The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Jury still out on Kizer as the season winds down
Five games remain on the Browns’ schedule, and the question that has hung over Berea like a storm cloud since the season began is still there — Is DeShone Kizer the quarterback to lead the Browns when they start winning, or do they need someone else?
Since the Browns, 0-11, are in position to have the first pick in the 2018 draft, the answer could shape the path the team follows for the next 10 years.
Kizer looked like a big-time quarterback in the 30-16 loss to the Bengals on Nov. 26. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 268 yards, ran nine times for 39 yards and a touchdown and did not turn the ball over.
Two weeks earlier he passed for 232 yards, one touchdown and one late interception thrown in desperation in the game against the Lions. It was his best game up to that point. He was better against the Bengals.
In between, though, Kizer turned the ball over four times in a 19-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I think (Kizer) bounced back from a game that he didn’t play as well the week before. That’s what you look for. Can you go on the road and play better?” — Browns coach Hue Jackson
No one knows who will be picking players for the Browns in the next draft. Sashi Brown will have that task if nothing changes. If team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam do the right thing, they will hire someone more competent to make those selections.
“I think (Kizer) bounced back from a game that he didn’t play as well the week before,” Coach Hue Jackson said on Nov. 27. “That’s what you look for. Can you go on the road and play better?
“That last game was here at home against a good defense. I think Cincinnati does have a good defense. He went out and protected the ball, put us in situations where we had chances to make some plays and did some good things.”
Wide receiver Josh Gordon will play his first game in nearly three years on Dec. 3 when the Browns play the Chargers in Los Angeles. Gordon, Corey Coleman and tight end David Njoku plus running back Duke Johnson give Kizer four legitimate targets.
The arrow is pointing up for Kizer despite the Jacksonville game. Jackson said the rookie is developing better touch on his passes; Kizer earlier in the season made every throw look like a Nolan Ryan fastball.
“I think that Jacksonville game obviously was not the direction we had planned for myself, but now, I’m back on the path,” Kizer said. “Now, it’s about taking that to the next step and adding Josh to this equation and doing whatever we can to get ourselves some wins.”
Kizer’s 14 picks are the most in the NFL this season. His passer rating of 57.2 is the lowest in the league. Those numbers might make whoever runs the 2018 draft want to use the first pick on Josh Rosen from UCLA or some other quarterback.
Kizer has developed as a leader. Leadership is impossible to measure with numbers. Telling players on a 0-11 team, “Follow me” seems like a difficult task. Kizer sees it a different way.
“I think that it actually makes it easier because there are a lot of guys who are looking for someone,” Kizer said. “When your position naturally puts you in a place where you can lead, they’re going to respond a little easier than if you were in a position where you’ve always been winning and always had success because everyone kind of knows what they have to do to contribute to that success.
“When you’re not winning, I think that now all eyes go on that quarterback position. With the help of Coach Jackson and (quarterbacks) Coach (David) Lee and the other two quarterbacks in the room, I think I’ve been able to take over that role quite nicely and look forward to continuing to develop in that leadership spot.”
Jackson has repeatedly said he believes Kizer can be a franchise quarterback. Kizer has five more chances to prove to someone who in late April will have more authority in the draft that Jackson is correct.