Browns

Browns Name DeShone Kizer Starting QB For Week 7

October 18, 2017

The Cleveland Browns officially announced Wednesday that DeShone Kizer will return as the team’s starting quarterback in Week 7.

This has been the expectation for the past few days, so the news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, especially after things didn’t go well for Kevin Hogan last weekend.

On Monday, Browns HC Hue Jackson told reporters that he thought it was a “good experience” for Kizer to watch from the sideline this past weekend.

“I think when you see some of the things that have happened to you in games and you can see it happening with somebody else that hurts your football team, you understand … the turnovers are putting the team at risk,” Jackson said. “When there is a chance, an opportunity to score points and here comes a turnover coming the other way, when sometimes the accuracy – you miss a ball, you throw it a little high or a little low or whatever all those things are – that it stops drives, and it doesn’t give your offensive football team the best opportunity to have success.

“I think seeing some of the re-protection ID things that came up a little bit yesterday was very eye-opening to him, and I think it was a good experience for him.”

Kizer has really struggled this year, but it makes sense for the Browns to continue giving him an opportunity so they can determine whether he has a shot to be their long-term solution at quarterback or if they should draft another prospect next year.

Kizer, 21, was selected with the No. 52 overall pick by the Browns. Some felt that Kizer has first-round ability and the highest ceiling of any of this year’s quarterback prospects, but he was coming off of a disappointing college season and struggled with consistency, which led to him falling to the Browns in round two.

According to OverTheCap.com, Kizer signed a four-year contract worth $4,498,412, which includes a signing bonus of $1,738,844.

In 2017, Kizer has appeared in six games and thrown for 965 yards while completing 52 percent of his passes to go along with three touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He has also rushed for 126 yards and touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 34 quarterback out of 34 qualifying players.