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.

Farmergeddon

The stunning revelation that Ray Farmer was texting during games has sent shock-waves through the universe.  Last week, a man is burned alive.  Children are being crucified and buried alive.  Now this!

For years to come, each of us will know exactly where we were when we found out that Ray Farmer himself was the texter.  Those scars may never heal.

It goes without saying that Farmer must be fired, if not imprisoned for a long time.

Sorry I can't keep this up.  If I do I'll be a moron all day.

Sure, Farmer should have known better and shouldn't have done it.  League rules aside, he went into personnel instead of coaching, and has to leave coaching to the coaches.

But if you refer back in my blogs, I suggested why he did it.  When Bernie Kosar referred to "non-football people" making football decisions, he could not have been referring to former NFL linebacker Ray Farmer.

That's why when Ray watches games, he imagines himself on that field, and analyzes things as he did when he was a player.

He got frustrated with some of the things Shanahan ordered. He got so ticked off that he couldn't restrain himself.  If he had punched Kyle in the mouth, I would be excited about it, but all he did was text.

Suspend him.  Fine him.  Otherwise big deal.

And he probably felt under attack.  Manziel had Ray's name on him, and when the party boy started, Kyle ran the exact same offense that Hoyer did.  I have almost zero doubt that Ray felt he was deliberately undermining Manziel, and just couldn't stand it.

YardBarker makes a big deal out of Hoyer's statement that he was interested in where the investigation would lead.  By the way, he never used the word "dysfunction".

Behind the scenes, players, coaches, and front office people are rolling their eyes at the firestorm an errant text message has unleashed.

Look, you can bash him for the Manziel pick, but you need to cool your jets even on Gilbert, whose physical talent is off the charts.  His free agents and the rest of the draft are outstanding.

He'd be a fool to cut Gordon.  He will cost zero and not take up roster space.

Even on that, everybody has lost their damn minds.  The season is over, and he and some teammates had some drinks on a plane.  It's the NFL that's being rediculous about this whole thing.

It's getting downright silly when a guy can't drink a little in the offseason, and when a GM texting sounds like a rape accusation.

I'm glad Johnny checked into rehab, because he was rediculous with his partying.  I don't know if it will do any good, but it might.  If he's not drinking, he'll need a hobby.  If we're lucky, it will be football.

Those who say he lacks NFL talent are full of it.  He might still lack an NFL brain, but we don't know that yet.

Terry Pluto, as usual, wrote the best article about Farmergeddon and the state of the Browns.

This blog entry must conclude this way:

Put down the magnifying glass, and look at this on a 1:1 scale.  It's simply not that big.  So now put down the ropes and torches.  Go home and sober up.

Brian Hoyer: Don't Go Nowhere!

Brian Hoyer is from the Belichick school of PR, so he won't say some things that he'd like to.

I now believe that part of his problem later last season (I mean aside from the loss of Alex Mack and the shocking decline of the running game) was Kyle Shanahan.

Admittedly, Kyle is highly respected as an offensive coordinator, and has a pretty good track record.  This is by no means a Kyle-bashing session.

But it safe for me to say that Kyle is also regarded as pretty rigid.  He has done great at adapting offenses to different types of quarterback, but once the system is set and the game plan goes in, that's it.

When the running game took a nose-dive, so did Brian Hoyer.  Kyle tried to stick with the run, but when the defense also caved in and gave up a point deficit, he had to start passing.  I think it's pretty dumb to pick on Shanahan for "abandoning the run", and that isn't what I'm saying.

But where was the hurry-up?  Hoyer did quite well in it.  In general, a stalled running game also gets unstalled in a hurry-up, as the defenders get heavy legs and need air.

Defenses can't plot or scheme much, either--aside from some blitzes, they have to play fairly vanilla.  Hoyer exploited that mercilessly.

I get the theory that a hurry-up stresses your own defense by depriving them of time to recover, but the bottom line is that you need to score more points than the other team, isn't it?

As suggested in my earlier blog, I've heard from credible sources that Kyle gets miffed when a quarterback changes plays, and that Hoyer changed a lot of plays when he ran the hurry-up.

Is it possible that a guy as smart as Kyle scrapped the hurry-up (except when he had no other choice) because Hoyer didn't run the plays as scripted?

