It should be no surprise – absolutely, positively no surprise at all – that Browns head coach Hue Jackson is giving Cody Kessler the first chance to win the starting quarterback job as the spring practices begin.
According to Jackson, who made the announcement on Saturday during the team’s three-day rookie mini camp, the other people vying for the job – Brock Osweiler, Kevin Hogan and rookie DeShone Kizer – are going to have to take the job from Kessler. And Jackson is going to make it very, very – very! — hard for that to happen.
Kessler, who was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft, started exactly half the games – eight – last season, and, like most rookies, did some good things and some not-so-good things.
On the good side, he completed 65.6 percent of his attempts and threw just two interceptions, compiling a quarterback rating of 92.3.
On the bad side, Kessler had only six touchdown passes and really struggled with his downfield passing, as evidenced by the fact that his longest pass completion was only 44 yards.
Overall, though, while he might not have made anyone forget Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Bill Nelsen, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar, Kessler was light years ahead of the other Browns quarterbacks last season. Plus he should be better – perhaps even much better — this season now that he has a year of experience under his belt, he knows Jackson’s offense and he’s had an offseason to get stronger and understand fully what he needs to work on.
Along with that, Jackson wants no part whatsoever of Osweiler (more on that in my next post), Hogan is a long-term project and Kizer, while he may end up being the quarterback of the future and the guy the Browns have been looking for, will not be anywhere close to being ready to start on opening day.
So it’s Kessler – if only by default — for now, and likely for as long as he plays well and can stay healthy.
And really, that’s been apparent for a long time, which is why Jackson’s “news” really wasn’t news at all.
