Cleveland Browns may need to tap the brakes on DeShone Kizer hype

Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer has reportedly closed the gap in the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition, but the team has to be careful not to rush him.

The Cleveland Browns didn’t draft former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer until the second round. However, this doesn’t mean Kizer can’t be the team’s long-term quarterback and it doesn’t mean he can’t start as a rookie. The Browns, though, can’t start him until he’s ready.

Browns fans have seen rookie quarterbacks rushed into action time and time again. Sometimes they handle the pressure well — seriously, Cody Kessler was far from a disaster last year — sometimes they fall flat on their face.

The one constant in Cleveland is that quarterbacks thrown into the fire too soon have struggled to develop. If Kizer never gets past the unrefined stage, how can the team possibly know if he can be the man or if the team will need to look to the 2018 draft? This is why Cleveland can’t get too excited about the hype surrounding Kizer right now.

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According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Kizer is moving closer to stealing the starting job:

"Jackson wasn’t ready to promote Kizer to No. 1 during minicamp, but he’s quickly closing the gap."

Is Kizer really closing the gap that considerably, though? Quotes from quarterbacks coach David Lee make it sound as if the rookie still has some significant steps to take. Also per Cabot on Cleveland.com, Lee had this to say:

"“The first thing fundamentally is the long stride,” he said. “It just came with him (from Notre Dame), and that really affected his accuracy. He’s all over it, and then he’s awry. He’s all over it and he misses again. And that has been the No. 1 thing. Because when he gets a base and he’s shortens his stride and he steps and throws it, it’s a thing of beauty.”"

Lee, however, added that Kizer is a “long way from being ready.”

Kizer has undoubtedly done some great things in offseason workouts, but the Browns would be foolish to rush him into a quarterback competition and even more foolish to rush him onto the field. Even if Kizer really is closing the gap on Kessler, the team also has a more-experienced Brock Osweiler in the fold.

It’s not like Kizer doesn’t have the mental capacity to learn from the sideline:

It’s the raw mechanics and the lack of NFL experience that should keep Kizer off the field until he’s truly ready.

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If he’s unexpectedly but truly ready by Week 1 — we’ve seen it from guys like Russell Wilson and Derek Carr — then that’s wonderful and the Browns are in great shape. The Browns just have to be sure that a few positive strides in June don’t prompt them to rush Kizer’s development.