3. DeShone Kizer won’t be the starting quarterback
Just like how there’s no conceivable way the Browns retain Hue Jackson, there’s little chance that DeShone Kizer is the starting quarterback next year.
A quick aside: what if Kizer had been drafted by a team that wasn’t a black hole for talent and joy? Is he actually a bad quarterback or is this more of a commentary about how poorly coached the Browns have been this season? It’s probably a healthy mixture of both, but it also highlights how badly matched the coaching staff and Kizer are. A change absolutely needs to be made, and it probably will be.
There are two ways this can go. The first is that John Dorsey hires Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and then trades for Alex Smith with a few of the excess picks Cleveland has (maybe one of the second rounders). That allows for the Browns to still draft a successor to Smith and gives him a situation where he can learn behind a veteran and isn’t thrust into a situation where he could fail.
The other option is to just draft a Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold and hope for the best. With the right head coach, that might not be the worst idea in the world. It can’t be any worse than Jackson and Kizer, which isn’t the type of upside you’re looking for but is still something to look at with some positive light.