Cleveland Browns: DeShone Kizer being fast tracked to start?

The idea that DeShone Kizer is being fast tracked to start for the Cleveland Browns has been a talking point for some in the media, but it’s a substantial stretch.

DeShone Kizer took a lot of his reps with the ones during OTAs and minicamp, so he must be a real threat to be the starter for the Cleveland Browns when they open up the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a rookie quarterback and the season is almost three months away, but sure.

The other part of this is the self-fulfilling prophecy that those same elements in the media believe the Browns need to see Kizer play this year in order to evaluate him for an important decision next year. It’s important he look like he’s capable of starting so that, when they inevitably argue for it, they have something on which to base it.

Kizer took most of his reps with the ones while Myles Garrett took most of his reps with the twos and threes. So is one to believe that Kizer is close to starting while Garrett is a massive disappointment? Of course not.

Jackson becomes almost giddy when talking about Garrett. The top pick in the 2017 draft can take his reps with the twos and threes and show coaches exactly what he needs to be doing, because his job isn’t dependent on anyone else. He’s either going to execute his assignment or he’s not, earning his way to the starting job everyone knows he’s going to get.

Kizer, on the other hand, taking reps with the ones gives more of an apples to apples comparison with quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Brock Osweiler. If it’s to be a true competition, as Hue Jackson is saying, that’s the easiest way to get a baseline of where the quarterbacks are, even if that’s all it is.

With all of that said, it’s June. Training camp and pads are still about a month away. Trying to get a meaningful read on the rookie quarterback based on OTAs and minicamp comes off as a great story, but doesn’t really mean much. It also sets up Kizer for some disappointment.

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If the talk is that Kizer was being fast tracked to start and then quickly becomes third string in training camp, that would suggest that Kizer did something wrong or is struggling. Far more likely, it was the plan all along and Kizer is doing exactly what the team envisioned.

Training camp is where the team shifts into really preparing for the season. OTAs and minicamp serve as a way to install the playbook, see what guys can do and figure out where to slot them on in a preliminary depth chart. Now, in the six weeks where the players are away from the facility, the coaching staff will start to put together the various rotations they have in mind. This will obviously include how Jackson wants to plan the reps at quarterback.

Last season, Jackson was quick to name Robert Griffin III the starter, but he might take a little more time to name the starter this year. Griffin was attempting to revitalize his career and the Browns had an aging Josh McCown — who probably didn’t mind being the backup — and a third-round rookie in Kessler. It was pretty clear who the starter was going to be the entire way.

This year, Jackson may be inclined to wait a little longer, even if he knows who he really wants to be the guy. He’s got Kessler entering his second year, Brock Osweiler through the trade with Houston and then Kizer. Not naming a starter would enable him to keep mixing up the reps as he pleases under the guise of a competition to see what he wants to see with these guys.

That doesn’t mean it’s not a competition, but Jackson has shown he’s a guy who likes to toy around with things, put guys in specific situations to see how they react. When it comes to the quarterback position, Jackson brings a curiosity to coaching the position that can be confusing for onlookers trying to read meaning into it.

Upon naming a starter, Jackson really has to change how he divvies up the reps. If he names a starter but keeps giving pretty even reps to the other two quarterbacks, it takes time away from gelling the team, setting up timing and chemistry and getting them ready to win games. In the event he does that and the team comes out flat to start the season, it becomes an easy point to criticize.

In other words, when Jackson names either Kessler or Osweiler the team’s starting quarterback, he has to put his toy, Kizer, on the shelf for the time being. Certainly, the team will continue to work to develop Kizer. But when it comes to team reps, Kizer is largely going to be relegated to the scout team. Putting him in with the ones would be a luxury as opposed to a necessity, one a team coming off one win can ill afford.

The other part of this is the absurd notion that the Browns need to see Kizer play regular season games in order to evaluate him. This is based on the fact that the Browns have two first-round picks and three second-round picks headed into the 2018 NFL Draft as of now, and will almost certainly be in position to make a play for one of the top quarterbacks next year.

