Cleveland Browns: Starting Brock Osweiler clouds quarterback competition

The Cleveland Browns brought clarity to the quarterback competition by naming Brock Osweiler the starter. But with clarity comes other forms of confusion.

Hue Jackson set the tone for the upcoming preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints by naming Brock Osweiler the starting quarterback.

He also set the remaining depth chart by naming Cody Kessler the second-string quarterback and DeShone Kizer third-string.

However, in the subsequent press conference he outlined his reason for naming Brock Osweiler the starter:

"“If I stuck one of those other guys out as a starter, they weren’t going to play a lot of football because they probably would come out when the other veterans come out. When you sit down and think through it all, and you think what is best for our football team, it is best for me to trot Brock out there, see if he can go lead this offense and lead the team, and in the process, keep getting these young guys more reps of playing football. They just need to play. (QB) DeShone (Kizer) needs to play more. (QB) Cody (Kessler) needs to play more. (QB) Kevin (Hogan) needs to play more. I thought this was the way to do it.”"

In one sentence, Jackson took away all the clarity he previously provided. Naming Osweiler the starter allows Jackson to get Kessler and Kizer on the field longer on Thursday night. Putting a priority on getting Kizer and Kessler more snaps and more game experience means that the quarterback evaluation is still in process.

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Starting Brock Osweiler was a no brainer. An evaluation of Osweiler is much easier given his history as an NFL starter.

With a season-and-a-half of game film on the record, evaluating Osweiler should be as easy as watching the film and adding that to whatever he does at camp this fall.

Starting Osweiler means he will be off the field quickly on Thursday allowing the backups to take a majority of the game snaps.

So what is Jackson really up to by starting Osweiler? He is ensuring that Kessler and Kizer get more playing time.

Next: 10 players to watch this preseason

Contrary to the reports that the Browns have taken a step forward in the quarterback competition, Hue Jackson has made the one decision that allows the quarterback competition to continue without clarity.