2010 Record: 5-11
Offense:
With Mangini gone the Browns turned to former Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. He did a great job bringing Bradford along last year, and so far reports are that Colt McCoy is looking like the real deal now. Then again, this is preseason. The Browns have a good tailback in Peyton Hillis who had a hell of a year in 2010 (1177 rushing yards 11 TDs), but now he has the Madden curse on him, and I think most people think he is going to slow down. Browns signed Packer Brandon Jackson, but he is a bum so I wouldn't expect much from him. A guy that could turn into a nice backup for Hillis is Hardesty, who didn't play much last year with a torn ACL. The Browns still have little in the way of a big time WR. Mohamed Massaquoi is decent, Brian Robiskie is OK, and if you can get Joshua Cribbs' the ball he can make something happen. The one guy that I guess could breakout would be former UNC Greg Little. He has the talent, but hasn't played football in over a year. Out old friend Watson is their TE, which is pretty good.
Defense:
Browns are switching to a 4-3. The shift to a four-man front will likely feature a pair of rookies in Taylor and Sheard following the offseason release of both end Kenyon Coleman and nose tackle Shaun Rogers. Marcus Bernard will also be out there and he had 7.5 sacks last year. D'Qwell Jackson, Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong are their linebackers. Jackson has missed 26 of Cleveland's past 32 games due to injury, and Fujita can't stay on the field either. The Browns do have some very good corners in Joe Haden and Sheldon Brown. Haden might be the best player of the whole team (64 tackles, 1 sack, 6 INT). Safety T.J. Ward is also back there and he is coming off a solid campaign as well (123 tackles, 2 INT).
Overall:
The Browns are going in the right direction I think, but when you have to compete with the Ravens and Steelers every year life can be tough. They will improve their record, but once again there will be no playoffs in Cleveland.
2011 Record: 7-9