The Cleveland Browns had a rough 2016 season. They went nearly an entire season without winning a game, until they finally came through in Week 16 against the Chargers. Now, it appears they might have an upper hand in the draft, at least when it comes to college seniors.
Browns and Bears get head start on 2017 NFL Draft with Senior Bowl coaching nods
The respective coaching staffs will get a good look at prospects before the draft.
The Senior Bowl announced that the Browns, along with the Chicago Bears would be coaching the 2017 Senior Bowl. Hue Jackson will lead the South team, and John Fox will be coaching the North.
After a 1-15 season, Jackson is glad to have the opportunity.
“I’m excited about coaching the Senior Bowl,” Jackson said. “They really do an outstanding job of getting great players to participate in the game. Obviously, this can be really beneficial to our organization by spending a week coaching some of the best players in college football while we are preparing for the draft.”
To Jackson’s point, this worked out pretty well for the Cowboys, who last season coached in the Senior Bowl that included Dak Prescottt:
The Browns have the first and 12th picks in the draft, and after so many previous first-round misses, there’s no question they’ll want to be able to hit on both picks. Even beyond that, the Browns also have multiple second-round picks, with five in the first 65 picks.
The last time the Browns coached in the Senior Bowl, they had a pretty notable coach:
For the opposition, John Fox is also very much looking forward to the opportunity. The Bears had a tough string of injuries during their 3-13 season, and odds are that Jay Cutler will be moving on this offseason.
“The Senior Bowl experience will provide our coaches and personnel staff an extended chance to evaluate these players in a one-on-one setting which could prove to be very valuable as we approach the NFL Draft,” Fox said. “It’s a great opportunity to spend some extra time with these guys and see how they respond to our staff.”
This will be the fourth time that the Bears have coached the Senior Bowl. The previous three times were in 1976, 1992, and 1996 with Jack Pardee, Mike Ditka, and Dave Wannstedt coaching the respective years.
NFL Network and ESPN will both be televising practices during the week of the game, with NFL Network carrying the game on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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