I would doubt that.  We're getting into the LaCanfora zone here.  BUT according to some of the Redskins players, he's that kind of guy!

Regardless, I'm pretty sure this is what the two front office employees, along with the rest of us, were texting eachother about during games.

Here are reasons why you should have Linta be Browns-freindly, Brian:

1: The new offensive coordinator is young and open-minded, and will listen to you.  He'll preserve a lot of the offensse with which you're familiar, and I'll bet mix in some hurry-up when not absolutely neccessary.

2: The zone-blocking scheme will be preserved, with some gap-blocking added.  (Not sure what that is--traps?  Need more research).  But anyway, Alex Mack will be back, the draft is full of offensive linemen and a further upgrade is almost certain.
You will have a strong running game.  You won't need to carry the team on your shoulders, and when you do you can hurry up (I assume).  You know you can do that, right?

3: You might like Johnny personally, but you know better than me--you will probably beat him out again.  He loves sandlot football, and it will be very hard for him to grind it out in the NFL now.  He just might not be wired that way.

4: ANY quarterback Ray drafts should also need time to develop.  Pettine needs to win NOW, and that is you.

5: After your nose-dive last season, it's doubtful that any team would sign you for starting money, and for sure none would guarantee you that role.
Without that guarantee, you might start the season on the bench even if you DO win the competition.  Behind the draft pick with the "potential", or simply because it was close and you lose out based on experience and/or age.
Here, you know that the Head Coach will make sure you get your fair shot.  Pettine enters his SECOND season, and he really needs to win now to save his job.

I've been extolling the virtues of a new and improved Marc Sanchez, but I'd still prefer the home boy.

The two are similar.  Both can win with strong running games and a little help from good defense.  

But Sanchez started out something like Johnny, and didn't put the work in.  Brian is a grinder and a true professional.  Always has been.  He didn't have to learn it, and it's second nature to him.

Plus he's from here.  He wants to be OUR hero.

My guess is that Linta and the Browns can hammer something out.  It will have to be more than backup money, though.  I'll bet Hoyer is willing to accept lots of incentives, because he believes in himself.

Maybe 5.5 million (guaranteed), with incentives based on starts and rankings which could put him over 11 mil.  I doubt that any other team would match that.

Such a contract, if the guarantees are front-loaded, would allow him to sign on for a longer hitch.  It's trade-freindly, and if he performs as well as he expects to perform, he'll remain a starter and make good money.

Tony Grossi and his interrogators talk about the acl injury and how this might have affected him.  I doubt that.  He's a quarterback, not a wide reciever.

But I suppose that might have been a slight factor for him, since that injury might only be fully healed right about now, and he might have been a little paranoid.

At any rate, if he has the help we know he'll get this coming season, the 2015 Browns with Hoyer can be the Browns we saw when Alex Mack was in front of him.  Let's get this guy back.

It's Not the Right Time to Dump Johnny

In this article by Gary Davenport, a pretty convincing case is made for getting rid of Johnny Manziel right now.

I don't contest anything Gary said, except that he listed a lack of arm strength as one of Johnny's faults.  

The thing is, dumping Johnny now would tip Ray Farmer's hand and deprive him of leverage, both with potential veteran free agent quarterbacks and in potential draft trades.

In re the draft, it would change the whole dynamic.  At 12 or 19, for example, other GMs would know that Ray is likely to grab a quarterback, and trade up to get ahead of him.

So it's not good business.

Then there are a lot of variables.  While it seems unlikely, it is still possible that the kid will start over next season (with a new coordinator and system) with a better attitude and more maturity.

As it is, Manziel is almost worthless in a trade.  Retaining him at least until next year's camps costs zero, and the coaches should know pretty quick if he's still a punk--and dump him then.

This whole Johnny and Josh Gordon hanging out together also got me to thinking.  This is a quarterback and wide reciever, and they might work together.

Both kind of have their backs to the wall, and are persona non grata.  I think it not just possible, but likely that they'll push eachother to stay in the playbook, cut at the right spot, do one more rep--whatever.

Each of these guys individually might be immature and lazy, but together, and knowing what they've got to correct, they might work and study harder.

If you're laughing at this, you don't understand human psychology as well as I do, and probably have a short memory.

