The Browns have been searching for a franchise quarterback for a long time, and that search continued during this year’s draft, when the club nabbed Notre Dame signal-caller DeShone Kizer with the No. 52 overall selection. We heard several weeks ago that Cleveland is open to having Kizer start right away if he performs well in training camp and in the preseason, and since he has far and away the most upside of any QB currently on the roster, the club certainly hopes he earns the starting job sooner rather than later.
But as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, second-year player Cody Kessler, whom the Browns selected in the third round of the 2016 draft, currently sits atop the Browns’ depth chart, and the starting QB job is his to lose. Head coach Hue Jackson said, “They have to take it from [Kessler]. They better take it from him because I know him — he is not going to give it up. It will be fun. That is what competition is all about. Until someone takes something from someone and shows that they can do it at a high level play in and play out, then we have to keep going in the direction where we’re traveling.”
Kessler performed reasonably well in nine games for the club last year, and Jackson said back in October that the USC product was one of the best rookie quarterbacks he had ever coached. It therefore makes sense that Kessler would get the early opportunity to take control of the starting job, but Jackson also made it clear that there will be an open competition among Kessler, Kizer, Brock Osweiler, and Kevin Hogan.
Jackson said that all four players will have the opportunity to take first-team reps, and he unsurprisingly sounded the most pessimistic about Osweiler, whom the Browns acquired from Houston as part of a salary dump in order to take the Texans’ second-round selection in this year’s draft. Jackson said, “Brock is learning our system and learning the things that we do at the position. I think the other guys have done it. They have been through the process with me and understand how to play. That doesn’t mean that he can’t have an opportunity to exceed or succeed anybody” (interestingly, Kizer, like Osweiler, has not yet “been through the process” with Jackson either, so that statement could suggest just how little the team values Osweiler).
In any event, the training camp battle to watch will be Kessler v. Kizer, though Kizer will almost inevitably get his shot at some point in the near future.
I’m definitely rooting for Kessler. Being a QB is not just about size and arm strength. You have to be smart, too. Cody is advanced more in that area than the others. If he has increased his arm strength like has been reported, then it should be interesting to see what he can do this season.
Like a Norte Dame education doesn’t prove Kizer as smart as well??
Just because you go to college doesn’t mean your have football intelligence
They gotta start Kizer and see what they have in him since he was a second rounder and have nothing to lose
You’re setting him up for failure if your already penciling him in as the starter. Let him learn, let him develop. Rodgers, Rothlesberger, Farve, and more were all on the bench before getting an opportunity.
Give everybody fair shot at bein #1, Boom Go…the opportunity of a lifetime in ur hands, take it! Plus whole team will see the competition n rally round “their” leader. Healthy competition makes everyone better, pushes em too heights even players may have never imagined achievable… who wants it..?!
Last time I checked Ego Coach Hue is NOT the quarterback whisperer. Another long season in Cleveland ? All these high draft picks with zero results , hmmmmm maybe it’s coaching….. just sayn