CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Three Cleveland Browns failed to make the tackle on Noah Fant’s 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown Sunday that was the single most devastating play in a devastating 24-19 Browns loss to the Denver Broncos.

One was safety Jermaine Whitehead, who initially rammed into Fant and bounced off. Whitehead, in several social media threats after the game that ended his tenure in Cleveland, said he was playing with a broken hand. At the very least, he tackled like he had a broken hand. Then rookie cornerback Greedy Williams was frozen in place and attempted an arm tackle with no hope. Finally, linebacker Adarius Taylor chased down the play and made a final diving tackle attempt, falling to the ground as Fant raced away.

Three players with a chance, none able to bring down the rookie tight end. Three players acquired by John Dorsey. Three players from the middle of the roster who let down in a critical moment in a critical game.

But there are more than just three examples of Dorsey not reshaping the core of this roster in the real way he promised.

When he was hired in December 2017, Dorsey said the previous regime “didn’t get real players.” A lot of people crowed about Dorsey’s roster reshaping this offseason. I haven’t heard much about it lately, as the focus has fallen to everyone he brought it in, including the coach he hired.

Dorsey drafted Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Denzel Ward, and he acquired Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson, using unusually high draft picks and ample cap space to gather star-level talent.

Sunday, on a day when the Browns weren’t ruined by turnovers or penalties, it was players like Whitehead, Williams, Taylor, Demetrius Harris, Chris Hubbard, Greg Robinson and Wyatt Teller who made the difference between winning and losing.

Harris, signed as an undrafted free agent by Dorsey in Kansas City in 2013, was signed by Dorsey in Cleveland this offseason, one of several players with a previous a Dorsey connection who have landed in Cleveland. What Harris didn’t do is land in the end zone Sunday on a second-and-goal throw from Mayfield. Harris caught it, but he didn’t come close to getting either foot in. He didn’t even really try, floating as if unaware of his surroundings. Other tight ends at least might have tried.

Check out this maneuver from right tackle Hubbard, making $7.3 million in the second season of a five-year Dorsey deal, and right guard Teller, acquired days before this season basically for a fifth-round pick.

Chris Hubbard and Wyatt Teller, you can see them look at each other in the midst of giving up this sack pic.twitter.com/H0rfh6IHb4 — Doug Lesmerises (@DougLesmerises) November 4, 2019

They looked like two guys who haven’t played together, which they haven’t, because Dorsey traded right guard Kevin Zeitler for Vernon before the season and failed Dorsey pick Austin Corbett couldn’t earn the right guard spot, leaving a hole in the line that had been temporarily filled by Eric Kush.

At safety, Whitehead, Damarious Randall and Morgan Burnett all previously played in Green Bay and were connected to Dorsey associates Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf there. They ranked No. 31, No. 53 and No. 84 in PFF safety grades among the 85 safeties having played at least 150 snaps entering this week. Randall, who played well last season, has battled injuries. Whitehead managed to play starter snaps for someone graded so low.

Whitehead was signed by Dorsey last November after his release in Green Bay. The Packers gave up on him after he was ejected for slapping a New England player during a game. Dorsey was happy to sign another team’s problem.

Linebacker Taylor is making $2 million this season after Dorsey signed him as depth. Williams, picked in the second round, has graded out well for most of the season, ranked as the 27th overall corner with at least 150 snaps before this week. But he arrived with tackling issues.

Meanwhile Broncos safety Justin Simmons, a third-round pick in 2016, made several huge plays Sunday, including a tackle of Chubb on a third-down run before the Browns’ final failed fourth-down pass. He’s the highest-graded safety in the league. Dorsey’s two third-round picks in Cleveland, defensive end Chad Thomas and linebacker Sione Takitaki, were non-factors Sunday.

Meanwhile, 2018 fourth-rounder Antonio Callaway offers occasional flashes but has been imprecise in his duties all season, and the 2019 fourth-rounder, safety Sheldrick Redwine, is never part of the defensive plan.

Everyone would like to see Mayfield, Beckham and Myles Garrett do more to win games for the Browns. It also would be nice for Dorsey’s real players in the middle of the roster to do fewer things to lose games.

This matters because at 2-6, many fans and media members have activated blame mode. If that’s the case, it starts with the guy who built this, because he’s the guy who hired the coach.

If you think Freddie Kitchens is the wrong man for this coaching job, then your issue isn’t with Kitchens. It’s with the hiring of Kitchens. Eight games is too soon for a true evaluation, but if you’re suggesting this fit is off, then it was never right. Kitchens is who he is -- a first-time head coach who had never been a coordinator before last season. While previous GM Sashi Brown never hired his own coach, and had Hue Jackson foisted upon him, Dorsey made the Kitchens hire after interviewing six others. This was one of the most coveted jobs in the league with a roster that Dorsey built to win now.

It’s not winning.

“You are your record,” is another of the many things Dorsey said on the day he was hired. The Browns are 2-6. So he’s 2-6.

I’m not out on Kitchens yet, and the Browns shouldn’t be either. At some point, the Browns have to get out of firing culture and stop believing every failure demands an immediate job loss. I’m certainly not suggesting Dorsey lose his job, either.

But if this season can’t be saved, let’s remember who built this and who was given the power to make every major decision from quarterback to coach to star receiver.

This is Dorsey’s team. No doubt. As noted many times, others knocked it down and left the material to build again. If Dorsey players tackle Fant or get their feet down in the end zone or don’t miscommunicate and allow a sack, then everyone wouldn’t be so down on Dorsey’s coach.

I’d ride this out. I think there are still wins ahead. I think there were some solid red-zone calls that failed, and other red-zone calls (when Chubb was on the sideline) that weren’t so good. But I think the idea of a overmatched coach as the simple explanation here isn’t it. Kitchens, again, made mistakes. So did players.

Let’s make sure we keep it real here. So did the GM.

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