Cleveland Browns: Evaluating DeShone Kizer in 2017 proving difficult

Armed with a bevy of picks in next year’s draft, the Cleveland Browns could go after a top quarterback. First, though, they have to figure out if they’ll need to.

The Cleveland Browns currently hold two first-round picks and three second-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. If they want to go after one of the top quarterbacks in next year’s draft — possibly Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen — the Browns can. However, the Browns just spent a second-round pick on former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer. If the front office believes he can be a franchise quarterback by year’s end, picking a quarterback high next offseason won’t be a necessity.

Here’s the problem, though. The talent Cleveland has put around Kizer is so bad that it’s going to be incredibly difficult to truly evaluate him. Questionable game plans concocted by head coach Hue Jackson aren’t helping either. Cleveland’s Week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts should leave no doubt about this.

Kizer’s biggest strength isn’t his accuracy. So when he throws a catchable ball, receivers need to hang onto it. On Sunday, multiple receivers dropped catchable passes. Four times, good passes were wiped out by offensive pass interference. That certainly didn’t make life easy on the rookie signal-caller.

One of his three interceptions went right through the receiver’s hands (another was on a Hail Mary). Wideout Kenny Britt admitted the receivers should shoulder the blame as a group, per Doug Lesemerises of Cleveland.com:

"“Today would have gone a lot different if would have went out there and executed every play. So I actually put this game right here on the skill positions, on the wide receivers as a unit.”"

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The Browns should feel good about Kizer’s ability to bring his team within three points after facing a 21-point deficit. However, asking to mount such a comeback when the talent around him is hurting as much as helping him is ridiculous.

It isn’t just the receivers who are hurting Kizer. The Browns have a laughable running game that places even more pressure on him. Isaiah Crowell is supposed to be the team’s workhorse back. He’s averaging 2.9 yards per carry and has just 114 yards through three games. Opponents aren’t going to respect Cleveland’s running game. Instead of daring Kizer to beat them, teams are making sure he can’t.

Jackson isn’t helping either. He’s putting far too much responsibility on Kizer’s shoulders. He essentially abandoned the run in the second half, even though the Browns had two quarters to erase a 14-point deficit. Through three weeks, the Browns have passed 119 times and ran the ball just 67 times. That’s far from a balanced offense.

Now, we have seen some good things from Kizer. He’s made some impressive throws that not every quarterback can make. He seems to have command of the offense and he is doing a good job of making pre-snap reads and adjustments. That’s all encouraging. As far as actual play, though, we just don’t know how good Kizer can be. We know he’s thrown three touchdowns and seven interceptions and that he has a passer rating of just 53.2. That’s not good.

Next: NFL QB Power Rankings 2017: Week 4

How much of Kizer’s struggles are a result of him being an inexperienced rookie? How much is due to the nearly impossible situation he finds himself in with Cleveland? How much is an indication of his NFL ceiling? We don’t know, and trying to sort it by the end of the season with the team Cleveland has in place isn’t going to be easy.