When the Cleveland Browns made a trade with the Houston Texans for Brock Osweiler in the offseason, the Browns just wanted the draft picks that Houston was sending along with the quarterback’s large contract. The Browns were expected to just cut Osweiler and eat the contract just to get the added draft picks. However, when Brock showed up in Cleveland, he impressed the coaching staff and front office and they kept the young quarterback, allowing him to compete for the starting role in 2017. However, ESPN reported that Cody Kessler is listed as the Starting Quarterback heading into the preseason.
Cody Kessler
Last year, the Cleveland Browns signed Robert Griffin III to come in and become their starting quarterback. Cleveland believed he could be a franchise quarterback and a team leader. However, Griffin was injured early and never played again. The team cut Griffin and he might be finished in the NFL now. The rest of the season, the Browns had no idea who they wanted to start at quarterback and ended up with Cody Kessler in the role by the end of their season.
Out of the six quarterbacks that threw a ball for the Cleveland Browns in 2016, Cody Kessler had the best quarterback rating, at 92.3. He threw six touchdowns and only two interceptions while averaging 137.8 yards a game with a 65.6 completion percentage.
The other quarterbacks were Josh McCown (not with the New York Jets), Griffin III, Charlie Whitehurst (a free agent), Kevin Hogan (still in Cleveland for now), and Terrelle Pryor Sr. (not with the Washington Redskins).
The Browns 2017 starting quarterback
The Cleveland Browns had a great NFL Draft, filling up a lot of needed positions with young stars and looking like they will improve a lot over their 2016 totals.
However, the Browns did not get a franchise quarterback in the NFL Draft, despite having two chances to grab one. Instead, the Browns waited until the second round to draft Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer. The young Kizer only played two seasons at Notre Dame, throwing for 47 touchdowns and 19 interceptions while also running for 992 yards in the two seasons with 18 touchdowns on the ground.
Meanwhile, Brock Osweiler was supposed to be the heir apparent to Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos but left after Manning retired for a big money deal with the Houston Texans. He left Denver out of anger and ended up losing his job in Houston and getting traded after only one season. Osweiler, Kizer, and Hogan will compete for the Cleveland Browns starting job against Cody Kessler but Hue Jackson said that someone needs to start off on the first team and that will be Kessler – for now.
