The Cleveland Browns have young options at quarterback, but it remains to be seen if any can be good enough to be the franchise passer the team has long been seeking.
As training camp opens for the Cleveland Browns, the team is having an open quarterback competition between Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and rookie DeShone Kizer. Kessler is technically at the top of the depth chart to open camp, but that’s as much of a commitment as Hue Jackson has been willing to make to this point.
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Beyond the quarterbacks themselves, much of what needs to happen through training camp and the start of the season is about the rest of the offense and creating a situation where the starter is put in a position to succeed.
Jackson has talked a lot about establishing a running game and following through this year. Even though they had an effective, albeit underutilized, running game last year, the team opted to make investments to make it better in 2017. Signing J.C. Tretter and Kevin Zeitler to strengthen the interior of the offensive while also locking up Joel Bitionio, so the team has a unit that should be together for several years.
Running the ball and staying on schedule would make a tremendous difference for the quarterback. Instead of consistently being in third-and-long situations, creating manageable situations, third-and-5, third-and-3 as examples, would take them out of obvious passing situations, making the defense have to play more honestly. Being able to potentially run the ball on third down would help protect the quarterback and open up some opportunities in the passing game.
Along with that, the hope is the team will utilize more playaction passing concepts as well as the screen game. If the defense has to be honest to the run, they can’t pin their ears back and try to kill the quarterback. Likewise, the screen game can keep them a little off balance in how they rush the passer.
These are all areas where the coaching staff and rest of the team can take some of the pressure off of the quarterback. Rather than relying on the quarterback to be the focal point of the offense, it becomes about all of these other developing pieces and the quarterback is just little bonus that occasionally comes through with a big play.
When it comes to the quarterbacks themselves, it’s about development and finding where they can win. So if they find themselves in the game, the offense doesn’t have stall out due to their struggles, hurting the entire unit’s development.
For Kessler, it’s about growing from his rookie year and adding more to his game. Osweiler is coming to the Browns as a quarterback scorned with the opportunity to try to change the course of his career. Kizer is a rookie and just needs to show he’s willing to put in the work to be an NFL quarterback and get himself up to speed on the offense, so he can really improve issues he has coming out of college. Lastly, Kevin Hogan has to be more than just a runner and actually be a threat to pass.
Cody Kessler
Kessler enters Year 2 of his career and will have the most experience within Jackson’s offensive system. Last year, he held onto the ball too long, was hesitant with decisions, didn’t see the deep part of the field very well and his arm strength was downright bad when he couldn’t throw with perfect mechanics.
Now, what Kessler has going for him is the fact that he is accurate and he protects the football. His numbers last year look good, but his on field performance wasn’t nearly as impressive. In essence, Kessler would complete a high percentage of passes, but too often they wouldn’t go anywhere and the Browns would end up punting. Offenses he led limited mistakes, but simply didn’t score points.
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In the offseason, Kessler put in a ton of work to strengthen his body and his arm. Early reports have him with a much better deep ball, but that’s not what really matters when the pads come on. Yes, Kessler being able to stretch the field would help him keep defenses honest and that’s important.
The far greater concern is when Kessler has to make throws outside the hashes or in the middle of the field. When his mechanics aren’t picture perfect, will he have the necessary zip to get the ball there before defenders can get there or will he have the same lollipops as he often did last year? That, more than anything else, is the big thing to keep an eye on through training camp and the preseason.
Whether it was at USC or as a rookie, the longer Kessler holds onto the ball, the worse he gets. If Kessler can be more confident in the offense and be more decisive, getting rid of the ball quicker, adding in better zip on his passes, he can make a leap in Year 2.
Simply taking his numbers from his rookie year and adding those improvements, drives should be extended and the Browns should end up with more points. That is not to say he would be the franchise quarterback the Browns are looking for, but he’d at least be a facilitator. And that’s what he was at USC. Kessler put up great numbers and much of it was simply getting the ball to his playmakers and letting them do the work. That’s what the Browns need from him in his second year.
Brock Osweiler
In a lot of ways, Osweiler and Deshone Kizer have a good amount in common. Osweiler is obviously with his third team in what is still a young NFL career. He’s still just 26. Osweiler has experience, having played 36 games, making him the veteran of the quarterback room.
He’s enormous, he’s got a big arm, is reasonably mobile and he looks the part of a quarterback. From accuracy to decision making to reading defenses, Osweiler has shown substantial struggles and while he is young, there is reason to wonder if this is simply who he is as a quarterback.
Catering to Osweiler would suggest that the offense will need to be a little bit more streamlined to shrink the field so he doesn’t have to read the entire defense, has less options to throw the ball, making it easier for him to make good decisions. The hope is that with good scouting, the coaching staff can put him in good position to reduce mistakes and make more plays.
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It’s difficult to ignore how Osweiler was obtained. When the Browns traded the Houston Texans for Osweiler, they were far more excited about the intangible concept of a second round draft pick than they were an actual player in Osweiler. That was followed up by the Browns pretty publicly saying they would happily eat a large portion of Osweiler’s $16 million cap figure if a team would give them a draft pick for them.
Both Osweiler and the Browns have put a happy face on the situation with Osweiler saying he’s happy to be here and learning from Jackson while the Browns are saying he’s in the mix to be the starting quarterback. What might work against Osweiler the most is the fact he and Kizer are similar and if Kizer makes up ground in training camp, Osweiler becomes more and more disposable.
DeShone Kizer
So much of the Kizer conversation comes down to what a person believes was the motivation in selecting him in the 2017 NFL Draft. Chances are, their perspective is determined by whether they believed the Browns took him 52nd overall because they believe he is a franchise quarterback that needs time to develop, or if he was simply a bite at the proverbial quarterback apple, as one of 10 picks in a draft class, not unlike Kessler the year before.
