Cleveland Browns: Cody Kessler’s Development
By Peter Smith
Cody Kessler may have the most pressure of any rookie on the Cleveland Browns this season and he might not even play.
Cody Kessler was the most peculiar selection of the 2016 NFL Draft for the Cleveland Browns. It is still a confusing selection for a few reasons but it is much clearer how he can fit in the offense Hue Jackson intends to run in Cleveland.
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Going into the draft, the overwhelming opinion (myself included) was that Jackson would want a prototype quarterback with a big arm as he had with Carson Palmer, Jason Campbell, and Joe Flacco with previous teams. Instead, Jackson handpicked a quarterback that has far more in common with Colt McCoy than any of the previous quarterbacks mentioned.
When pressed on what he liked about Kessler, Jackson cited his accuracy. For the offense the Browns intend to run, accuracy is critical. The ability to process information and get rid of the football quickly is also important.
The Browns intend to run an offense with a lot of spread elements within it, so prototypical size and arm strength are bonuses rather than starting points. Being able to delegate and deliver the ball accurately is where the conversation starts. Jackson has bet that Kessler can do those things.
As a general rule, having a rookie quarterback sit and learn is ideal in making the transition is ideal, even though plenty will argue otherwise. The speed of the game in addition to the level of detail and study that goes into the NFL at the position can be overwhelming. Then add in all of the real life adjustments an early 20-something kid is making. It’s a lot to handle all at once.
Few quarterbacks are truly equipped to make the jump from college quarterback to the NFL and play right away, but Kessler does appear to be one of them. Again, much like Colt McCoy, Kessler has an extensive amount of experience at the collegiate level and doesn’t offer much, if any, physical upside.
Kessler, for the most part, is what he is. He’s accurate and gets rid of the football quickly. The faster he is able to get rid of the ball, the more effective he is. When he holds onto the ball and the play breaks down, his play declines precipitously. From making bad decisions to taking ugly sacks, Kessler is not a quarterback that can really make something out of nothing and should avoid those situations if at all possible.
Kessler’s arm strength is mediocre and the climate of the AFC North late in the year won’t help. It limits the offense compared to someone like Robert Griffin III or Josh McCown in that it demands the defense cover less of the field vertically. But for what Jackson wants, which is largely horizontally, Kessler isn’t holding on to the ball long enough to really need to heave it down the field anyway. Raw strength to push the ball down the field is more of a luxury than a necessity.
Jackson wants to use the running game and his own acumen, using motion and other concepts to create a numbers advantage and allow Kessler to exploit it quickly and get the ball into the hands of the athletes the Browns have on their roster. Screens and quick passes along with an effective running game would enable Kessler to be effective.
In college, Kessler played in a number of different offenses that all were based in pro-style concepts but especially this last year, incorporated more spread concepts. And Kessler was able to excel in this offense, even if the standings didn’t reflect it as well as USC would have hoped.
The Browns are going to utilizing similar ideas that USC did for Kessler this past year. Outside of terminology, it shouldn’t be a major adjustment for him. Rather than throwing to JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kessler could be throwing to Corey Coleman, being more of a facilitator than a playmaker.
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From the Browns’ perspective, Kessler playing this season is not a positive development. There is virtually zero chance that Kessler will ever offer the Browns a better chance to win than Griffin or McCown this year. However, from Kessler’s point of view, playing this year may well be his best chance to ever be a viable quarterback in Cleveland.
The reason is pretty simple. If the Browns or Eagles are abominable this year, the Browns are likely going to go all in on a quarterback in next year’s draft; perhaps DeShaun Watson from Clemson.
Kessler has to hope that the Browns and Eagles overachieve this year, because if the Browns get Watson, he becomes a longterm backup at best and may well be a forgotten man at worst, not unlike Sean Mannion in Los Angeles. Mannion, a third-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, now sits behind Jared Goff, the overall top pick of 2016 and may not have a future there after just one year.
The more likely scenario is that the Browns find themselves with multiple injured quarterbacks, a tradition unlike any other, and Kessler has to play out of necessity rather than by choice. In that situation, Kessler has to make a lasting impression and show he is not only a functional quarterback but can legitimately be the quarterback of the future.
The odds of that happening are extremely low but that may be Kessler all really has at this point.
Assuming Griffin is the starter for the Browns, Kessler does get a small break in his favor this year. McCown won’t need many practice or preseason reps, so Griffin and Kessler will be splitting up the vast majority of them. Griffin will get a ton of them in practice but a couple of the preseason games will be almost entirely Kessler’s.
From that standpoint, Kessler will get a ton of live reps and should be able to show well for himself. With backups or third stringers which could include all of the rookie receivers that were drafted, Kessler should be able to lead the offense and lead productive drives if he is as advanced in his understanding of the game as his college tape suggests. For the reasons stated earlier, Kessler basically has to perform well to insure his viability beyond this year.
If Kessler gets to the preseason and struggles, there is a real possibility that he’s going into next year already fighting for his job with the Browns.
If they add a quarterback (Watson for example) and keep either McCown or Griffin, Kessler is fighting against the Browns trying to stash him on the practice squad in favor of a roster spot on gameday. In either scenario, his practice reps become virtually non-existent as Jackson gives every spare rep possible to his franchise quarterback. Kessler and his agent are then looking for a way to get to a new team and the pick was a waste.
It’s a lot of pressure on Kessler, whether he’s realized it or not.
In the 2017 offseason, Kessler has to work to master his craft obviously, but he also has to work as hard as possible to add arm strength. He’s pretty well built overall at 220 lbs. and his zip on passes is perfectly fine, registering 55mph on the radar gun at the scouting combine. If he can add strength to be able to push the ball down the field further, it would only help him be more dangerous as a passer.
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Kessler has the tools to fit what Jackson wants in this offense. His physical ability is a large question mark currently, though it might be mitigated by the Browns catering their offense to his strengths Kessler. All Kessler can do is go out and work as hard as possible and make the most of his opportunities, but there’s a real possibility that this preseason and any games Kessler gets to play in the regular season are the best chance for Kessler to prove a viable quarterback option for the Cleveland Browns.