Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson decides: Rookie DeShone Kizer starting QB

BEREA, Ohio -- Rookie DeShone Kizer started training camp third on the depth chart, improved steadily, and is now the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback with the start of the regular season just two weeks away.

Kizer clinched the job Saturday night in Tampa. He started the game against the Buccaneers after coming off the bench in the first two preseason games, and though his numbers were far from stellar - 6 for 18 for 93 yards with one interception and a 28.2 passer rating - he did enough to convince head coach Hue Jackson to name him the starter for the regular-season opener against the Steelers.

Kizer, picked 52nd overall in the 2017 draft, beat out Brock Osweiler, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan to win the job. He will be the 15th different quarterback to start the season since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, but only the second rookie to take the first snap of the season. The other was Brandon Weeden in 2012.

"DeShone is our starting quarterback," Jackson said Sunday. "He's earned the right to play through his preparation. He's established a work ethic that I think has earned the respect of his teammates. I think it will forward him the ability to (run the) offense as we move forward, which hopefully will lead to success. It's been good to watch his development throughout the offseason.

"Obviously, he's a young quarterback and he still has a lot to learn. He's going to learn a lot and gain a lot of experience, and the only way you get that is by playing. We're all excited about that."

Kizer, 21, is the youngest starting quarterback in the NFL.

Fans should not expect miracles. Kizer is taking over a team that finished 1-15 a year ago. The plan is to win games with a strong defense and rely on Kizer to keep the score close through for quarters.

The Browns want to rely on their running game led by Isaiah Crowell, who rushed for 952 yards last season. That was the plan last year, too, but the Browns could not do that because they fell helplessly behind. They registered 350 rushing attempts, which tied the Lions for the lowest in the league.

Kizer led the offense to 26 points in a little more than five quarters in three preseason games. Osweiler, his chief competitor for the starting job, did not play against the Buccaneers. The offense did not score with him on the field in the first two preseason games.

"When we drafted this young man, there was a purpose in drafting him," Jackson said. "We thought that he had exactly what we were looking for. As we kept diving into this process of spending time with him and making him our draft pick and from the first conversation I had with him up through now, it's been about how we can get him to be the best that he can be.

"This guy has been named the starter, but he still has to earn the right to be the starting quarterback for this team week in and week out and I think he gets that, but he has the talent, he has the makeup and he has the things we are looking for. Now, we just have to go get him and push him onto that next level."

When Jackson said Kizer has to earn the starting job "week in and week out," he meant by how hard Kizer works, not that the rookie has to meet some performance standard to hold onto the job.