Cleveland Browns: Takeaways on offense from the Week 5 loss

Kevin Hogan or DeShone Kizer

Just when we thought we may have marginal quarterback play to be competitive in football games, we stand here on October 11 arguing Kevin Hogan versus DeShone Kizer as if we’re preparing for SummerSlam.

Instead, this is where we’re at this season. Five weeks into this already-exhausting season, we have ourselves another quarterback competition. . If you loved the Brock and Cody show, just wait until what we have now!

Being nice, DeShone Kizer looked bad in the first half on Sunday. He looked indecisive, even a little panicked sitting in the pocket, and it showed in his errant throws and turnovers. Kevin Hogan stepped in and ended with a stat line of 16 for 19 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Knowing how Hue Jackson preaches his no-turnover style of play (a novel concept, by the way), it’s no surprise that Kizer was pulled on Sunday.

This is not to say that Kizer is done as a possible starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, there just needs to be a little period of reflection and improvement for DeShone Kizer. He was inaccurate at the college level, and it’s translated to the professional level as well. At some point you cannot continue to play a quarterback with a 49.5 quarterback rating and 3:9 touchdown to interception ratio.

With that being said, Kevin Hogan came in the second half Sunday and played a brand of football that was actually refreshing. We saw short completions to tight ends and running backs, there was an actual running threat and maybe, just maybe, Ricardo Louis is turning the corner. But while Hogan’s performance was admirable, it was also a glaring reminder of how bad DeShone Kizer has been and how far he has to go to be competent at the NFL level.

Hogan has officially been named the starter for Week 6, and a great start could allow him to hold down the job for quite some time. And while it is frustrating to see Kizer benched so quickly, the time on the sidelines could help him in the long run.