Joe Thomas: Expect Brock Osweiler to be the starting quarterback

Cleveland Browns veteran Joe Thomas believes that Brock Osweiler will be named the starting quarterback due to the complexities of the position.

Head coach Hue Jackson has said it. Quarterbacks coach David Lee has said it. And now left tackle Joe Thomas has said it.

Rookie DeShone Kizer is not ready to take over the starting quarterback role, so expect veteran Brock Osweiler to be at the controls of the offense when the Cleveland Browns open the season on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

When asked about the situation on Wednesday, Thomas said that the complexity of playing quarterback at the NFL gives Osweiler the advantage, according to ohio.com:

"“To be honest, I don’t think that DeShone will be the starter in Week 1. It is a competition, but I would expect Brock to win because of his experience, and a rookie quarterback, it’s the hardest position to get ready to play in your first year. So there’s no doubt he could win the competition. I definitely would expect probably Brock to win. I could be totally wrong. I could be going out on a limb here. But I think that they’re grooming Brock to be the starter in Week 1 based on what I’ve seen.”"

Plenty of things could still happen between now and the season opener – including Osweiler getting hurt or simply falling apart during the next two preseason games – but Thomas has been around long enough that he probably has as good of a read on the situation as anyone outside of the coaching staff.

There has never been a reason for Jackson to turn to Kizer until he is comfortable that the time is right. The Browns are not a playoff contender this year, so going through the opening weeks of the season with Osweiler as the starter will not hold the team back.

And we are still talking about the Browns, a team that has not had a quarterback make 16 starts in a season since Tim Couch in 2001. Kizer is going to have an opportunity to play this season, even if it does not come in Week 1.

It is hard to ask Browns fans to remain patient, even if for just a few weeks, after enduring decades of bad football, poor drafting and enough reboots to last a lifetime.

Next: Hue Jackson trying hard not to ruin DeShone Kizer

But Thomas hasn’t experienced a winning season since his rookie year in 2007, and if he is comfortable with waiting a few extra weeks in the hopes that the quarterback position is finally settled, then the fans can certainly hang in there a little bit longer as well.