The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Preseason game puts Kizer in the spotlight
Another quarterback era is beginning for the Browns, another hope that could light the way to a brighter future for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1994 or flame out like a candle in a monsoon.
Rookie DeShone Kizer will start against the Buccaneers on Aug. 26 in the third preseason game and, unless he is embarrassingly bad, will be named the starter for the season opener Sept. 10 against the Steelers. He would be the 15th different quarterback to open the season for the Browns since 1999, but, surprisingly, only the second rookie to get the call. The other was Brandon Weeden in 2012.
Brock Osweiler started the first two preseason games and did not play well enough to hold onto the job. Now that Osweiler is fading like an old photograph, Kizer is taking charge.
“I see an uptick in (Kizer) making sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted,” Coach Hue Jackson said on Aug. 24.
“He had a really good practice today. Yesterday, I think he was different. I think he was on a new form and walking in the huddle for the first time as being the leader of the group. I’m sure that’s overwhelming for anybody, but today, he acted like the DeShone I know and took the bull by the horns and had a heck of a practice.”
Playing time will be fluid, but Jackson wants Kizer and the rest of the starters to play through the first half. Whether their night lasts longer depends on how many plays they get through the first two quarters.
One thing is certain; Kizer’s night will end when Jackson deems the other starters have played long enough. No longer will Kizer have to duck and run behind a rag-tag offensive line, or throw to receivers that on Sept. 2 will be swept out to sea in a tidal wave of roster cuts.
“He’s going to play with his unit,” Jackson said. “If things are going well, we’ll take him out. If not, then we’ll let him play a little bit longer. That’s probably the fun part for me about it. I get to make the call on that after halftime. If we need to play more, we will, and if we don’t, we won’t.”
Kizer won’t have his complete starting offensive line in front of him until the opener because left guard
Joel Bitonio is still out with a knee injury, but left tackle Joe Thomas is playing for the first time this preseason.
Kizer was sacked five times in about 3½ quarters in the first three preseason games. That projects to being sacked more than 80 times in a 16-game schedule.
“Starting as a rookie in the NFL at any position is very challenging,” said Thomas, who last week said he thought Osweiler was being groomed to start the
regular season. “The difference in speed and quickness and scheme from college is vast, but when you talk about a quarterback, that’s even more difficult because of the complexity of the position, but with that being said, we have the right man for the job.
“You look at what Hue Jackson’s done with young and rookie quarterbacks in his career — he’s just the man to do it. What he did with (Ravens QB Joe)
Flacco in his rookie year and I think (Bengals QB Andy) Dalton his second year is really impressive. If ever there was a great team of rookie quarterback and coach, it would be DeShone and Hue.”
Quarterback is all but settled in Jackson’s mind, but backup jobs at wide receiver and the secondary remain unresolved. The game against the Bucs is the last real chance for Jackson and Sashi Brown, executive vice president of football operations, to make decisions on those jobs because the fourth preseason game Aug. 31 in Chicago will be played by backups.
“I think just the pecking order at receiver (after starters Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman has to be settled),” Jackson said. “Looking at our secondary, who will be the backups to the guys who are starters?
“I think the rotation of the defensive line, how that happens and how that works (has to be decided). We have a new body in here that we need to see in (defensive lineman) Brandon Thompson. And then how’s the tight end situation going to unfold? It was good to see David (Njoku) play last week, but that was new for David. That was his first time so he needs to take a jump this week as we play down in Tampa.”
Jackson also said he hasn’t solidified his choice for kicker between Cody Parkey and rookie Zane Gonzalez.