DeShone Kizer
DeShone Allen Kizer (born January 3, 1996) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders.
Kizer with the Cleveland Browns in 2017 | |||||||||||||||
Free agent | |||||||||||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born: | Toledo, Ohio | January 3, 1996||||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school: | Central Catholic (Toledo, Ohio) | ||||||||||||||
College: | Notre Dame | ||||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||||||||
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Early years
Kizer attended Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio.[1] Kizer was named the AP Ohio Division III co-offensive player of the year as a senior in 2013.[2] A three-year starter, Kizer helped lead the Fighting Irish high school football team to a combined 34–6 overall record in 2011–13 (8–2 in playoff games), including a 14–1 record and Ohio Division II state title in 2012.[3] In his career, Kizer's totals included 5,684 passing yards and 56 touchdowns to go with 1,211 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.[4]
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated as the ninth best dual-threat quarterback prospect of his class.[5] On June 11, 2013, Kizer announced his commitment to play college football at the University of Notre Dame.[6]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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DeShone Kizer Dual-Threat QB |
Toledo, OH | Central Catholic HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 233 lb (106 kg) | Jun 11, 2013 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 17 (QB), 2 (regional), 1 (OH), 263 (national) Rivals: 9 (QB) ESPN: 16 (QB), 12 (OH) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
Kizer redshirted his first year at Notre Dame in 2014 behind quarterbacks Everett Golson and Malik Zaire.[7]
Kizer started 2015 as a backup to Zaire. On September 5, in the season opener, he made his collegiate debut against Texas in relief of Zaire in the 38–3 victory.[8] During the second game of the season against Virginia, Kizer replaced an injured Zaire and helped lead Notre Dame to a victory. With 12 seconds left, Kizer completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Will Fuller to give Notre Dame the lead.[9] After it was announced that Zaire would miss the rest of the season, Kizer was named the starter. On October 3, in a 24–22 loss to Clemson, he passed for a season-high 321 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while having 15 carries for 60 yards and a rushing touchdown.[10] Against Pitt, Kizer accounted for all six touchdowns (five passing and one rushing) helping Notre Dame to a 42–30 victory.[11] On Halloween, in a 24–20 win over Temple, he recorded 299 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, and had a stellar night on the ground with 143 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.[12] Kizer and the Fighting Irish finished the 2015 regular season with a 10–2 record.[13] On New Year's Day, Kizer and the Fighting Irish closed out their 2015 season with a 44–28 loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. In the loss, he had 284 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception while adding 21 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground.[14] Overall in 2015, Kizer finished his redshirt first year with 2,880 passing yards, 525 rushing yards, and 31 total touchdowns in 13 games.[15]
Kizer started off the 2016 season with 215 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, 77 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown in a 2OT 50–47 loss to Texas at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.[16] After a victory over Nevada, he had 344 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 14 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns in a 36–28 loss to Michigan State.[17][18] After a loss to Duke, he had a career day through the air with 471 yards and three touchdowns in a 50–33 win over Syracuse.[19] He put together some solid performances over the rest of the season, but the team faltered and ended up with a 4–8 record.[20] Kizer played 12 games with 2,925 passing yards, 472 rushing yards, and 34 total touchdowns.[21] After the 2016 season, Kizer decided to forgo the remaining two years of eligibility and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.[22]
College statistics
Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||||
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YEAR | GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | YPA | Long | TD | Int | Rat | Att | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | Fum | Lost |
2014 | Redshirt | |||||||||||||||||
2015 | 13 | 11 | 211 | 335 | 63.0 | 2,884 | 8.6 | 81 | 21 | 10 | 150.0 | 134 | 520 | 3.9 | 79 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
2016 | 12 | 12 | 195 | 325 | 60.0 | 2,705 | 8.2 | 79 | 24 | 8 | 147.5 | 118 | 509 | 4.3 | 49 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 25 | 23 | 406 | 660 | 61.15 | 5,589 | 8.4 | 81 | 45 | 18 | 148.75 | 252 | 1,029 | 4.1 | 79 | 17 | 5 | 2 |
Professional career
