I think I know who Browns head coach Hue Jackson will announce as his starting quarterback on Wednesday.

 

Because of what he’s said and hasn’t said and what he has intimated and hasn’t intimated in the hundreds and hundreds of questions he’s answered about the quarterback situation ever since last season ended, and because what he has done in practices and the two preseason games, especially the one on Monday night against the New York Giants, I think Jackson has pretty clearly laid his cards on the table for all to see. He just needs to confirm that he’s picking rookie DeShone Kizer.

 

I may be totally wrong – it sure wouldn’t be the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, either – but I just think pretty strongly that it’s going to be the second-round pick in the NFL Draft starting Saturday night’s game at Tampa Bay. And Jackson said the guy who starts against the Bucs will also start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season opener on Sept. 10 in Cleveland.

 

But this much I do know: If the decision were up to me, I would pick Kizer. It wouldn’t be an easy decision, but it would be a firm one.

 

Why?

 

Because Brock Osweiler doesn’t wow me. There’s nothing about him that’s special. The experience factor? Yes, he’s experienced, but he’s not a factor in the success of this team — now or down the road. He is what he is at this point of his career, and he’s not going to get any better. So if you don’t like him today, you’re going to like him even less tomorrow. That’s because in this league, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. There’s no standing still.

 

Kizer, on the other hand, is just scratching the surface of who he is and what he can become. He can – and will – get better. He has shown flashes of the future, and it looks pretty impressive.

 

The fact he’s a rookie is something that will have to be worked through, but I think – no, I am certain – that Jackson can do it. With his ability to understand quarterbacks and offenses to the max, he can devise a game plan for Pittsburgh – and plans for the games to follow – that will allow Kizer to be productive while at the same time protecting him.

 

Let’s wait and see how it plays out Wednesday, which, depending on how the announcement goes, may well turn out to be seminal moment in the history of the expansion-era Browns.