I'm not predicting anything.  Just saying it's possible.  If anybody can keep reminding Josh Gordon that he can be the best wide reciever in the NFL, it's Johnny Manziel.  If anybody can make Johnny look good, it's the best wide reciever in the NFL.

Or not.  But let's just see, ok?

And re-sign Hoyer.  There's more good than bad there.

John DeFelippo? Cool!

Sixth OC in six years blahblah.  Who tf cares about what happened under Lerner anyway?  What does Lerner have to do with Haslam?  

When Haslam came here, the NFL "helped him out" with Banner and the great Lombardi.  He wasn't satisfied and fired them.  Big freaking deal!  He was taking off his owner training wheels!

He also fired the coaching staff he had inherited.  Big deal!

He hired and fired Chud in one year.  Ok that one bugged even me, because I liked Chud.  However, the late season collapse was irrefutable.

When you fire a head coach, you almost always fire the OC, because the new head coach will want his own people.

I am confiscating the word "dysfunction".  It has three syllables and is hard to spell, so everybody has glommed onto it because they think it makes them sound smart.

I don't see dysfunction.  I see a third year owner establishing an organization.  He kept Farmer and Pettine, despite rampant rumors of Jimmy's itchy trigger finger.  He tried to keep Shanahan as well, and his departure was Kyle's own decision.

There's no dysfunction in that.  I haven't heard anything dysfunctional except for those boneheads texting eachother (not the sidelines) about Kyle's sometimes mystifying playcalling.

Is an owner saying "let's go get him" about a quarterback during the draft dysfunctional?  Check out those words.  It sounds like a suggestion.  It sounds like Ray could have said "I don't think that would be a good idea."

What--Jimmy would fire him for that?  Get a life LaCanfora Barrett.

Anyway, I haven't seen the ignorant boards yet, but I'm sure a lot of people will call DeFellipo a "last choice" and unproven and stuff, but nobody he's ever worked with agrees.

I like that he actually came out with the word "ego" early on in telling us that he wouldn't change everything just to make it his.  He said all the right things.

I liked what he said about the offensive line, specificly it's athleticism.  It sounds to me like he'll leave most elements of the zone blocking scheme in place.  Like I said.

He even said he'd change his own terminology rather than make the players (especially the quarterback) learn a new language.

I love this guy!  He's pragmatic and logical and (most importantly) able to consciously suppress his own ego.  That's the first and most important thing one has to learn in order to think with one's brain.

Here's how that goes:

"Hey, that's not the play I called!  Oh--that's why." (Instead of "Hey that's not the play I called!  What's he doing?  Dammit!  I don't care if it worked who does the think he is running this offense?")

He isn't just saying all the right things like a politician does, but getting specific.  I'll leave the terminology alone.  I'll keep whatever works.  I like the wide recievers (yeah he said that!)  I'll do whatever I can to smooth out the transition.  I don't know who will be under center.

He sounds just like Head Coach Blunt Force Trauma!  I love it!

Some knuckleheads will try blaming him for Jamarcus Russel, or for Terrell Pryor not emerging into a superstar.  That's like blaming Andrew Luck for being beaten by the Patriots or Rodgers for losing to the Seahawks.

This guy coached Marc Sanchez to the AFC championship game as a rookie.

And I watched some of the Seahawks vs. the Packers game.

Russell Wilson loves football, had a boatload of college experience in a pro style offense, and works very hard--all of which separates him from Johnny Manziel.

However, from a purely physical standpoint, Manziel is quite similar.  DeFellipo lacks the training to perform brain transplants, and can't legally use sodium pentathol or hypnosis, but for sure has something to work with.

It just depends on whether or not Johnny can look at Wilson and say "I want to be like that".  If he cooperates with DeFellipo, he can take a step in that direction.  If he doesn't, he's a bust.  I kind of see it going that way, unfortunately.

Not so for Mariota, Hundley, or maybe even Marc Sanchez.

DeFellipo was one of my own three favorites early on.  He's getting too much credit for Derrick Carr in Oakland, as Carr had a lot of games in college with experience under center.  Still, he made a rookie look ok.

One thing he didn't discuss that I believe he'll do is simplify the playcalling.

Kyle Shanahan came here with an established system which was very hard to learn not just for the quarterback, but the receivers.

