Cleveland Browns: Are They Putting Too Much on DeShone Kizer?

The Cleveland Browns haven’t been able to get their first win of 2017 despite playing some fairly competitive games up to this point.

People are wondering what has to change in order for this to happen. It doesn’t take too long to find one area they may want to reconsider. That involving rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer. While it’s great the team is looking to get him plenty of experience for the future, they may not be going about it the best way. To this point Kizer ranks 10th in the NFL for most passing attempts through three weeks at 108. That doesn’t seem like a wise statistic for a rookie QB, especially considering the results.

Kizer has thrown six interceptions over the past two weeks and been sacked 10 times in his three starts. According to Pro Football Reference he is now ranked 3rd all-time for the most passing attempts for his first three games in NFL history.

What makes this especially puzzling is that the Browns have a pair of solid running backs in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson. Yet head coach Hue Jackson hasn’t tried to feature them with a run-heavy game plan. In fact Johnson, a running back, is the teams’ leading receiver with 160 yards. Perhaps the reason the Browns aren’t controlling games is because they’re not controlling the clock.

Cleveland ranks 4th in the league in terms of throwing the ball most often at 65.99%. People wonder why Dak Prescott had so much success as a rookie last year. It wasn’t just his talent. The Dallas Cowboys protected him by allowing him to throw just 51.30% of the time. It helped him minimize mistakes and kept defenses honest. The Browns need to rediscover that mentality, otherwise they risk getting their rookie hurt, or worse hurting his confidence with too many mistakes.