It’s officially official: Week 16 will feature a showdown between two of the top quarterback prospects chosen in the 2017 NFL Draft.
We already knew Mitch Trubisky was going to be starting for the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but Cleveland Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson recently confirmed that DeShone Kizer will remain the team’s starting quarterback, as well.
The Browns, who selected Kizer in the second round (57th overall), made him their main man from the get-go, giving him the ball in Week 1, which stands in contrast to the Bears strategy with Trubisky heading into the season.
Kizer has since started 13 games for Cleveland … and has thrown a league-leading 19 interceptions along the way (59.4 passer rating). To be fair he did have a three-touchdown game against the Green Bay Packers in which he completed 71 percent of his passes and put up a 99.4 rating two weeks ago … but he also followed that up with two interceptions and a 41.0 passer rating in a 27-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15.
If you’ll recall, the Bears put out strong vibes regarding their interest in the Notre Dame quarterback leading up to draft weekend. In fact, I’m not sure there’s a team that saw more of Kizer than Chicago, whose front office took a long look at him during the pre-draft process. Then again, it might have all been a well-designed fake-out, considering how they stealthily moved behind the scenes in their courtship of Trubisky.
And, sure, Trubisky is far from perfect. But so far, I’m happy about the way things turned out.