Coach Hue Jackson’s stunning announcement that Brock Osweiler will start the Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener ahead of Cody Kessler is bad news for the returning starter. Kessler’s advantage in the three-headed quarterback battle in Cleveland has always been his experience in the offense and his status he earned for being a good soldier in an otherwise abysmal 2016.
Most media speculation about the great Cleveland QB brouhaha of 2017 has centered around Kessler being the caretaker until rookie DeShone Kizer is ready . . . if he ever gets there. Osweiler was seen as a superfluous third wheel, acquired only for the juicy draft haul Houston paid to dump his albatross of a contract.
Osweiler outplayed Kessler and Kizer in scrimmage action over the weekend. He did so without ever getting first-team reps in practice. Doing more with less will open eyes. It certainly opened Jackson’s.
My personal take on Kessler has never wavered. I see him as a dead end as a starter. His game management skills and cautious, trustworthy style are optimally suited for being a reliable backup to an established starter, not the starter himself.
It is becoming increasingly apparent coach Jackson and the Browns share that opinion. Kessler is the least likely of the Browns’ quarterbacks to lose a game with bad play, but he’s also the least likely to propel the team to victory with strong play. You can see this reflected in Jackson’s quip after Saturday’s practice,
“I don’t want to go o-fer again.”
Osweiler’s higher ceiling is more important than his (much) lower floor. Kessler’s steady hand but unremarkable physical skills and underwhelming play in 2016 isn’t what Jackson wants any more.
That places Kessler in a pickle in Cleveland. He’s clearly not the future. Now that it appears he’s losing out on the present, it’s hard to see where he fits. The pressure is on Kessler to prove himself in the preseason now, but he’ll have to do it with the lesser-talented second string around him. He’s not out of chances, but he’s a singles hitter who needs a home run, and he’s already behind in the strike count.
