Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.

Takeaways from Day 1 of Browns draft …

1. A pot of what: Are you kidding me? This is the reason the Browns passed on Carson Wentz in 2016, passed on Deshaun Watson in 2017, and failed to aggressively trade for Jimmy Garoppolo? To crown six-foot Baker Mayfield the next franchise quarterback hopeful with the No. 1 pick of the John Dorsey era?

After sacrificing so many blue-chip prospects to collect future assets, the road paved by so many miserable game days was supposed to lead to a pot of gold in the 2018 draft. Instead, there was Mayfield at the end of the rainbow – another diminutive quarterback with a giant chip on his shoulder.

The fear is that Sam Darnold, the USC quarterback happily taken by the New York Jets with the No. 3 pick, will fall in line behind Wentz and Watson as the next future star QB bypassed by the Browns.

While reports circulated widely in the previous 48 hours that Mayfield could be the Browns’ surprise pick, the actual announcement still was a stunner – reminiscent of the selection of Johnny Manziel with the No. 22 pick of the 2014 draft.

In spite of all his accomplishments at Oklahoma as college football’s Heisman Trophy winner last year, Mayfield doesn’t fit the mold of big-bodied, big-armed passers favored in the past by Dorsey (Alex Smith, Patrick Mahomes) and by new offensive coordinator Todd Haley (Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner, Matt Cassel).

Also, his renowned immature antics – an arrest for public intoxication in college, planting the Oklahoma flag on the field of Ohio Stadium after an emotional win, making an obscene gesture toward the Kansas sideline during a game – raise the question if he can shoulder the responsibility of face of an NFL franchise.

Mayfield’s stunning career rise from walk-on at Texas Tech and then walk-on at Oklahoma, and his indefatigable underdog mentality, inspire those who know him to never count him out.

But by picking him first, Dorsey has removed the underdog label from Mayfield. For the first time in his athletic career, Mayfield has to carry very weighty expectations on his shoulder – not an attitudinal chip.

There are isolated outliers in recent NFL history of short quarterbacks rising above their physical limitations and taking their teams to Super Bowls – Drew Brees and Russell Wilson are the only active ones. Neither was the first pick in the draft, much less taken in the first round. Michael Vick was the last quarterback under 6-1 to be taken No. 1.

General managers often have only one chance to select a franchise quarterback. Dorsey has cast his lot with a very risky choice.

2. Deja boo: The buzz that Dorsey had created by stocking the team with 13 veteran players in free agency and the draft was resoundingly killed on this night.

Judging from reports from the city’s two draft parties – one hosted by the Browns and one by ESPN Cleveland – Dorsey’s first two draft picks, which included cornerback Denzel Ward of Macedonia and Ohio State ahead of North Carolina State pass rusher Bradley Chubb at No. 4, were not popular ones.

The choice of Mayfield sucked the life out of both parties, according to witnesses, sending some fans stomping out even before Dorsey made the selection of Ward.

Twenty minutes after Ward’s selection, the ESPN Cleveland party attended by several hundred was nearly empty – even though the prospect of a third pick through a trade up later in the night was still alive.

The moves did not receive rave reviews inside the NFL, either. In a text message, an NFL team personnel executive described the Browns’ first day as “horrendous … a total debacle.”

Among the “best player available” candidates Dorsey passed besides Darnold were North Carolina State pass rusher Bradley Chubb and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.

3. Back to the future: After succeeding the analytics-driven regime headed by Sashi Brown, Dorsey had said his methodology was based on 85 percent “Atlanta Braves” – or conventional scouting -- and 15 percent “Oakland Athletics” -- analytics scouting.

Yet Dorsey’s first-ever Browns selection of Mayfield aligned with the analytics sites that rated Mayfield the best quarterback prospect.

In defending the pick of Mayfield despite his height of 6-0 5/8, Dorsey cited analytics.

“If you want to take one of those stats, if you look at the balls batted down at the line of scrimmage, guess what, he was the No. 1 guy who had the least amount of batted down balls at the line of scrimmage,” Dorsey said. “What he does mechanically is he gets back faster than anybody in terms of getting the play back. That gives him an extra couple of yards to see the field, extend the play and make those plays downfield.”

Dorsey proceeded to cite analytics in his further hard sell of Mayfield.

“It is a combination of things,” Dorsey said. “I talk about hand size. He has 9 6/8 (inches) hands. When he came in here, we kind of measured his hands. That is good for the elements in November and December. He has feet to extend the play. He has really good accuracy. He has a quick release. He has a strong arm.

“His efficiency in the red zone offense is uncanny. If in fact you go look statistically at all of the different breakdowns or categories of the quarterback position, he is either No. 1 or No. 2 in any of those quarterback positions.

“You know what else separates him? He is hungry. He wants to be a really good football player, and he is going to be a really good football player.”

4. Another shocker: Ward was universally regarded as the top-rated cornerback in the draft, but taking him at No. 4 ahead of Chubb, the draft’s best pass rusher, shocked many.

The Browns would have liked to have taken Ward after a trade down for extra picks. Dorsey said there were “probably a half-dozen or so [teams]” that called about trading for the No. 4 pick, but “the player was always higher than the value that was being offered.”

Dorsey said of the 5-11, 183-pound Ward, “I like the ability of him being able to play in this defense where we need shut down corners because [defensive coordinator Gregg Williams] really wants more shut-down corners. He has the speed. He has the athleticism. He has the quickness. He has the ball skills.

“The way they were teaching him, I believe, at Ohio State they were sometimes teaching him to play the man instead of vertically tracking the ball. Once he gets that understanding, he is going to be a really, really good football player.”

Ward ends a nine-year drought of the Browns drafting an Ohio State player. The last one was receiver Brian Robiskie in the second round in 2009.

“It is amazing. It is a blessing,” Ward said. “This has been my childhood dream just to get here to the NFL draft. To be drafted by the Browns and be able to go back to my hometown and play there, it is just a blessing. I am just so excited to get there and get to work.”