CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The quarterback was always on the way, and the pass-rushing defensive end at the top of the 2017 draft wasn't a tough call.

Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in 2018, and Myles Garrett, the No. 1 pick in 2017, are the future of the Browns, the picks that were promised for the pain of 2016 and 2017.

But there's another young Brown making plays and changing games, and everything about him is a bonus, a combination of savvy trades and bold talent evaluation. He's the kind of player you can build around and rely on, and five games in, everyone has a sense for what cornerback Denzel Ward can do in Cleveland.

He wouldn't be here without current general manager John Dorsey. And he wouldn't be here without former general manager Sashi Brown.

Ward's instincts continue to dazzle in his rookie year. He's smart and he's fast and he's around the ball, and those skills follow you everywhere, just like he often follows the best receiver on the other team.

Ward picked off Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco near the goal line early in the second quarter Sunday to prevent one touchdown, then blocked a 48-yard field goal on the last play of the second quarter. When one player wipes out 10 potential points, that's value.

Especially in a 12-9 overtime win.

It's value from risk.

Picking Ward at No. 4 in the 2018 draft was a Dorsey shocker when most assumed the Browns would target defensive end Bradley Chubb there to pair him with Garrett. I wanted the Browns to trade out from No. 4 in search of another first-round pick, maybe taking advantage of Buffalo's desperation for a quarterback.

I liked Ward after watching his whole career at Ohio State, but not at No. 4. Trade down to No. 8 or No. 10? Then I was in on that Browns choice. But at No. 4? I questioned Ward's size and his ability to serve as a shutdown corner against the best receivers in the league, the way his former OSU teammate Marshon Lattimore, the No. 11 pick in 2016, had done while winning defensive rookie of the year for New Orleans in 2017.

As Dorsey walked out of the victorious locker room Sunday, I asked him if he picked the right guy at No. 4.

"All of you didn't think so," Dorsey said, hitting the hallway.

I was wrong. The NFL was wrong. Dorsey was right. Because Ward is right.

The Browns don't win Sunday without him.

How much is a win worth in the NFL? How can you value a player who can't score touchdowns but can win a game by stopping them?

But the Browns don't pick Ward without the maneuvers of Sashi Brown, the GM who traded down in 2017 to the usual groans of fans who opposed every trade down.

The No. 4 selection that allowed Dorsey to grab the best corner in the draft came about because the Browns passed on picking quarterback Deshaun Watson or safety Malik Hooker.

I'm all in favor of trading down in perpetuity, but Dorsey liked a talent and jumped on it.

With Patrick Mahomes, maybe the Browns' target at No. 12 in 2017, off the board, Brown saw an opportunity and jumped on it. The Browns dropped from No. 12 to No. 25 in the first round and grabbed Houston's first-round pick in 2018 as the Texans jumped up to pick Watson.

Instead of say, Hooker, the player that Hue Jackson wanted, the Browns instead have Jabrill Peppers and Ward.

Right now, you can't imagine this defense, or this team, without the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder from Nordonia High School.

At the very least, J.R. Smith can't imagine it.

@denzelward rookie of the year — JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) October 7, 2018

Some of us still spend far too much time dissecting who should get credit for which players on the roster. They're all Browns.

But understand what it took to bring Ward here.

Sashi Brown was the mover, trading down to create the opportunity.

John Dorsey was the shaker, bucking convention to nab a player he believed in who played a priority position.

Sunday, that combination brought the Browns a win, thanks to a special player who isn't going anywhere.