Hue Jackson's Fingerprints Are All Over Latest Cleveland Browns Draft Class

There’s an unavoidable culture of losing embedded within the Cleveland Browns organization. You know it, I know it, anyone following the NFL knows it. It’s what happens when you endure decades of failure both on the field and off it.

This was apparent to new coach Hue Jackson when he was hired back in January. Given the task of rebuilding the Browns into a winning football team, Jackson knew the first step was cleaning out the toxicity. This began with free agency, as the team cut ties with players who’ve been here a few years along with past-their-prime vets who were on late-career paychecks.

However, the biggest step to take when it came to starting fresh and changing the culture was the NFL Draft. Loaded with picks coming into this past weekend, the Browns had a perfect opportunity to inject new life into a franchise used to nothing but losing.

If this was Jackson’s main goal, it certainly appears as though his mission was accomplished. All you have to do is take a deep look into Cleveland’s latest draft class to see the new coach’s fingerprints are all over it.

I’m not here to grade Jackson’s first draft as Browns coach. I’ve seen enough of those, ranging all across the board. As we all know, grading drafts is a trivial process which won’t amount to anything until the players actually touch the field.

However, while we don’t know how Cleveland’s new draft class looks in live games or even in training camp, we can certainly tell who had a big voice in selecting these players. In reading up on these rookies, you can easily see the influence Jackson had on this draft.

Each player the Browns selected has high marks when it comes to buzzwords many associate with Jackson. Effort, tenacity, toughness, leadership. These or similar words can be found in the scouting reports for each of Cleveland’s new players.

Wideout Corey Coleman, the Browns’ first overall pick, is noted by many as someone who plays angry, fighting for every yard before the catch and after it. He’s received more than a few comparisons to receiver Steve Smith, both in stature and the size of the chip on his shoulder.

Defensive end Carl Nassib was flat-out told he would never play football. All he did after that was earn a starting job with Penn State and lead the nation in sacks last season.

Quarterback Cody Kessler never seemed to have draft scouts giving him the same hype as Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. However, he was still one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country last season. Additionally, that he had such a successful career despite dealing with numerous coaching changes says tons about his leadership abilities.

The list goes on just like this. Linebacker Scooby Wright overcame any physical deficiencies by playing every down like a man possessed. Safety Derrick Kindred played an entire season with a broken collarbone last year. Lineman Shon Coleman beat cancer.

On top of these accolades, several of the players selected were also award winners either this season or last. Some were players of the year within their respective conference. Corey Coleman, in particular, won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in football last year.

Even better than the accolades and awards, you know what you won’t find in Cleveland’s newest rookie class? Bad apples.

There are no Johnny Manziel‘s in this group. Nobody draped in red flags or character concerns. None of the rookies are labeled as having a bad attitude.

Past Browns regimes have looked past these things, as if a rookie’s play on the field outweighed the headaches he caused off it. Obviously, such moves backfired. The current front office has already done a good deal of work cleaning up the mess from these past draft blunders.

Obviously we have no idea how this class will pan out. We’ve seen high-character guys fail to develop into reliable players in the past, more than a few in Cleveland. That said, if a coach wants rookies to develop well under his wing, he needs to ensure he picks players who share his values. At surface level, it looks like Jackson did just that.

His first move was to try and clear out Cleveland’s culture of losing. The next task for Jackson was to bring in players who could help him develop a winning atmosphere. Based on the backgrounds of the Browns’ new rookies, it sure sounds like he’s off to a good start.