DeShone Kizer was drafted by the Cleveland Browns last season and was expected to have a chance at being the long-term starter for Hue Jackson. Just one year later, Kizer is the backup quarterback to Aaron Rodgers for the Green Bay Packers. Cleveland decided to trade Kizer for Damarious Randall earlier this offseason, and then acquired Tyrod Taylor and drafted Baker Mayfield to fill the quarterback need.
Being traded from the Browns to the Packers could be the best thing that could have happened to Kizer. He is now with one of the best organizations in the NFL and will be learning the game behind one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Last season with the Browns, Kizer ended up completing 53.6 percent of his pass attempts for 2,894 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions. It was a rough season from a statistical standpoint, but there were a lot of growing lessons that he learned as a rookie. Cleveland ended the season with a 0-16 record.
Mike McCarthy and the Packers believe that Kizer has a very bright future ahead of him. They couldn’t be more excited to have him backing Rodgers up moving forward. McCarthy talked about his new quarterback project .
“He has starter ability in this league. Clearly. In my opinion, if he was in that class this year, he would have been part of the first five quarterbacks, the first-round guys. He has exceptional arm talent.”
#Packers hope to harness new quarterback DeShone Kizer’s ‘exceptional arm talent’: https://t.co/bmsNCBOGXA pic.twitter.com/IIU4FcIzXr
— Packers News (@PGPackersNews) May 5, 2018
He also talked about a fresh start in Green Bay being a good thing for Kizer’s development.
“What we’re asking him to do is, particularly in the footwork and just how we operate is brand new to him. That always excites me. When you see that, when a guy has no experience or background but has the ability, that’s an opportunity for a lot of growth. I think he has a bright future.”
Green Bay saw the backup quarterback need after Brett Hundley’s struggles last season when Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone. Hundley wasn’t terrible, but he was unable to get the Packers into the postseason. Kizer is a much more talented quarterback, and has a chance to give Green Bay a strength off the bench in a place where there was a weakness last year.
At 22-years-old, Kizer still has a lot of upside. If he is able to reach his full potential, the Packers’ new quarterback is going to have a very successful NFL career.
