DeShone Kizer’s Mission Impossible: Save the Cleveland Browns
DeShone Kizer’s play will determine what the Cleveland Browns do this offseason. With that said, he’s got to play well to keep the Browns on the right path.
DeShone Kizer‘s mission, of which he really has no choice to accept, is to save the Cleveland Browns. Easy-Peasy, right! Ha!
Now, you might understand this to believe Kizer needs to turn the Browns into perennial winners who annually feed a Vince Lombardi trophy to its fan base.
If only.
Kizer has one job the last seven weeks of the season: Stabilize the quarterback position so the franchise doesn’t do anything crazy, like go out and bring in Tyrod Taylor, who was so bad this season, BUFFALO benched him–or give A.J. McCarron big money to be a franchise saving quarterback.
There’s also the right now. Kizer gives the Browns their best chance to win. Cody Kessler looked like he was fresh off a Pop Warner roster when pressed into duty against the Lions in Week 10.
The stats aren’t good. Kizer’s completion percentage is the lowest in the NFL. His decision making is questionable. Browns fans are still having aneurysms over his decision to attempt a streak 2 yards away from the goal line.
There’s nothing else to takeaway from that moment except that Kizer’s 21 years old. The Browns will be two gams in a row this season. A big part of throwing Kizer to the Wolves now is so that he can learn from his mistakes.
After all, the tools are there. How can you not be impressed with his size, arm and durability. Additionally, the kids got guts. When’s the last time the Browns had a quarterback come back into a game following an injury only to take back the lead?
Granted, the Browns lost by two scores, but even in the abyss, any light serves as a shot of hope.
Big-time weapons finally return to the Browns’ lineup this week. Corey Coleman is a former first-round pick. He hasn’t been on the field enough to show it, but he’s got to be great.
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Additionally, Josh Gordon should make an immediate impact. If he’s not the best receiver the Browns have, then Cleveland’s in trouble. Yes, this is unfair to Gordon, but this is the state of the Browns receiving corps.
A good showing from Kizer in final two months shouldn’t preclude the Browns from taking a quarterback in the draft. I prefer Josh Rosen, for what it’s worth. This organization is the place quarterbacks come to die, and Kizer can start the fight to change that movement.
He’s been benched three times and his team has tried to trade for other quarterbacks. His development has been impaired significantly, but Kizer’s still leading the charge, and is coming off the best game of the season.
A good showing from Kizer for the remainder of the season means the Notre Dame product can go into the 2018 season as the starter, and he’ll be good enough to hold off a rookie quarterback from winning the job. The Browns also need a veteran, but the right kind of veteran. Someone interested in teaching nuances on and off the field, not angling to knock the young player from h is QB1 spot.
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Kizer’s play in the final games will affect how the Browns move forward at the position this offseason, but some good work will hopefully put Cleveland on the path to finally figuring this 25-year-old quarterback conundrum out.