Decided to take a look at DeShone Kizer's peer group, which is a pretty slim sample. Of post-merger QBs to start as rookies and who will be 21 at the end of the season, you have: Jameis Winston, Drew Bledsoe, Matt Stafford, Josh Freeman, DeShone Kizer, and Tommy Maddox. Only Bledsoe and Stafford would be younger at the end of their seasons. Winston: 16 games, 16 starts | 58.3% | 4,042 yards | 22 TDs, 4.1% | 15 INTs, 2.8% |27 sacks, 4.8% | 84.2 rating Bledsoe: 13 games, 12 starts | 49.9% | 2,494 yards | 15 TDs, 3.5% | 15 INTs, 3.5% | 16 sacks, 3.6% | 65.0 rating Stafford: 10 games, 10 starts | 53.3% | 2,267 yards | 13 TDs, 3.4% | 20 INTs, 5.3% | 24 sacks, 6.7% | 61.0 rating Freeman: 10 games, 9 starts | 54.5% | 1,855 yards | 10 TDs, 3.4% | 18 INTs, 6.2% | 20 sacks, 6.5% | 59.8 rating Kizer: 10 games, 10 starts | 53.0% | 1,823 yards | 5 TDs, 1.6% | 14 INTs, 4.5% | 24 sacks, 7.1% | 57.2 rating Maddox: 13 games, 4 starts | 54.6%% | 757 yards | 5 TDs, 4.1% | 9 INTs, 7.4% | 10 sacks, 7.6% | 56.4 rating All but Kizer were first round picks, three being the first overall pick. Interesting to note that if not for the huge discrepancy in TD ratio, Kizer and Stafford look very similar. I would think it'd be hard to find anyone to argue that a third year Calvin Johnson didn't have an impact on that TD number.
So what I got out of this is that you think Kizer is as good as Matthew Stafford, just missing a Calvin Johnson...
Kizer has shown slight improvement. Still say he needs to run it.. It seems our offense is at it's best when he tucks it and takes off a couple times...There is some "Cam Newton" in Kizer's game, but he needs to use it more....No doubt Megatron helped Stafford along. We don't have that for Kizer, but he does have some weapons now, assuming reports on Gordon are accurate, I really like the look of Coleman, Gordon, Njoku, Duke J. and DeValve....If Kizer can step up, we should be able to put points on the board at will. I'm expecting Kizer to continue to improve, and maybe get us a W before this thing is over. I think we have enough to avoid 0-16 now...At least I sure hope so.
A better comp is probably Josh Freeman since Freeman was able to use his legs to make plays happen in the running game and had a similar supporting cast as Kizer's.
Except he didn't start until week 9 after their bye... He went 3-6 after a 0-7 start to the season...Kizer is showing signs and could still possibly earn his future on this team. He will have to do a hellluva lot these last 5 games though to trash plans of upgrading for 2018.
Kizer wasn't great last Sunday but he didn't kill us either. That was the first time I thought DK played well enough for this team to pull out a win. The Coleman drop and the kicking blunders weren't on him. Nor was the lousy defense we displayed all day.....I'll be surprised if we keep it that close this week. If Dalton and the Bengals went right through us at will like that, I hate to think of what Phillip Rivers will do. Keenan Allen seems to be unguardable lately, and I'm concerned about Hunter Henry as well. The match-ups don't look good for us...The way things have been trending with the Chargers lately, this game could get out of hand. I'm sure they haven't forgotten the lump of coal they received in Cleveland last Christmas eve....
Even if the Browns go 5-0 in their final games, channeling a "Mangini Miracle", I don't think there's a situation in which we don't take a QB with one of our first round picks. Browns were obviously in the position to take the top signal caller last season but the crop wasn't as promising and Myles Garrett was a generational talent. They should be in the same position again this season and taking a running back - Barkley is arguably the only other better player/pick at No. 1 - is a hard sell on a much more well-thought of QB class. It doesn't mean that Kizer's done. In fact, barring the signing of a veteran QB, I would expect him to start and play most of 2018 until he struggles or the rookie is ready.
This is why I can't understand folks not calling for the coaching staff to be replaced. This team has not learned how to win football games. In two of Kizer's strongest games (Detroit, Cincinnati), the defense lays an egg. In his third (Steelers), the special teams cost a score. The coaches have not put together a full game in all facets of the game in 11 tries.
I couldn't agree more SAS...I just heard Paul Finebaum on the radio, and he thinks the Browns will go all in on Nick Saban, successfully luring him away from Bama, and back into the NFL...I'd take that in a heartbeat over our current coaching situation.
Wow... that'd be a pretty serious get. A guy like Saban is going to command not only the highest salary, but also most authority of any head coach in the NFL, meaning Hue and the F/O are most likely gone.
After the Chargers, we have Packers, Ravens, Bears and our traditional finish with the Steelers. -Our best bet at a win might be in Pittsburgh, if that game is meaningless to the Steelers and they bench all the starters. That was the scenario last year, in a game that any coach other than Hue would have won, yet somehow we found a way to lose... -Second best chance is the home game against Brett Hundley and Green Bay, followed closely by our Christmas Eve game in Chicago... Most people don't think the Browns have any shot at avoiding 0-16 at this point...Hopefully that's motivation enough for this team to get off the mat... I always liked the Raiders slogan; JUST WIN BABY!.....The Browns slogan should say: Just win a game!
Heard this second-hand, but during the Steeler's night game's broadcast, they discussed the possibility of the Browns being 0-15 leading up to that Steelers game and whether or not the Steelers would rest their starters. The consensus is that they'd play them to keep the Browns 0-16. Thought that one myself until Hundley started coming on in that last game. Only chance for a win. Hue Jackson is 2-30 in his last 32 games - both wins coming on Christmas Eve.
