Cleveland Browns: Poised for improvement in 2016

The Cleveland Browns can only get better under Hue Jackson after a miserable 2015 season.

The Cleveland Browns tortured fans in 2015, finishing with a 3-13 record. That was good enough for last place in the AFC North, a spot the Browns have held every season since 2011.

Five straight seasons in the basement of a division is almost unheard of in professional sports, but so it goes with the Browns.

The 2015 season ended on such a bad note, 2016 seemed destined to be the same. Having Johnny Manziel as a top option to be the starting quarterback can do wonders to destroy any optimism heading into an offseason.

Then Jimmy Haslam decided he would make the bold move and overhaul his front office, along with the coaching staff. Enter the analytics-focused group, who hired Hue Jackson, and this season has an entirely different feel to it than it did when 2016 began.

The signing of Robert Griffin III to a two-year deal was a reasonable move, as the team avoided putting too much faith in him to be the franchise quarterback, while still giving him the opportunity to win the job going forward if he plays well.

Then there are the 14 players drafted. Even if only seven or eight make the final roster, the team made it clear that no player on the roster has great job security if the talent begins to slip away. Holding the team accountable is something that was not done in the past, so it is nice to see the new group commit to building this team to be great again.

All of these positive changes seem to temporarily erase the terrible decisions of the recent past, but the Browns still have a long way to go before being a playoff team.

There are always the worst-to-first teams, but the Browns have been the worst in the division for five years. This is not a situation where the Browns were in last place because of an injury, such as with the Indianapolis Colts in 2011 with Peyton Manning. Instead, the Browns have been systematically awful from the field to the front office, so expecting them to be great in 2016 is just not realistic.

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And yes, it may come off as negative to say they have no chance of being a great team in 2016, but that mindset does not serve to root against the team. Those who believe the Browns won’t be a contender for a few years will not be upset if the team somehow made the playoffs this year or next.

But that mindset also takes into account the fact the Browns should be better than a 3-13 team in 2016. There is a different sense of focus and direction brought onboard by Jackson, who also serves as a master motivator for a young football team. This alone should result in at least five wins this year, with six or seven not being out of the question.

While some fans would be disappointed with another losing season, a two or three-win improvement would set the team up as a legitimate contender in 2017. And who could complain about that?

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