Rhona LaCanfora

Sid Fercosi on NFL Radio referred to the Browns as "a train-wreck".  I guess he never saw a train-wreck.  It's more like a fender-bender.

Oh, please--these guys treat this this gossip-mongering muckraker (Lacanfora: King of unnamed sources) with the same respect as Adam Shefter.  I guess if some of these clowns heard of you somewhere, they'll believe everything you say.

When Jimmy Haslam responded to Rhona's wildly distorted bashing of him and the organization, nothing he said surprised me.  Sure, he's the one under attack, so what's he supposed to say?  But I believe Jimmy, because LaCanfora doesn't live in the same zip code as a hard fact.

An important part of information analysis (and good reporting, for that matter) is the evaluation of sources.  Past reliability is the most important criteria.  If a guy is always wrong, you stop listening.  Why don't these talking heads get that?  

Irrationality drives me nuts.  It's irrational to think Ray Farmer sending text messages is the end of the world.  It's rediculous to think Haslam forced Farmer to draft Manziel to sell jerseys.  It's irrational to say "same old Browns" when the owner has been here for two years and the head coach and GM for one.

Pat Kirwan on NFL Radio said of Josh Gordon "Most guys I know would have just cut him".  Now I know why Pat never won a Superbowl, because that's irrational too!  Why cut a guy who is under contract but costs nothing, and isn't even in the building?  Why cut that guy when he could come back in 2016 and tear up the NFL again?

Sam Ingro of Buckeye State Sports is rational.  As the title of this article says, the Browns can't let past mistakes influence the upcoming draft.

In this article, he specifically refers to the possibility of trading up for Mariota.  Sam's got a bead on the irrational permabashers here.  "Oh no not another first-round quarterback!  That never works!"

Oh, bullcrap.  Farmer may well have whiffed on Manziel, but that was his first and only try.  Quinn, Weedon, etc. have nothing to do with Ray!  He reportedly would have tried to grab Marcus Mariota last season had he come out, and now the guy has another year of experience under his belt.

If he was wrong on Manziel (and that's still an "if"), does that mean he will always be wrong on quarterbacks?  If you think that, you're not thinking at all.

Ah, I can hear you: "Too many other needs".  Well, that's not irrational, anyway.  But be specific and do some math:

They don't (in reality) need a running back, the need to upgrade the offensive or defensive lines is far from urgent (unless you think Phil Taylor and Alex Mack are dead instead of injured)...

There's a bumper-crop of very good free agent wide recievers, and some tight ends too.  Offensive and defensive linemen, for that matter, and even some hybrid passrushers.

With Mack and Taylor healthy, this team as it is probably would have made the playoffs last season, and those two will be back, ok?

What we're talking about for Mariota (if that's even possible), isn't the whole draft.  It's three first rounders.  If Mariota--even a year down the road--can be like Big Ben or Big Bird, that's a deal worth making.  He's a quarterback!

Ray still has lots of picks, and I like the fact that he traded his lower picks last season rather than draft guys he was going to have to cut.  It was rational.  It's how Bill Belichick restocks his own roster nearly every season.

Bittonio.  Kirksey.  He could still land three guys like that!  And this draft is like the last one for wide recievers too!

What?  He won't draft any wide recievers this year because he didn't in his first draft?

Here's another part of analysis:  Look for patterns.  For a pattern to exist, you need more than one event.  Verily, you need a minimum of three.  Ray Farmer could do anything in this draft.

I'm off the rails here.  YOU STAND CORRECTED.