Can Hue Jackson take the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs in 2016?

Can head coach Hue Jackson lead the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs in 2016 in his first year on the job?

Every year the NFL sees teams that missed the playoffs the previous season find their way into the postseason.

In 2015, that list included the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings as clubs that made the jump to playoff status.

That cycle is sure to repeat itself this fall, leaving fans to wonder if the Cleveland Browns will be one of those teams joining in on the fun of playoff football.

It is a tall task for a team coming off a 3-13 record, that has posted double-digit losses in seven of the past eight seasons, and is currently undergoing its latest biennial rebuilding project.

“I don’t think the Cleveland Browns can be any better off than we are with Hue Jackson.” – Joe Thomas

While there is optimism among Browns fans, however, that given enough time head coach Hue Jackson will finally be the one to turn things around. Jackson is one of seven new head coaches for 2016, none of which is taking over a playoff team.

So what are the chances that Jackson can take the Browns from the basement of the AFC North Division to the playoffs in his first year?

Not as high as some of his fellow new hires, at least according to Don Banks at Sports Illustrated, who ranked the likelihood that each of the NFL’s seven new hires can reach the postseason in their first year with their new teams.

Of the Browns and Jackson, who he ranks at No. 6 on the list, Banks writes that:

"The Browns definitely got the right guy for their job, because you have to be a born optimist with an unlimited amount of energy and determination to try and turn around the most demoralized and dysfunctional situation in the NFL. Jackson has the self-confidence to actually believe he’s up to the challenge and that’s half the battle for a franchise that has lost as long the Browns have, with a string of disastrous decisions stretching all the way back to the team’s 1999 expansion season."

"Jackson must find himself a quarterback—no news flash there—and stop the bleeding at the position that has tormented the Browns. But with the No. 2 pick in the draft, fresh hope will arrive at the end of April on that front, and Jackson’s track record of disguising a quarterback’s weaknesses and maximizing his strengths will come in very handy. This is no overnight project Jackson has undertaken, and the AFC North is always top heavy, but the Browns can at least dream of relevancy in 2016."

Banks is fair in his assessment of the current situation facing Jackson and the Browns. As much as patience has evolved into a four-letter word for Browns fans, turning this thing around is going to take more than just one offseason.

But that doesn’t mean there should not be reason for optimism. The Browns have the No. 2 overall selection – and two of the first 32 selections – in the 2016 NFL Draft to go along with an estimated $35 million in salary cap space to jumpstart the process.

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And Jackson’s enthusiasm has been contagious, not just for the fans but for the team as well, according to left tackle Joe Thomas.

“[Jackson] was the No. 1 guy that I was hoping that we would hire,” Thomas told ohio.com. “I didn’t know what our chances would be because of the history that this franchise has had with firing coaches so quickly and going through so many different guys. He’s a guy that comes in with a lot of confidence. He has a history as a play caller, as an offensive genius, and I don’t think the Cleveland Browns can be any better off than we are with Hue Jackson.

“I wish this was the position we were in my second or third year. We’re probably going to draft a first-round quarterback, the best quarterback in the draft or the second best at worst. And we’ve got a guy in Josh McCown who’s proven he can be a good player when he’s starting and healthy. [He’s] a tremendous mentor.

“So you’ve got hopefully the future of the franchise getting drafted in the first round, and then you’ve got Josh mentoring him and coaching him along the way. I can’t see a better situation that the Browns could possibly be in than that. As long as you pick the right quarterback, if there is one out there, the future is really bright for the Cleveland Browns because it doesn’t really matter what you do with the rest of the team if don’t have a quarterback.”

The playoffs are probably a pipe dream for the Browns in 2016, but it is safe to say that as the team moves through the offseason and prepares for opening weekend that optimism will remain high.

Jackson’s ongoing challenge will be to reward that optimism by helping the Browns return to relevancy in the NFL.