I can’t say I was the biggest fan of DeShone Kizer coming out of school but my goodness, the Cleveland Browns may have set an NFL record in breaking their first round draft pick. From nearly the beginning, Hue Jackson and the organization have made it clear they have no plan or confidence in Kizer. Running back Duke Johnson essentially confirmed that today, saying Kizer’s “confidence is probably shot.”
From Mary Kay Cabot.
#Browns Duke Johnson acknowledged that DeShone Kizer’s “confidence is probably shot” but it’s up to friends, family and teammates to help him keep his head up
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) December 20, 2017
This tweet from Sharp Football sums up the mess it’s been.
It hasn’t been much better recently. Jackson openly mused about benching Kizer – again – after this week’s game but ultimately decided against it. Through 13 games, Kizer has tossed only nine touchdowns to a league-leading 19 interceptions while completing 54% of his passes. Only twice this year has he tossed more than one score but has thrown that many picks in six games, including a pair in a 27-10 loss last weekend to Baltimore.
Probably the biggest kick to Kizer’s confidence was when the Browns tried – and failed – to trade for A.J. McCarron at the deadline. The deal was agreed to and botched in a public mess, a clear sign though the team already wanted to move on from Kizer.
The front office has been cleaned out and Jackson is likely to stay for 2018. So it sounds like the Browns will take another crack at this whole quarterback thing and *hope* to get it right this time around. But if they handle things like they have handled Kizer, they’re going to have to keep on waiting to find the man who will turn around their franchise. Maybe that could’ve been Kizer. Too bad Cleveland didn’t know what they were doing to find out.
