CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The drumbeat of "Josh Allen to the Browns at No. 1'' is growing louder with the NFL draft only two weeks away.

But is it all a smokescreen? Or will the Browns take a chance on the big-armed quarterback from Wyoming with the accuracy concerns who will visit the Browns facility on Thursday, the last of the Big Four to come to town.

Rumblings that Browns GM John Dorsey liked Allen surfaced at the Senior Bowl in January, where an NFL personnel executive and acquaintance of Dorsey told cleveland.com "Dorsey will pick Allen. The Browns will be good very soon. He will block out the noise and take the best guy.''

Then, two weeks ago, Dan Patrick said on his show that three sources told him the Browns were hyping Sam Darnold because they really like Allen and want to bait the Giants into trading up from No. 2 overall.

Shortly thereafter, Peter King wrote in his Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com that a friend of Dorsey, which he referred to thereafter as FOD, told him he believes the Browns GM will draft Allen No. 1 and then Saquon Barkley at No. 4.

"I would be surprised if he traded down," the friend told King. "This would be his chance to take his two offensive cornerstones for the next eight or 10 years."

Earlier this week, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on the air that "people that know people inside the Browns" expect them to take Allen at No. 1.

During an NFL Network pre-draft conference call on Wednesday, Jeremiah, a former Browns scout, expounded on that.

"Just in talking to people around the league for the last, I would say it really picked up in the last week, it's just a lot of people, not from inside the [Browns'] building -- I'll stress that -- but there's just a lot of people telling me, 'Hey, I think it's going to be Josh Allen,''' he said. "It's either guys that have worked with John Dorsey or guys that are familiar with that room and that process.

"They think that makes more sense for him with Josh Allen being more of an upside pick than a floor pick, and Josh Allen is not there right now, but maybe you feel Tyrod [Taylor] can buy you enough time before Josh Allen is ready.''

Jeremiah disagrees with the pick, if it's true.

"It's a risk, no question,'' he said. "I think the pick should be Sam Darnold, and at this point in time none of us know who it is. I just know that it's not a slam dunk. Just talking to people around the league, that's the sense that I get."

NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, who was on the conference call along with Jeremiah, connected the dots between Dorsey and Allen, and sees the connection.

"John Dorsey spent a lot of his formative time in the league in Green Bay when Brett Favre was the quarterback, a big, strong-armed thrower, a guy who could really throw off platform, could make improvisational plays and really make up for a lot of things with his exceptional arm talent,'' said Brooks. "And then when you go back and you look at (Dorsey's) draft history and some of the guys that he's taken, he has a long track record of going for projection and potential over production.''

He cited Dorsey trading up last year to draft Patrick Mahomes over Deshaun Watson at No. 10. However, Dorsey was fired by the Chiefs two months after that draft, so the pick could've been Andy Reid's as much as Dorsey's.

"Patrick Mahomes' game compared to Josh Allen's game, there are a lot of similarities, tremendous arm talent, athleticism, the ability to play off platform,'' said Brooks. "It's easy to see why John Dorsey would like that."

Brooks cited Dorsey selecting left tackle Eric Fisher over Luke Joeckel at No. 1 overall in his first draft with the Chiefs in 2013, opting for upside over polish. Joeckel went No. 2 to the Seahawks.

"So when you check off all the boxes in terms of projecting what the Browns may do, it appears that Josh Allen could be that pick because they're trying to knock it out the park based on what Josh Allen could be as opposed to what he hasn't been to this point,'' said Brooks.

Like Jeremiah, Brooks would take Darnold over Allen.

"I've seen him shine in big games. I've seen him display the it factor and the leadership qualities when the team is down,'' he said. "Early in the year, we talked to [USC coach] Clay Helton, and he said the job of a franchise quarterback is to give everybody else on the field hope. I think you've seen that hope and optimism play out when he's had the ball in his hands with the game on the line.''

Conversely, Brooks worries about Allen's 56.2 career completion percentage and performance in big games.

"When you look at his track record against Power Five schools, it's hard to kind of justify explaining a guy who has one touchdown, eight interceptions in three appearances against Power Five schools,'' he said. "To me, if you're taking someone No. 1, there has to be a signature game or some moment when you feel like he's the best player on the field, and I just haven't seen that to date with Josh Allen."

Jeremiah couldn't agree more.

"I've been on record for a long time saying I think Sam Darnold should be the pick for the Cleveland Browns,'' he said. "I think he's the right guy there. I personally think he's the best quarterback in this class, and I think he, at 20 years old, is just scratching the surface of what he can do.''

When Jeremiah looked up in the stands and saw Browns owner Jimmy Haslam talking with Darnold's parents, he was ready to hand in the card. Little did he know that Haslam would be chatting up Allen's parents two days later at Wyoming.

It should be noted that Dorsey has said he's open for business and is looking to drum up interest in both the No. 1 and No. 4 picks. There's a lot of strategy involved and likely a lot of subterfuge taking place. Dorsey doesn't even know who he can trust in the building yet -- aside from the guys he hired and a few others -- and even coach Hue Jackson said at the NFL Annual Meeting that Dorsey isn't showing his hand.

He could be sending mixed signals not only to throw off other teams, but to test for possible leaks in his own building.

This draft could prove to be the turning point in the franchise if Dorsey and company get it right. If they blow it, it could set the franchise back at least a few years, and the truth is, Allen's accuracy issues are the big unknown.

"He has a cannon,'' Jackson said at the NFL meetings. "He threw a ball that hit a guy in the sternum and you could hear it go 'boom.' I mean, he can really throw a football. And when he does it all right from a biomechanics standpoint and his body being in line, everything, he throws it as pretty as I've seen.''

And when he's off-kilter?

"People say it takes 7,000 reps to change those type of things, but you can,'' said Jackson. "He has a lot of work to do. One thing about the young man, he's a hard worker. He'll work at it.''

That's 7,000 reasons for the Browns to still be strongly considering Darnold.