Where is John Dorsey?

The Cleveland Browns lost on Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals, who came into the game with just three wins. The team played like its usual undisciplined, disjointed and mistake-filled performance level that has been engrained in the team for pretty much the whole season. We had our almost weekly “Huh?” inactive player announcement prior to the game with the inactive status of tight end David Njoku. We had our far too frequent player/coach sideline argument. We had our now weekly post-game rumor of players wishing they were not here anymore. And, we have yet another season of losing, dread and loss of hope. But, through all of this, we have not seen one thing that should be seen at this moment of crisis. John Dorsey.

Browns General Manager John Dorsey has been almost invisible for most of the season, especially as of late. Invisible when the team is in the midst of a coach looking completely lost and over his head. Invisible when players are revolting and just darn right quitting on their team. And, invisible when the team is 6-8 with losses to the Cardinals, the Duck Hodges-led Steelers, and the Brandon Allen-led Broncos. Where is John Dorsey?

Much of the disdain and blame for the disaster of the season has been placed on the lap of Head Coach Freddie Kitchens. Much of this blame is deservedly on his shoulders. I was not quite there a couple of weeks ago, but the happenings over that time have led me to believe Kitchens cannot be brought back. I was wrong about him. I thought Kitchens was the guy when he was hired, but he is not. He has lost the team and he has underperformed as head coach. But, Dorsey has his share of the blame for this mess, too.

Dorsey hired Kitchens. Kitchens’ failure is a failure for Dorsey. He put this inexperienced coach at the helm, so he must take the culpability of the hire. But, that does not end the blame game for Dorsey. His roster management has created major holes on the team. His complete lack of attention to the offensive line has created a major weakness on the offense. This hole has helped lead to numerous issues on offense, including some of the problems causing the step back of the Browns franchise quarterback. Some of his roster and draft decisions have caused depth issues at key positions. He is not a perfect general manager in terms of his decisions toward the roster over his time at the helm.

Am I saying that Dorsey needs to go? Heck no. I believe his decisions and roster management have swayed more to the positive side than the negative side. I believe he has found the Browns franchise quarterback (I still believe Mayfield is that for this team) and constructed a talented team with the potential to be a playoff team. But, this does not mean he gets to hide from his mistakes as the team is on fire.

Dorsey must acknowledge when he is wrong. He must make a change at head coach. The team cannot afford to try and make it work with Kitchens when every single sign points to Kitchens not being the guy. Dorsey’s ego must be put into check. This team is bigger than him being right or wrong. This includes choosing a coach he cannot control and micromanage.

The accountability of this season must reach Dorsey. He must face the music for what has been a huge failure this season. He needs to talk to the media and make the right decisions for the team, no matter how it will look toward Dorsey’s resume. Dorsey must show up for this franchise because right now he is letting the house burn down in front of him, while he sits back in the shadows. It’s time to show up and act, John.