NFL Power Ranking: Sophomore Quarterbacks
By Zack Marji
3: Cody Kessler
A player that may have gone undrafted was scooped in the third round by Hue Jackson and Cleveland Browns. The Cleveland Browns were a dumpster fire in 2016; a revolving door of quarterbacks over the course of the season was caused by significant injuries and poor play of the offensive line.
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Cleveland lead the league in sacks surrendered with 66 and when your defense forces you to throw the ball, quarterbacks go down. But that does not lessen the fact that Cody Kessler couldn’t strike a win for Cleveland in his eight starts. Hue Jackson drafted Kessler with his accuracy in mind.
The potential is there and seen in week six against the Titans when he threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns. But if you look at all his other games (except Miami) the score wasn’t even close, and the offense often looked anemic. Also, in each of his starts, his passer rating was only less than 80 once.
He forces the offense to be limited due to his inability to stretch the field. Kessler threw for more yards, five fewer picks, and more touchdowns than the 2016 first overall pick in roughly the same amount of game time on a worse team.
He may not be the quarterback you want to build a franchise around, but he outperformed Lynch, Goff, and Brissett all while being surrounded by the worst team in the NFL. The Browns may have uncovered a gem in Kessler, but that did not stop them from drafting Deshone Kizer.