Kizer was an extremely promising as a redshirt freshman at Notre Dame with many people projecting him to be a top quarterback prospect in the future. The problem for Kizer is he didn’t improve at all as a sophomore and no longer having the shield of being “good for a freshman”, the warts were obvious and numerous. Looking back, his college career was mediocre at best.
Like Osweiler, Kizer is big, mobile, and has an incredibly strong arm. The problem is that like Osweiler, Kizer’s accuracy is inconsistent to be kind and his decision making is poor. On top of that, Kizer also holds onto the ball too long, processes slowly, and has bad footwork. The good news — if there’s good news — is that Kizer is still just 21 years old. So, if he’s willing to put in the work, there’s time to do it.
Some of Kizer’s issues can be corrected relatively quickly, while others will take a lot of time. His footwork is a good example. Kizer has been a long strider as a passer, which is not only slow but also impacts his accuracy. That is an ingrained habit, so he’s got to unlearn that habit before he can learn a new one. This is so much easier said than done.
If Kizer has time to think about it, he can likely take proper footwork. But in a game like football, it’s got to become instinctual. What is he going to do when the pressure is on and grown men are trying to kill him? Likely revert to the long stride, which is wrong. This process takes thousands upon thousands of reps to master and it’s unrealistic to fix that in the 2017 season. Meanwhile, some of the other issues might be reduced or hidden by how Jackson works the offense around him.
Given that Kizer was a mediocre college quarterback, it’s not realistic to expect him to be better as a rookie in the NFL. Going against teams like Army and Stanford to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens and expecting improvement is the stuff of fairy tales. If Kizer’s going to succeed, it’s going to down the road, in year two, year three and so on when he’s had the time to master the offense and hopefully correct some of the issues he’s had coming out of college, so he can be confident and effective.
Kevin Hogan
It’s pretty incredible to think that Hogan actually played for the Browns. He threw for 104 yards and ran for 105. Hogan was a far more dynamic runner than he was as a passer. He’s got pretty good size and athleticism that make him a legitimate threat as a runner. As a passer, he’s a mess. His throwing motion takes an eternity to complete and when the ball comes out of his hand, it’s not anything special. Hogan is a wildcat quarterback, except he’s supposed to be a full service quarterback.
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Hogan was likely brought in at the urging of Pep Hamilton, the Browns passing game coordinator last year. Hamilton coached Hogan when both were at Stanford. Now, with Hamilton gone, Hogan still remains, but much as he was last year, he’s more of a camp arm than a legitimate threat to make the roster.
The Browns weren’t trying to have Hogan on their roster last year, signing him to the practice squad, but injuries forced them to summon all hands on deck, which included Hogan. It’s possible Hogan could end up back on the practice squad if a better option doesn’t come available on waivers.
From the practice squad, Hogan could potentially work on improving some of his issues like his glacial throwing motion. He’s got the size and obviously has athleticism, so if he can develop as a passer, he might become a viable backup.
What I think will happen
I believe Cody Kessler is ultimately going to win the starting quarterback job. It comes down to three things. Kessler has the most experience in Hue Jackson’s offensive system, he’s the most accurate and he will protect the football. With an offense that is focused on running the ball, having a quarterback who makes the right plays and avoids turnovers will be important.
The Browns are hoping to have an improved defense, but they want to avoid having them on the field all game. Using the run to shorten the game and hopefully keep drives alive, if the quarterback can avoid the big mistakes, they could find themselves in a lot of close games in the fourth quarter with the chance to win.
The team is saying so much great stuff about Osweiler that it just comes off like they are still trying to get another team to buy in enough to come in and trade for him. Chief among these was the idea that Osweiler was unfairly called difficult in Houston and that it was really Bill O’Brien at the root of the problem. Maybe he was, but that just seems desperate.
There will undoubtedly be highlights of Osweiler making huge throws in training camp with members of the media talking about how good he looks. The same media also thought Brandon Weeden was great in training camp because of those same qualities. It’s just incredibly difficult to believe that a team begging for a team to trade when they got Osweiler is now enamored with the him.
Kizer should not see the field this year in the regular season. As is often the case with the Browns, injuries may force him onto the field, as with countless other rookies in the past, but it’s a recipe for disaster. Kizer struggled in college last year, so the idea that he’s going to come in and play well isn’t remotely logical. Beyond that, the idea that Kizer is supposed to come in and make a compelling argument for the Browns to pass on a quarterback in 2018 is not realistic.
Kizer as a rookie should be virtually unrecognizable to Kizer in his second or third year, so anything he would do this year comes as a bit disingenuous. The argument that experience will be good for him sounds good, except many of the issues Kizer is facing make him pretty unqualified to see regular season action at this juncture and a few weeks or months aren’t likely to fix that.
With the Browns likely facing a season where they again lose ten or more games, they are going to have a pick in or just outside the top 10 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. Nothing Kizer does this year is going to impact their decision on whether to take a quarterback.
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The front office and head coach have made it clear the Browns are going to keep attacking the quarterback position every year until they have a franchise passer. If they love a quarterback and can either maneuver to get them or just select them, Kizer isn’t going to stop them. He will then be in a competition next year likely with this rookie and Kessler for the job.
If the Browns keep Osweiler, Kessler is the starter, Osweiler the backup and Kizer the third string with Hogan to the practice squad or replaced. Should they be able to deal Osweiler, they should then look to find a veteran they can sign to keep Kizer the third string, be it someone like Colin Kaepernick, someone on the waiver wire or even bringing back Robert Griffin III. Maybe this can be the first year since 2008 where the Browns were able to keep a quarterback uninjured the entire season and the decision can be made on merit as opposed to necessity. That in itself would be a positive step.