Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy really likes backup quarterback DeShone Kizer. The Packers liked Kizer when he came out of college in 2017. They might like him even more now.
The 2018 NFL Draft was top-heavy with quarterbacks. Four of them went in the first 10 picks. Baker Mayfield went No. 1 overall to the Browns, Sam Darnold went to the Jets at No. 3, Josh Allen went to the Bills at No. 7 and Josh Rosen landed with the Cardinals at No. 10.
McCarthy claims that if Kizer would have waited until 2018 to enter the NFL, he would have been in the mix with those four guys.
McCarthy on new #Packers QB DeShone Kizer: "He has starter ability in this league, clearly. In my opinion, if he was in that (draft) class this year, he would've been in that group with the first four guys."
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) May 5, 2018
Although that may seem like a stretch, maybe it isn’t. A lot of people thought Kizer needed another year of college seasoning, including his own coach at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly. He ended up being a second-round pick by the Browns.
The thing with Kizer that we’ve seen is he has all the ability. He can make all the throws. Has a great arm.
That didn’t translate into much success as a rookie, however. Kizer was thrown into the fire, starting 15 games. He threw for 2,894 yards and just 11 touchdowns against 22 interceptions.
So starter ability, sure. If Kizer can harness his talent and adapt to the NFL game. That will probably only come with seasoning. And certainly, having Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy as mentors can’t hurt.
Kizer is already a much more intriguing prospect than Brett Hundley. Those guys will go at it during the preseason for the right to be No. 2. It seems pretty evident that Kizer — after the Packers shipped out Damarious Randall for him — has the edge over Hundley.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Hundley get released if he doesn’t win that No. 2 job.