Cleveland Browns: 4 takeaways after releasing Brian Hartline
By Joel W. Cade
The Browns are clearly committed to the rebuilding project under Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta and Hue Jackson. With all that has gone poorly for the Browns since 1999, it is nice to see the Browns take a completely different approach. The analytics approach has worked in baseball and basketball. It is time to find out if an analytic approach to organizational structure and team building will be successful in the NFL.
The first year under this rebuilding project will be fun to watch. Gone are “expensive” veterans and entrenched stars. In their place are fresh new faces from college who have something to prove. The Browns may or may not be very good next year. Regardless, it will not be a team that is unsure of assignments. This will not be a selfish team concerned only about the next paycheck (not saying past teams were).
Instead, this team will be hungry to prove themselves. They have a coach who is motivated to prove that the Browns made the right choice by bringing him to Cleveland. They have an Executive VP of Football Operations looking to prove he does in fact know what he is doing.
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It may not look pretty all the time, but this team will be all in on winning. The wide receiver group is at the forefront of the Browns commitment not only to their analytic approach but also to bringing a winner to Cleveland. The Browns are “all in”.