All eyes are on DeShone Kizer.
Well, not all, really, just most.
The Browns coaches and fans and the media will certainly be eyeing him as he tries to navigate the often dangerous waters as a rookie starting quarterback in the NFL, beginning with Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Indeed, the plan is to let Kizer play, learn and develop, feeding him a little – or a lot – at a time, however much he can grasp, however fast he can grasp it.
That’s for head coach Hue Jackson, the quarterback whisperer, and quarterbacks coach David Lee, who has been coaching the position in one form or another for 42 years, to do.
The Browns think they might have found their franchise quarterback, with “think” and “might” being the operative words. The Browns aren’t sure, though. No one is, or could be. He hasn’t played a game that counts yet.
Only time – hopefully a whole season, which means he will have likely been both successful and, of course, healthy – will tell if he’s the real deal, or just an illusion.
In the meantime, though, the Browns, as an organization, can’t sit still and lay all of their chips on Kizer. They have to take the approach of a worst-case scenario and assume he won’t make it, so their scouts will be honing in on all the top quarterback prospects in college this season in case they need to use one of their two first-round picks, or one of their five choices in the first two rounds overall, in the 2018 NFL Draft to try again to get their man.
With that, then, the Cleveland scouts were obviously taking special notice of the performance UCLA’s Josh Rosen had in last Sunday night’s 45-44 comeback victory over Texas A&M in the teams’ season opener.
Rosen wasn’t just good. He was off the-charts sensational, completing 35-of-59 passes for 491 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 10-yard fade to the back left corner of the end zone with 43 seconds left – on a play in which he faked a spike to freeze some of the Aggies defensive players, no less. Down 44-10 late in the third quarter, the Bruins scored 35 unanswered points in 17 minutes, the largest comeback in college football in 11 years, to rally for the improbable triumph. He was 19-of-26 for 292 yards and all four TDs in the fourth quarter alone.
Indeed, you had to see it to believe it, and even then it was still hard to grasp.
Yes, Rosen is a great player. He came to UCLA as a five-star recruit, and that was a five-star effort.
And yes, he has had his share of off-the-field problems.
So, is him being a knucklehead at times more pronounced than his ability to make big passes on a big stage? Or does his talent make drafting him worth it?
Possibly the Browns – and other teams that will end this season as being quarterback-needy – will have to determine that.
Stay tuned.
