Browns hand Hogan keys to their offense
Second-year QB will replace struggling Kizer after 0-5 start.
CLEVELAND — Kevin Hogan has been the hero in three games this season, and now he’ll have a chance to rescue the Browns from their 0-5 spiral.
“I’ve made the decision to start Kevin this week,” coach Hue Jackson announced in a release Wednesday morning. “We’ve liked what Kevin has been able to do within our offense when he’s been in there and he will start on Sunday because that’s what we feel is best for our team at this point in time.”
He reiterated he still believes in rookie DeShone Kizer, who went 0-5 and tumbled to the bottom of the NFL with a 49.5 rating.
“This does not change the way we feel about DeShone going forward,” Jackson said. “He’s worked extremely hard and still very much has a bright future. Right now, it’s better for him and his development to back up Kevin.”
An afterthought in the Browns’ three-way quar- terback competition during camp, Hogan will replace the rookie for at least Sunday’s game in Houston, where he’ll go against redhot rookie Deshaun Watson, whom the Browns passed on at No. 12 overall in the draft. He’ll also likely be the quarterback for the foreseeable future.
He becomes the 28th starting quarterback for the Browns since their return in 1999. Jackson gave every indication after Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Jets, in which he benched Kizer at half- time, that Hogan would be his new man.
“He understands the system,” Jackson said after the loss, which dropped him to 1-20 in his second season. “The ball comes out (quicker). Let’s not com- pare him to DeShone. We’re talking about a guy who’s a rookie who I think still has great promise and didn’t play as well today.
have a backup quar- terback who came in and did what his job was — to play and give the team the best opportunity. I thought Kevin did some good things.”
Hogan, who will make his first NFL start, also drew praise from left tackle Joe Thomas, who’s blocked for 19 of those starting quarterbacks already.
“He just keeps getting better and better and better and keeps showing that even though maybe he wasn’t a high draft pick that when he gets the opportunity he makes the most of it,” said Thomas. “He throws the ball to the right guy, on time, on target. He does a good job with getting us in the right protections on the right guys in the pass game.
“He gets out of bad runs when they have a bad look on defense for us. So I think the confidence of the coach- ing staff just keeps growing when he’s out there and that’s why I think he just keeps moving up.”
Originally a fifth-round draft pick of the Chiefs out of Stanford, Hogan has replaced Kiz e r in three games this season and has produced all of the Browns’ points in each of those three games: 10 in Baltimore when Kizer came out for awhile with a m igraine, seven against the Bengals to avoid a shutout in the fourth quar- ter, and 14 in Sunday’s loss to the Jets.
In each of his three appearances, he’s produced a touchdown on his first drive — the kind of quick start the Browns sorely need — and he’s generated 31 points in his 10 series of play, including four touchdowns.
“I’m very confident,” he said after the Jets game. “I’m a very confident person. If you do your job in preparation and leading up to the game, then you do not let things surprise you. I’m big with visualization. I play the game before the game starts. That’s something I’ve been doing since back in college.
“Last year, I got to play a little bit, but I didn’t really understand the system. I was still kind of learning. Then having gone through the offseason and camp, I really feel like I am learn- ing the system the way that coach wants it to be run. Those guys made plays for me. I was just going through my reads and making sure that I was throwing catchable balls, and guys went out and made plays.”
Hogan is also completing passes at NFL starting-caliber rate of 68.4 percent compared to Kizer’s 50.9. He’s completed 26 of 38 attempts for 377 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a 104.8 rat- ing. His interception against the Jets came when line- backer Demario Davis was hitting him upon release. The errant ball went off Ricardo Louis’ hand.