Cleveland Browns: Trying to believe the narrative surrounding Kizer
Sashi Brown says he doesn’t want to rush DeShone Kizer into action, but this is a narrative seen before by Cleveland Browns fans.
There was both panic and praise when the Cleveland Browns selected DeShone Kizer with the No. 52 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Those who panicked don’t believe he is going to be a successful quarterback, while those who offered praise believe Kizer can spend a year to develop on the sidelines and not have to prove himself right away.
The goal should be to allow Kizer to develop, as Browns fans have seen young quarterbacks put on the field too early, only to fail.
Sashi Brown appeared on 92.3 The Fan today and appeared to preach the idea of patience with Kizer. From the interview:
"“Ideally we’d be able to come in and give DeShone some time and again, Hue (Jackson) talked about this. .. making sure he understands that he doesn’t feel like he has to have the pressure on him to be the week one starter or even the 2017 starter at some point. We like Cody, we like Brock, we like Kevin and he doesn’t need to feel that pressure.”"
As Brown says, Kizer will get some time to learn in an ideal situation. But the Browns rarely operate in such a situation, as injuries and pressure from the top of the organization usually see young quarterbacks put on the field far early.
As fans, we want to believe that Brown and Hue Jackson will stick with this plan to allow Kizer to develop and compete for the job in 2018. That is, unless he shows up at training camp and is clearly the best quarterback on the team.
But given he is beat out by Cody Kessler or even Brock Osweiler, the plan must be stuck with throughout 2017. It is what Brown is preaching now, yet it is difficult to blindly accept it as fact.
Even in just the past two years, fans have seen the likes of Johnny Manziel and Cody Kessler thrown onto the field unprepared and without much of an offense to work with. With this being the second year of an organizational rebuild, the same mistakes must not be repeated.
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The team has a bit more talent than last year, and an improved offensive line should help keep the quarterbacks healthy for more than a game at a time. And while this points to Kizer being given time to properly develop, fans won’t believe it until they see it.