Cleveland Browns: Grading the quarterbacks after the preseason opener
Brock Osweiler certainly didn’t have himself a horrible night, but it wasn’t great by any standard.
For starters, he had Cameron Erving as his left tackle, as Joe Thomas deservedly got the night off. Osweiler was forced to scramble several times and never got to air the ball out.
He finished going 6-14 for 42 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown, but he also didn’t turn the ball over which was a good sign.
The offense just never got any flow with Osweiler under center, recording three three-and-outs before ultimately picking up a first down. That is both a combination of him not having much time with this unit along with the Browns committing penalties on all three drives.
Osweiler not turning the ball over was a positive sign, but the inability to move the ball down the field against the Saints was concerning. Yet while we also temper our excitement on the good things, we must not overreact to the bad in what was the first game action in 2017.
Barring a total meltdown in practice, Osweiler will likely get some more reps with the first-team leading up to the next preseason game. His main competition is Kizer, but Hue Jackson isn’t going to shoot the rookie to the top of the depth chart after one preseason game.