Experts I respect commented on it.  They didn't think that all that verbage in a playcall was necessary when players know what they're doing.

This could be a symptom of Kyle's apparent condition (controlfreakitis).  That's insecurity, and is ego-related.  The players didn't like it.  Hoyer was able to master it after awhile, but Johnny wasn't ready for it.

How much of that was him trying to remember all the words he had to say to communicate the playcall?

And knowing that if the player doesn't love the game, he will fail--is it wise to make him HATE coming to work?  

If somebody slipped Manziel some truth serum, I'll bet he'd say "That was bullshit.  I thought I was supposed to play football, not get a PHD.  You run a post, you do a ten yard dig I can do.  I used to have so much fun, til they put me in chains."

Not that I'm a big Johnny fan, or am all that confident that the more user-friendly DeFellipo can necessarily salvage him.  But this guy and (I hope) a better quarterback coach will give him his best chance.

Browns Analysis Analysis

First, Jeff Schudel is pretty good, and this week wrote part of a series rating the extant Browns' units position-by-position.  I generally agree with his ratings of the units on a scale of one to five (five being the highest).

Quarterback was a one.  No choice there.  We can hope Johnny does better, but can't count on it.

Jeff sees Sean Hill as a good veteran to bring in, which I also agree with.  But I still say Sanchez would be better.  I'm kinda tired of the word "mentor", too.  I hope they get a good quarterback coach.

Jeff also dismissed Brett Hundley as a quarterback prospect, lumping him in with the "other guys", and that's patently wrong.  The consensus rates Mariota and Winston as the cream of the crop, Hundley as almost that good, and then the dropoff.

He rates running back as a three, and that's just wrong.  Because there's no scatback change-of-pace guy, I'd go with a four, but West and (especially) Crowell are elite talents.

Jeff also wonders if they will continue to develop with a new offensive coordinator.  Running backs can refine their blocking and pass-catching, and perhaps learn patience, but they don't need any time at all to develop as pure runners.  That's all instinct, and what we saw is what we'll get, period.

Wide reciever (he seemed to include Cameron here) was a two.  I can't really argue here too, since we can't count on either he or Gordon.

I really like the little guys--especially Gabriel, who I'll bet will become like Steve Smith, but two is about right.

Offensive line was a four.  I guess so.  Five being "fine as it is", this means right guard or right tackle could be upgraded, and so could depth, so that's about right.

That's all for that part of Jeff's series.  

In another article, Browns offensive lineman Micheal Bowie is mentioned.  The Browns swiped the young guy from the Seahawks IR.  Per Rotoworld, the guy had nine starts and payed quite well for that elite team!

This move zinged right over my head.  It means that the Browns already have a young stud who will be healthy and fighting for a starting gig even before free agency or the draft.

He can play guard or tackle.  Very powerful, not very fast, but the Seahawks ran a zone blocking scheme.

I hope the Browns don't target Cecil Shorts.  He's injured too much, and he's not better than Hawk, Gabriel, or even the much improved Benjamin.  

In this article on the Browns offensive coordinator gig by Tony Grossi, Tony includes a tweet from Peter King:  "Great job if you want an 11-month gig" (or something).

How utterly ignorant.  Kyle Shanahan wasn't hired by Ray Farmer, and Mike Pettine was not consulted.  Per reports I've been reading, including accounts by Washington Redskins players, Kyle was a blockhead and a "spoiled brat".

I can't confirm this, but somebody even said that he reamed Brian Hoyer for changing plays in the hurry-up!  IF that is true, this guy rates a clinical diagnosis: "Control freak".

As we should recall, Hoyer was just about unstoppable in the hurry-up early in the season.  We all wondered why they never used it.  Maybe now we know.  And I wonder if Hoyer was more obedient later on, after he'd been benched.

Some have said that Marc Trestman isn't a good fit because he likes to throw the ball.  That's pretty ignorant too, because Trestman is a brain, and can adapt his offense to his personel.  Tony seems to get that.

Running an offense is kinda like rocket science, but not that part of it.  Unreliable quarterback plus excellent running backs equal run more duh.

