NFL 2016: Regular season grades for every team
By John Buhler
Were the 2016 Cleveland Browns horrible? Big time. However, they weren’t exactly a terrible watch nor were they a team we all rooted against. The bulk of Hue Jackson’s roster was composed of under 25 year olds that didn’t know what it takes to win at the professional level.
Nevertheless, the 2016 Browns played hard for Jackson despite looking like a bare bones Moneyball team assembled by Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta. Cleveland finally got it first win of the season on Christmas Eve in Week 16 against a completed defeated San Diego Chargers team. The post-game locker room speech with Jackson and his team showed the world how much this bunch is in this together.
It was cool to see veterans like cornerback Joe Haden, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, tight end Gary Barnidge, and offensive tackle Joe Thomas be all-in with this team, despite knowing wins were few and far between.
Third-round pick Cody Kessler showed promise as a passer. First-round pick Corey Coleman could be a good NFL wide receiver one day. What really sank the Browns was getting pretty much nothing out of No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown. If their quarterbacks stayed healthy, maybe this was a four-win team? Cleveland sure played hard and this was a tremendously positive season for the Browns. Don’t mistake that.