As a general rule, yes, I agree. The problem is that the Browns' management of their roster is exceptionally bad.
We agree that Kizer has failed as a Brown. I think we disagree very much about why.
Deshone Kizer was drafted towards the bottom end of the second round. He was never considered a premium talent, and I don't think there's any doubt at all that he was rushed into the starter's job through a sheer lack of options. The fact of the matter is that in just about any other organization Deshone Kizer would never have played a snap this year. The Browns are the only organization desperate enough to take a guy who isn't a standout talent and throw him into the fire like this.
I don't think you can judge a guy solely based on results when 31 other organizations wouldn't have even trotted him out there yet. This is the same reason that a lot of people are still reserving judgment to an extent on Jacoby Brissett, who's in a similar position. The difference being, Brissett at least had some experience from the prior season, Kizer was entirely raw.
I don't think there's any real doubt that Kizer failed. The problem with stopping the analysis there is that it blithely ignores the many ways in which he was set up to fail. And I think that's important to take on board when trying to evaluate what Kizer might do in future years, which is the main consideration when deciding whether to acquire someone. A Deshone Kizer who had learned no lessons and had no further development from exactly the point he is now, would be a disaster no matter where he goes, but I like his raw talent, and I honestly do think that he's worth developing if a team is prepared to be patient with him.
The Patriots are in a unique position to offer a raw player who got off to a terrible start, an opportunity to learn the game in the best environment possible. If we decide we have other priorities for our draft picks, and considering the state of our defense and the fact that we're potentially losing up to 2 running backs this offseason, as well as the poverty of our draft last year and some serious unanswered questions left behind as a consequence of that, I consider it quite likely, picking up a talented option off the reject pile may be the best available move to put a live arm on the roster for Brady to mentor.
Of those options, Kizer is the one that looks the most interesting to me, exactly because he is so raw. He's the guy most likely to be available outside the draft, who is also talented enough to give the coaching staff something to work with.
