Strong armed: Browns rookie quarterback Kizer named starter

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — DeShone Kizer has strong-armed his way into a starting job.

The rookie quarterback will start Cleveland’s exhibition at Tampa Bay on Saturday, and unless he flops or gets hurt, Kizer will start the Browns’ Sept. 10 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coach Hue Jackson elected to go with Kizer, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, over veterans Brock Osweiler and Cody Kessler. Kizer has been the most consistent of the three during training camp and led the Browns to three touchdowns during his two exhibition appearances.

Jackson, who went 1-15 in his first season with Cleveland, said he informed the QBs on Wednesday that Kizer would start this week in what is considered a dress rehearsal for the regular season.

“He has made a lot of progress by investing the time necessary to learn our offense, working hard to improve on his fundamentals while also effectively moving the offense in preseason games,” Jackson said. “Development is so important for a young quarterback, this is the next step he needs to take and he deserves this opportunity. We are very excited about seeing DeShone in the role of starter for this week, as he is certainly positioning himself well to earn the starting job heading into the regular season.”

Unless he stumbles against the Buccaneers, Kizer will be the 27th different quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999 — and fourth Week 1 starter in the past four years.