Disinformation 101:
The object of disinformation is to mislead and enemy or opponent. You want them to think your objective is here, instead of where it really is. Believing your plausibly but intentionally leaked BS, they will redeploy assets to the wrong place--drawing them away from the real objective.
Political disinformation is similar. This is used to distract and manipulate. You get the idea.
Intelligence Analysis 101: Step one is the evaluation of sources. You do this by checking out how often they have been right. You rank them by this measure.
Peter La Canfora is usually wrong about the Browns. He also falls for everything in his rush to get it into print first.
So, I just read a Will Burge mock draft in the Bleacher Report which, I have no doubt whatsoever, relied almost exclusively on La Canfora and wishful thinking.
He has the Browns trading up to the second spot for Johnny Manziel. trading their lower first round pick, the 71st overall pick, and maybe a future second rounder to move up two slots.
Will finds this believable, as the Browns failed to get RGIII.
Excuse me. Manziel isn't RGIII. RGIII came with intelligence, more size, a stronger arm and deep accuracy. Zero questions about his dedication or character.
The Browns will, of course, do all that homework. For all I know, they will indeed determine that Manziel is their favorite QB. He might BE the best pro prospect in this draft, for all I know.
But I still can't seem to find out what's wrong with Derrick Carr. What--he's not as exciting? He's got the wrong brother? What is it?
And Bortles. Bortles rose to the occasion every time he stepped up in class, upsetting teams that were supposed to dominate him. Coming back to save the day over and over. Bortles is a guy who proved that when you can't run the ball anymore and the defense is focusing on getting to him and stopping the pass, he could carry his team.
For whatever reason, Derrick Carr isn't at this point even in the top ten discussion. I've got to assume that I'm missing something important about him. Ok, so be it.
But do the Browns really like Manziel more than the bigger, stronger, comeback, rise-to-the-occasion Bortles, or for that matter Teddy Bridgewater?
If I were the Browns and wanted Bortles or Bridgewater, I would let the blabbermouth I'd identified as La Canfora's source overhear me ranting about Johnny Football, and hope that the other GM's are dumb enough to buy it.
Let them trade up ahead of me or whatever.
Thanks in part to Lane Adkins, I know a little more about new OC Kyle Shanahan.
I wasn't all that impressed with Kyle's dad, who won with Elway and then treaded water. But Kyle has done a lot of good things on his own. While we're looking at coach's kids, why the hell not Brian Schottenheimer, the Derrick Carr of coaches?
But it's ok. Kyle is pretty good, and a strong believer in balance.
Lane says he uses a real fullback. The fullback blocks a lot, while the tight ends are mostly recievers. Lane speculated about Greg Little doing some of this tight end stuff, which is intriguing, as he could make an ass of most linebackers.
But I've got to go further than Lane did on the offensive line. The Shanahans use zone-blocking, which relies on athletic and often neccessarily smaller offensive linemen.
Lane isn't optimistic about Alex Mack sticking around, and I hope he's wrong, because he does more or less fit. Joe Thomas, absolutely--Joe fits the zone scheme much better than the man scheme.
NONE of the other players on this team fit. Pinkston might be the closest, but it's still a stretch.
Well, he can't come in here and replace the whole offensive line all at once, as some would assume. Nor is Kyle a blockhead who is incapable of using man blocking when he has to. Zone teams often man block and vice-versa situationally anyway--it's never absolute.
It's good that the Browns have that cap space and all those draft picks (that I really doubt they'll squander on an overhyped undersized QB), as it actually is possible that they could do an overhaul, come to think of it.
Retaining Mack would make this much easier. One free agent. Two day one or two draft picks? Yes, maybe.
Some of you know, I really like the zone scheme. It makes ordinary backs look like stars, as it creates HUGE holes that require only good instincts and one cut to exploit.
Certainly there are drawbacks, as some defenses are capable of overpowering or penetrating--nothing is perfect, and zone wins more than it loses.
Zone type offensive linemen tend to be good pass blockers due to their athleticism. Edge rushers can't run around them and penetrators can't shoot past them easily. But sometimes they can get pushed around by bull-rushers, as they don't have a lot of lard or ballast holding them to the ground.
This is why, in my opinion, shorter guards--6'3" and under--work better, as "low man wins" leverage fights.
Anyway I like this hiring, and feel that the offense will be in the hands of a real pro.
Lane also suggested the possibility that Kyle might have felt stifled a bit under his father, as Mike Shanahan is pretty conservative. Kyle might have wanted to try out some new stuff that scared Dad too much.
Tony Grossi says Johnny Football is a shade over six feet. If that's true then his offensive linemen must average 6'7" and his wide recievers 6'4".
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