Kizer received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the combine drills except for the bench press. He also performed positional drills, but had a disappointing performance. He also participated at Notre Dame's Pro Day and only ran positional drills in front of team scouts and representatives, including San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Kizer completed 50/60 pass attempts and showed significantly better accuracy and footwork at his pro day.[24] NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a first or second round pick.[25] He was ranked the second best quarterback in the draft by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, the third best quarterback by NFLDraftScout.com and Sports Illustrated, and was ranked the fourth best quarterback by NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock.[26][27][28][29]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic | |
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6 ft 4 1⁄4 in (1.94 m) |
233 lb (106 kg) |
33 1⁄8 in (0.84 m) |
9 7⁄8 in (0.25 m) |
4.83 s | 1.72 s | 2.84 s | 4.53 s | 7.40 s | 30 1⁄2 in (0.77 m) |
8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) |
28[30] | |
All values from NFL Combine[25][24] |
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns selected Kizer in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[31] He was the fourth quarterback to be selected that year.[32] On June 14, 2017, the Browns signed Kizer to a four-year, $4.94 million contract that includes $2.42 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.73 million.[33][34] On August 27, 2017, following the team's third preseason game, the Browns named Kizer as the starting quarterback to begin the 2017 regular season, beating out veteran trade acquisition Brock Osweiler and second-year quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan.[35]
Making his NFL debut on September 10, 2017, Kizer finished with 222 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 17 yards and a one-yard rushing touchdown, but the Browns lost by a score 21–18 at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.[36] He orchestrated a 12-play drive that ended when he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.[36] Kizer's first career passing touchdown was a three-yard pass to wide receiver Corey Coleman in the fourth quarter.[37][38] He started the next four games for the Browns, which were all losses. During the Week 5 game against the New York Jets, Kizer was benched in favor of Kevin Hogan to begin the third quarter. Hogan was later named the starter for the team's Week 6 game against the Houston Texans.[39] After Hogan's struggles in Week 6, Kizer was renamed the starter for the Week 7.[40] Against the Tennessee Titans in Week 7, Kizer threw for 114 yards and two interceptions before being benched in favor of Cody Kessler in the third quarter. The Browns lost 12–9 in overtime.[41] Following the game, reports surfaced Kizer was out late the Friday before the Titans game, which caused some controversy.[42] During Week 14 against the Green Bay Packers, Kizer threw for 214 yards and a season-high three touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions, including one in overtime that gave the Packers excellent field position. The Browns lost by a score of 27–21.[43] During the season finale against the Steelers in Week 17, Kizer finished with a season-high 314 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception as the Browns lost 24–28.[44] The Browns finished the year with an 0–16 record, only the second team in NFL history to have that record.[45][46]
In 15 starts of his rookie season, Kizer completed 53.6 percent of his passes for 2,894 yards, 11 touchdowns, and a league-leading 22 interceptions.[47] He also rushed for 419 yards and five touchdowns.[48]
Green Bay Packers
On March 14, 2018, Kizer was traded to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for Damarious Randall and a swap of both fourth and fifth-round draft picks.[49] On September 9, 2018, in Week 1, Kizer played in place of an injured Aaron Rodgers in the first and second quarters against the Chicago Bears. He threw for 55 yards and an interception which was returned for a touchdown. Rodgers returned in the third quarter and led the Packers to a 24–23 victory.[50] In the season finale against the Detroit Lions, Kizer played in relief of Rodgers, who had suffered a concussion, and threw for 132 yards and an interception as the Packers were shut-out by a score of 31–0.[51][52]
Kizer was released on August 31, 2019 as part of the final roster cuts.[53]
Career statistics
Legend | |
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Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Fum | Lost | |||
2017 | CLE | 15 | 15 | 255 | 476 | 53.6 | 2,894 | 6.1 | 11 | 22 | 60.5 | 77 | 419 | 5.4 | 5 | 9 | 6 | |
2018 | GB | 3 | 0 | 20 | 42 | 47.6 | 187 | 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 40.5 | 5 | 39 | 7.8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
2019 | OAK | Did not play | ||||||||||||||||
Career | 18 | 15 | 275 | 518 | 53.1 | 3,081 | 5.9 | 11 | 24 | 58.9 | 82 | 458 | 5.6 | 5 | 10 | 7 | ||
Source: NFL.com |
Personal life
His father, Derek Kizer, played basketball at Bowling Green from 1987 to 1991.[56][57]
References
- Cabot, Mary Kay. "The raising of DeShone Kizer: From a kid who didn't fit in, to almost quitting at Notre Dame, to Browns starter". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- Blade Staff. "Kizer tops area AP Division III All-Ohio football team". Toledo Blade.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- "Toledo Central Catholic holds off defending champs in Division II to win state title". FridayNightOhio.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- Junga, Steve. "Kizer: most talented H.S. quarterback Toledo has produced". Toledo Blade.
