As the NFL world gathers in Indianapolis on Tuesday for the league's annual combine — a weeklong spectacle of drills, meetings, interviews, and conferences within the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium — the Browns are bracing for what is the defacto beginning of a new era under Hue Jackson.
And while Jackson — who was hired as head coach last month — has started to mold the team in his image, the combine is one of the first chances for the rest of the football world to see the beginnings of that blueprint.
"I think it's very important, I think the thing that's been key for us is that we've really spent the time watching and looking at the guys and really trying to identify the guys that fit for us," Jackson said in a recent interview.
"Everybody can't be a Cleveland Brown, and we understand that. But there is a good group of guys that have an opportunity to be on our football team and help us get better."
Following a disappointing 3-13 season, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam vowed to be patient in what he described as a "rebuilding program."
"We do want to do this the right way," Haslam said on Jan. 3.
"We are going to build through the draft. I know there are probably rolling eyes because that hasn't worked so well, but if you look at the successful teams in the NFL, they have built through the draft. That is what we are going to do. We are not going to go out and spend a gazillion dollars in free agency. We are going to build through the draft because we are firmly convinced that is the right way to do it."
That approach comes to the forefront at the combine, where the best of the best from college football teams across the country look to dazzle league coaches, executives and personnel on and off the field.
"It's always a great exciting time because it's another opportunity to get to see the players and you get to see them do physical drills, you get to kind of talk to them for 15 minutes in a room to find out a little bit more about them," said Jackson, whose team holds the second and 32nd picks in April's NFL Draft.
"But to watch the guys go compete in a different environment, to watch all the different skills that they showcase there and we know it's tough, gives you a little bit of different information about them."
