After the Browns selected quarterback DeShone Kizer in the second round of the draft, coach Hue Jackson said that Kizer will come in and compete with the team’s other quarterbacks for the starting job.
That’s what you would expect when the other options are Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and Kevin Hogan, but the team is also trying to make sure that Kizer isn’t coming in with the presumption that he’ll wind up as the starter. During an interview on 92.3 The Fan with Ken Carman and Anthony Lima, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown said the team would “ideally” give Kizer some time to acclimate to the NFL and not “feel that pressure” to move right into the No. 1 job.
“He’s a young man and he’s going to have a long time that he’s with us and in this league and if things go the way I’m sure he’s planning on it and the way we hope it goes, we don’t have to rush it,” Brown said.
As the Browns know as well as anyone in the NFL, ideal situations don’t always present themselves when it comes to quarterbacks. Kizer’s timeline is ultimately going to be based on how he develops, how the team’s other quarterbacks fare and other factors including injuries, any of which may lead the Browns to rethink their plans at quarterback.