Others point to what happened in Chicago last season.  Well, that was Jay Cutler.  He's not a young kid, he wasn't coachable, many think he's in it for the money and doesn't love the game, and who else did Trestman have after they got rid of his "backup" who made Jay look bad?

It's quite possible that Johnny is another Jay, but he's much younger, so Trestman would have a chance to get something out of him.

Or Mariota.  Or Hundley.  Just sayin.

More on the Browns' Offseason Player Stuff

Earlier I said that the Browns have no shot at Marcus Mariota, but thanks to this article by Jared Mueller and his lackluster Bowl Game performance, I take that back.

Already, the experts (including the ones I respect and use as sources) are picking the guy apart.  If I hadn't known that Ray Farmer was eyeballing him last season, what's being said about him today would make me think that the Browns wouldn't even want him!

Most evaluators are ranking Winston ahead of him due to the closer-to-NFL offense he ran, and despite the fact that he's a punk.

The consensus is, in fact, that Mariota will need time to develop.  In fact, based on what these guys are saying...what the hell is the difference between this guy and Brett Hundley?  They're pointing at all the same warts!  You could transpose the scouting reports!

For now, I'll throw up my hands and admit that I don't know nuttin.  Yet.  However, Mariota could be in range after all, if Ray still wants him.

Although he might have changed his mind and might let Hundley come to him.  Just a wild guess.

I've seen a lot of mocks naming offensive and defensive linemen as the Browns first round picks.  That's okay with me I guess, although I think it's foolish to just write off Phil Taylor and persist in pretending this is strictly a 3-4 defense requiring depth at nose tackle.

Danny Shelton is impressive, though, and if you're going best available, it might be him.  This guy was a man among boys, however, and the experts tell me that he's not going to humiliate pro linemen the way he humiliated college guys.  But they all agree that he can stop the run, and has surprising range for his size. 

Andrus Peat is a great tackle with upside, as he can add more weight to his already massive frame.  He has left tackle athleticism, but is ready to step in on the right side, and fits a zone scheme.  The Browns' do have to plan for who comes after Joe Thomas, too.

I don't hate Mitchell Schwartze or John Greco as much as many fans, as their declines in efficiency also coincided with the loss of Alex Mack.  I'm not sure I understand why, but there it is.

However, Peat (or Scherff) would be a clear upgrade, and they could let Schwartze and Greco duke it out for right guard.  This one move would take care of the depth issue on the line.

No, it's apparent that there's no replacing Alex Mack, but Greco could be servicable, and they could still draft a true center as low as the fourth round.

Some people are saying that Ray Farmer has it etched in stone that he won't draft any wide recievers ever in the top two rounds.  That's baloney, but with the depth at that position and the needs of the team he probably won't use a first rounder on one here.

If the Browns lose Jordan Cameron (or even if they don't) Maxx Williams is a reciever who could be had in the second round.

I do believe that there's a good chance that the Browns will wind up with either Hundley or Mariota.  The permabashers will strafe him because niether is said to be NFL-ready.  I hope he doesn't care.  

He can't count on Johnny Partyboy.  Nor even Hoyer, if he retains him.

Of the veteran free agent quarterbacks, I'm in the minority on Sanchez.  No, I don't think he's a franchise guy.  But I do think he could be better than my man Brian Hoyer (sorry).

Remember, Sanchez took the Jets to the AFC chamionship game as a rookie.  He declined after that, but never truly sucked.

He was knocked for a lack of work ethic himself--but at least didn't party his brains out around the clock.  He did pretty well this past season in a much different offense.

The Browns need veteran insurance for the party boy, and of all the veterans available, Sanchez might be the best.

What about that rookie season of his?  Well, that was the ground-and-pound offense.  He wasn't asked to carry the team.  This is what the Browns are trying to do, and they succeeded at it until Mack went down.

Mack will be back, and I suspect the offensive line will be further upgraded this offseason to enhance that.  If Sanchez could do that as a rookie, couldn't he do it as a seasoned veteran here?  Huh?  Why not?  No really--tell me.

Plus, he's much older now.  Maybe he's grown a work ethic.  Maybe he'll be more now.  Maybe HE is the right guy to put up against junior.

As for Mariota or Hundley, here's a couple names for you: RGIII.  Cam Newton.  The new coordinator will have to try to make something work with Manziel, and they fit.