas City's offensive coordinator, is seen by many as the top coaching candidate in this year's cycle. If nabbing Dorsey means also having a good shot at landing Bieniemy, is that a package deal that is easy to say no to?
With that said, Dorsey comes with his fair share of drawbacks as well. He struggled with the cap in Kansas City, with the Chiefs always hovering near the limit in cap space during his tenure. Dorsey failed to come to terms with a few Chiefs who weren't his draft picks, while he far too often took on dead cap hits that diminished the team's positioning in terms of finances.
Then it has to be examined why the Chiefs fired Dorsey right after they let him pick their next franchise quarterback. Dorsey's win/loss record was solid in Kansas City, but why would the Chiefs be willing to move on from him before the franchise really took off and became the crown jewel of the AFC?
Dorsey helped build a winning team in Kansas City, but the Browns underperformed with him at the helm. Perhaps it is hard to blame their 2018 struggles on him due to Hue Jackson, but Dorsey made the misguided decision to hire Kitchens.
The hire ended up backfiring in miraculous fashion as Kitchens looked in over his head from the jump. Since moving on from both Kitchens and Dorsey, the Browns have turned into one of the top teams in the AFC. A lot of their key players are "Dorsey guys", but hiring a head coach is key. If Dorsey can't land Bieniemy, what kind of coach he would be able to bring in would be paramount.
There are plenty of positives involved with hiring Dorsey, but there are also a decent amount of negatives. Whether the Jaguars would be willing to balance those pros and cons remains to be seen, but it should be noted that every candidate is going to come with their own set of strengths and weaknesses -- Dorsey's are just more obvious since he has been a general manager twice in the past decade.