May 24, 2017; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer (7) practices during organized team activities at the Cleveland Browns training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

The idea is that, if Kizer plays this year, he will inform the decision on whether or not they need to draft another quarterback. This notion is ridiculous for several reasons. First, short of a miraculous transformation, nothing Kizer can do this year will have any impact on the decision to pick a quarterback next year. Unless they get caught out of position again (as happened with Pat Mahomes), they are in the market for a top quarterback. Simply embracing that reality will make any evaluation of Kizer as a quarterback more honest and his development less forced.

Kizer was a mediocre quarterback at Notre Dame, so the idea that he’s going to make the leap from mediocrity at the collegiate level into being good at the NFL level as a rookie is the stuff of fairy tales. And no, Kizer as a prospect is not in the same league as someone like Dak Prescott, who was such a sensation this past year for the Dallas Cowboys. Beyond the fact that Prescott was surrounded with an ideal situation for a quarterback in Dallas, he was substantially better in college too.

The fact that Kizer went in the second round and Prescott went in the fourth is immaterial; as is Kizer going in the second round as opposed to Kessler in the third.

Here is a look at their career numbers in terms of efficiency from college.

DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame

Completion Percentage: 60.7%
Yards Per Attempt: 8.35
Passing Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 2.47 TDs per INT

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

Completion Percentage: 62.8%
Yards Per Attempt: 8.05
Passing Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 2.86 TDs per INT

Cody Kessler, USC

Completion Percentage: 67.2%
Yards Per Attempt: 8.19
Passing Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 4.63 TDs per INT

None of this guarantees that Kessler is going to be a successful quarterback in the NFL anymore than it guarantees Kizer won’t. It does illustrate, however, just how much worse Kizer was in college compared to the other two. Thus, it displays how much more he has to do to close the gap with the other two, let alone reach whatever potential he has.

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Other than yards per attempt, which is arguably the least important statistic because of how the NFL is evolving, Kizer is woefully behind the other two, who were simply far more efficient. Expecting a quantum leap as a rookie is wishful thinking to put it lightly. Maybe Kizer can ultimately become better than the other two (as unlikely as that is), but it’s going to take time. Putting him on the field as a rookie to prove the Browns shouldn’t draft a quarterback in 2018 is unrealistic at best and irresponsible at worst.

This also suggests that the Browns or any other team can’t evaluate a quarterback who isn’t on the field, as if all of those practices, meetings, individual work, and preseason games don’t matter. Keep in mind, some of those pushing this idea that the Browns need to see Kizer were also proponents for giving up everything and then some to obtain Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots, who has attempted 94 regular season passes in three seasons.

By this logic, the Browns can’t evaluate Kizer, despite having him in their building, at practices, meetings, so on and so forth without seeing him in regular season games, but the Browns can evaluate Garoppolo with far less information as a member of the New England Patriots? Rest assured, even if Garoppolo doesn’t play a down this year, he will be brought up as an answer for the Browns again next year.

So when elements in the media discuss the idea that the Browns need to see Kizer, what they are really mean is they want to see Kizer, because it’s the easy story. It has nothing to do with what is best for the Browns, but rather what is best for them. And if Kizer is awful, gets injured or anything else that destroys his longterm viability, the same people who said the Browns needed to see Kizer, can turn around and kill the Browns for that decision.

Maybe Kizer is a revelation in training camp and the preseason and forces his way on the field after spending time learning from Tom House. It’s not likely, but if it’s going to happen, it won’t be due to what he did in OTAs or minicamp followed by a six-week break from the team. It’s going to be in what’s ahead, when the pads are on and the team is actually preparing for Week 1 against the Steelers.

Upon drafting Kizer, the front office said there was no pressure to start early. Quarterbacks coach David Lee has said Kizer is talented, but has a long way to go. Kizer himself has basically conceded on multiple occasions he’s not ready.

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Alone, those factors suggest the Browns knew what they were getting themselves into and have a longer term vision for Kizer. Of course, people can believe the story being put out there that Kizer is being fast tracked based on minicamps, coming from the same places as so many of those Jimmy Garoppolo rumors, but remind me — what team does Garoppolo play for again?

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