Quarterback Brett Hundley was largely a disaster as a starter for the Green Bay Packers in 2017.
The most telling statistics are these: nine starts, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Hundley had a 70.6 rating and a 60.8 completion percentage. He didn’t throw a touchdown at Lambeau Field.
DeShone Kizer was similarly a disaster as the starter for the Cleveland Browns in 2017.
In 15 starts, Kizer threw 11 touchdowns and a league-leading 22 interceptions. He finished with 60.5 rating and a 53.6 completion percentage.
So naturally, the Packers traded for Kizer to compete with Hundley for the backup quarterback job.
What does Hundley think of that? Not much, apparently.
“In this game, everybody is always trying to compete for their job, whether it is Kizer or [Joe] Callahan,” Hundley says. “I don’t focus on anybody other than myself. We’ve all had to go through a lot of struggles to get where we have gotten. It’s not about the other person; it’s about pushing yourself to get better. You only get so many opportunities in this game, and you have to make the most of them.”
To be fair, Kizer is stouter competition than Callahan. Even though Hundley struggled mightily and coach Mike McCarthy said he wasn’t prepared, McCarthy also refused to play Callahan.
Callahan is gone now. It will be a battle between Hundley and Kizer for the job.
Kizer was a 2017 second-round pick. He has all the physical tools. If he can get the mental part of the game, Kizer has a chance to be a pretty good NFL quarterback.
So this will be a different competition than what Hundley has seen in the past.
Frankly, we think Hundley should be worried. We fully expect Kizer to get the job. The team didn’t trade cornerback Damarious Randall for Kizer just to cut him.
That could realistically leave Hundley out of a job, at least in Green Bay.