Cleveland Browns reportedly will name DeShone Kizer QB1
By Thomas Moore
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson will reportedly name rookie DeShone Kizer as the team’s starting quarterback for the 2017 season.
The Cleveland Browns will name rookie DeShone Kizer as the team’s No. 1 quarterback for the regular season, according to a report from Mary Kay Cabot at cleveland.com.
It is the least surprising quarterback development since Robert Griffin III won the quarterback “competition” in 2016.
Kizer beat out Brock Osweiler, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan for the honor of becoming the 27th different quarterback to start a game for the Browns since 1999, and the first rookie quarterback to open the season as a starter since Brandon Weeden in 2012.
Kizer started Saturday night’s preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and while he did not light up the stat sheet – finishing six-of-18 for 93 yards and an interception – he didn’t take any sacks, hit some nice third-down throws, and certainly looked the most competent of any of the four quarterbacks currently on the roster.
His performance throughout training camp and the preseason has apparently been enough for Jackson to grow comfortable with the idea of having Kizer lead the offense when the Browns open the regular season on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kizer also gave the coaching staff something to build on, Jackson told clevelandbrowns.com after Saturday night’s game:
"“I thought he did some good things. I know the numbers weren’t like I would like or he would like, but I thought he moved the team and made some plays. I’m going to go back and watch the tape, but I feel comfortable with him. I thought he handled things really well. His eyes were good, the conversations we had was what you want with your quarterback. He tried to stick a ball in there later on. Just learning guys’ body language over the middle when a guy is stopping and those things. Those are the things he has to continue to grow on, but I thought he managed the team well. He did some really good things and we’ll keep coaching him up.”"
Jackson will reportedly make the news official later today after he meets with the quarterbacks. The next step is determining how much work to give Kizer between now and the start of the season.
The Browns play again on Thursday night and Kizer needs as much work with the first-team offense as he can get. But teams rarely play their starters in the final preseason game out of fear of losing a key player to injury.
The last time the Browns were in this situation they sat Weeden for the final preseason game then watched him throw four interceptions and post a passer rating of 5.1 in the opening game of the season.
Kizer, thankfully, is not Weeden (at least we all better hope not), but it will be a bit of a surprise if he sees the field Thursday night against the Chicago Bears, meaning the next time he is in game action will be against the Steelers.
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But there will be plenty of time to discuss that in the weeks to come. For now, it looks like the Kizer Era is ready to begin for the Browns.
No matter what, it is going to be interesting.