default-cbs-image

The list of quarterbacks tasked with saving the Browns is as long as it is depressing. The latest addition: Former Notre Dame standout DeShone Kizer, who was taken in the second round of last week's draft.

And while the impulse may be to throw Kizer into the fire and hope that he can right a franchise that has floundered since returning to Cleveland 18 years ago, the best chance for success will rely on being patient with a quarterback still considered a year or two away from being a full-time NFL starter. In the meantime, Browns coach Hue Jackson concedes that Kizer is a special talent and his physical abilities will undoubtedly lead to comparisons with Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger.

"I don't know that I've coached a guy with this kind of skill set," Jackson said Thursday during an appearance on WKNR 850 AM, via Cleveland.com. "But he's a big powerful man, so I know he's going to get compared to another guy on another team in our division.

"I'm not going to talk about [Roethlisberger] because he's that big and he has that kind of arm. He's very mobile. So again, I don't like to compare players and I know people will, but he's got to come in and do what he can do and be the best version of him and that's what we're going to allow him to do.''

Roethlisberger was the No. 11 pick in 2004 and entered his rookie season as Tommy Maddox's backup. But Big Ben replaced Maddox after the veteran suffered an arm injury in Week 2 against the Ravens and never relinquished the job. He won 13 straight regular-season games as a rookie and led the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game. Roethlisberger won a Super Bowl title in Year 2, and won a second Lombardi Trophy three years later. Among active quarterbacks, Roethlisberger ranks third in career winning percentage (.672) behind only Tom Brady (.779) and Russell Wilson (.706).

Kizer, meanwhile, made it clear in his first press conference as a member of the Browns that his aim is "to do whatever I can to learn as as fast as I can and as quickly as I can to play."

Jackson plans to harness that ambition but with the understanding that there's no rush to get Kizer on the field.

"We've got to coach him from the ground up, but we're working with a guy that's very talented,'' Jackson said. "This is a guy who has a skill set that's going to allow us to push and prod and get him to where he needs to be. ... I don't think we're going to rush to stick him out there but, at the same time, I'm not going to stop him from being out there if he demonstrates those skill sets very quickly."

So given all of Kizer's gifts, why was he the fourth quarterback selected after Mitchell Trubisky (No. 2 overall), Pat Mahomes (No. 10) and Deshaun Watson (No. 12)? CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora offered a possible explanation in the days that followed the draft.

"The quarterback has to be clean, especially when you are taking him that high," one team executive told La Canfora. "He can't be a pain in the ass. It isn't just what [Notre Dame coach Brian] Kelly said about him. That's not really it. It's that he wasn't really a team leader.

"When you brought in kids from that school and you asked them about Kizer, no one ever really got excited. It wasn't like, 'He's the man! That's my guy!' You ask Clemson kids about [Deshaun] Watson, and it's like, 'That's our dog! He is our leader. We'd do anything for that guy.' You talk to kids from UNC about Trubisky and it was the same thing. But with Kizer it was like, 'He's a cool guy.' That's going to be a challenging situation for him, going to Cleveland, having to be the savior."

Jackson, who is known for his ability to get the most out of his quarterbacks, sounded unconcerned.

"He's a big man," the coach said of Kizer. "He has the AFC North stature that I love. He has a big arm. He's very intelligent. He's played in a real big-time football program. He understands the demands of playing the position. He understands the demands of being a quarterback and the face of a franchise.''

As it stands, Cody Kessler, a 2016 third-round pick who started eight games as a rookie, is the front runner for the gig, along with offseason acquisition Brock Osweiler.