Is Cleveland really a bad situation?

[Cameron Giles]

Sure, they're the posterboy of stupidity and disappointment, but Hue Jackson is a good football coach. From 2010-2011, Oakland went 16-16 when Jackson was the coach. It's not a great record, but when you consider that Oakland's defense was awful, had a pretty weak receiving core, with Jason Campbell and Carson Palmer (his last year of bad) at QB, it's pretty amazing remarkable.

I bring that up because Cleveland really could be the biggest factor in rookie drafts. They have picks #8 and #32 with clear holes at early-down RB (I don't think Hue likes Crowell) and WR. If they hold, they could do a number of things. Zeke at #8 and someone like Doctson or Thomas at #32. Or they could do Treadwell at #8 and Henry at #32. As far as RB's are concerned, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush and Jeremy Hill all had big years under Hue.

Receiver wise with Gordon still suspended and Benjamin gone, there is a ton of opportunity to be had. If Cleveland goes offense, I can suspect a lot of the usual "I can't draft someone on the Browns" stuff, but I think it's a sneaky good situation of opportunity. It kind of reminds me of Oakland from last year.

[jason5641]

WR I guess I could live with but with short RB shelf life, bad Def and bad Oline wasting a year of 4 average lifespan kills it for me.

[gmoftheyear]

in a word............YES. Until they prove otherwise. I lost hope for them when they let Colt Mccoy go. He actually was doing good and they moved on from him and Colt has continue to play well when given the opportunites.

[Hottoddies]

Cleveland lost a lot of talent on their front line this offseason. If they can't fix that it will be tough sledding for their skill position players. I'm not sure how much faith I have in their new front office. So, yeah, it could be a very bad situation.

[ericanadian]

I like the Moneyball hire and I'm curious to see how it turns out. I'm willing to give them a fresh start at this point. San Francisco and LA are pretty much the only situations I'm avoiding at this point.

[GreenGold]

They should trade down again and gain more picks. They could address the O line and also get a wr in there even if its Boyd in the second round. RG3 has no one to throw to and we all know his fragile body needs protecting. Without a wr, their run game will suffer even more due to box stacking. If they pick a rb in the first round then I know they are forever cursed with no hope.

[voiceofunreason]

Scary thing for me is the ownership and the gm. Both are really awful so it's very hard to buy into any player there in the long term.

[guyatwork37]

It's a dumpster fire, and while I'm sure there will be some fantasy relevant people from time to time (e.g. josh gordon for a season, Gary Barnidge last year, etc.), it's not a promising place for the foreseeable future.

[theone]

Just a terrible situation in the short term. The new management group will completely tear down the existing team trying to accumulate high draft picks either through trades or the compensatory system. They let go of multiple starters from a bad team that was among the worst in the league on defense. The offense has Gary Barnidge as the single remaining receiving option of note. I have little faith that RG3, who did not play a snap last year and has not played well in 3 years, will do much to help out the skill position players. The Browns have been awful with their draft picks and it sounds like the new management group will have limited input this year. They have holes at virtually every position and I would expect they use most of the picks on the defensive side as the draft is fairly deep defensively this year. The only positive I can see for incoming players is that there is plenty of opportunity to see the field.

[Servo]

If you're looking for a situation where you can by low on Cleveland, now would be the time, especially if you believe in Hue Jackson. The problem is....how many times has that been said before with previous staffs/talents?

As others have mentioned, short term, I wouldn't be trying to find an integral piece of a team from them but worth bench spots, probably.

[Factory of Sadness]

As a Browns fan, I'm tempted to join the chorus yelling for people to run to the hills. Short term I think it will have to be very ugly. For Fantasy though, a losing team can be a pretty tempting option. Look at the Jags over the last couple of years. If you believe in Hue - and I'm not as sold as some - and they add talent you believe in, I wouldn't automatically write them off. Garbage time points count. Game flow will likely be the issue, so I'd happily take a top WR drafted there as the ball's getting chucked to him all second half if we're behind. A running back though is dependent on a commitment to the ground game. Zeke in Cleveland, with Duke there to catch passes? Instant bail for me. Treadwell I'd love there, Doctson too. Coleman I'd worry about as he's someone I'd like to see play in a Dome with a good QB.

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

If we're talking Zeke, I still like him in Cleveland. For RB, opportunity/ touches matter more than anything else. He'll be on the field with the ball in his hands a lot.

Obviously where i have the 1.01, I'd still prefer just about anywhere else. But i might like it where I don't have him, since the price of 1.01 may come down.

[clarion contrarion]

Leopards don't change their spots , I would not be a buyer except at the cheapest of costs . HUGE AXSON may be good for RGme or mccown, whomever is the qb and perhaps one of the rookie wr . Zeke is location proof although the fact they will be behind a lot could hurt any rb especially in non PPR although Duke & elliott could get lots of checkdown work. One guy I might be interested in and this would kind of go against the grain but if elliott or henry go there I would immediately be looking to buy crowell in hopes he gets a ticket out of town. Please no henry in the AFC north don't want the steelers having to tackle that monster twice a year.
I own duke on 1 squad and gordon on a few but I would be staying away in general .
$ball schmoney ball the owner is a meddling dolt and this "new way to do things" likely has a 2 year shelf life until he gets wobbly and blows things up again .

[John Paul]

They are one of the teams I am paying close attention to. I am interested in the Podesta hiring. and his Moneyball approach. They have already set themselves up very well with the Philly trade.

[Dookmarriot]

Losing Mack and Schwartz will really hurt that offense in the short term. Not sure Erving can fill Mack's shoes, and I have no idea who is going to step in for Schwartz. That line went in one offseason from quietly very good to a weakness.