- "DeShone Kizer". Yahoo!.
- Junga, Steve. "Central Catholic quarterback DeShone Kizer commits to Notre Dame". Toledo Blade.
- Wieneke, Bob. "Notre Dame freshman DeShone Kizer learning as a backup quarterback". Notre Dame Insider.
- "Texas at Notre Dame Box Score, September 5, 2015". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Hale, David M. "Backup QB leads Notre Dame to dramatic win over Virginia". ESPN.
- "Notre Dame at Clemson Box Score, October 3, 2015". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Goodbread, Chase. "DeShone Kizer leads Notre Dame over Pittsburgh". National Football League.
- "Notre Dame at Temple Box Score, October 31, 2015". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "2015 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- "Fiesta Bowl – Notre Dame vs Ohio State Box Score, January 1, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "DeShone Kizer 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "Notre Dame at Texas Box Score, September 4, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "Nevada at Notre Dame Box Score, September 10, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- "Michigan State at Notre Dame Box Score, September 17, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "Syracuse vs Notre Dame Box Score, October 1, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "2016 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- "DeShone Kizer 2016 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Fortuna, Matt. "Notre Dame QB Kizer declaring for NFL draft". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- "Notre Dame Individual Game-by-Game Summaries". UND.com.
- "*DeShone Kizer, DS No. 3 QB, Notre Same". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- "NFL Draft Profile: DeShone Kizer". National Football League. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- Chris Burke (April 25, 2017). "2017 NFL draft rankings: Top prospects by position". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the 2017 Draft's Top 100 Prospects". ESPN. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- Bucky Brooks (April 25, 2017). "Bucky Brooks' top 5 2017 NFL Draft prospects by position 3.0". National Football League. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- Mike Mayock (April 12, 2017). "Mike Mayock's top 5 2017 NFL Draft prospects by position 3.0". National Football League. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- McGinn, Bob (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the NFL draft prospects: Quarterbacks". PackersNews.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- Wesseling, Chris (April 28, 2017). "Cleveland Browns select quarterback DeShone Kizer". National Football League. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- "Spotrac.com: DeShone Kizer contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- Cabot, Mary Kay (June 14, 2017). "DeShone Kizer signs his 4-year rookie contract with the Browns worth about $4.9 million". The Plain Dealer.
- Bergman, Jeremy (August 27, 2017). "DeShone Kizer named Browns starting quarterback". National Football League.
- Phillips, Gary (September 11, 2017). "Hue Jackson impressed with DeShone Kizer debut". Fanrag Sports Network. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- McManamon, Pat. "DeShone Kizer provides hope, but not a win for Browns in opener". ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
- "Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns – September 10th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
- McManamon, Pat (October 11, 2017). "Kevin Hogan to replace DeShone Kizer as starting QB for Browns". ESPN. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- Gribble, Andrew (October 18, 2017). "Browns QB DeShone Kizer back in starting role". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- McManamon, Pat (October 22, 2017). "DeShone Kizer benched again, questioned about late-night video". ESPN. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- McManamon, Pat. "Hue Jackson's handling of DeShone Kizer defies logic". ESPN.
- "Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns – December 10th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- "Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers – December 31st, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- "Browns go 0–16, joining 2008 Lions in historic NFL low". USA Today. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- "2017 Cleveland Browns Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- "2017 NFL Passing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- "DeShone Kizer 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- Gribble, Andrew (March 14, 2018). "Browns land versatile DB Damarious Randall, trade QB DeShone Kizer to Green Bay". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- Florjancic, Matthew. "Former Cleveland Browns QB DeShone Kizer threw pick-six, lost fumble in Green Bay Packers debut". WKYC. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- Spofford, Mike. "Packers end season with 31–0 loss". packers.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- Wing, Ryan (December 30, 2018). "Kizer struggles in relief of Rodgers in Packers loss to Lions". WLUK. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- "Packers announce roster moves". Packers.com. August 31, 2019.
- "Raiders claim quarterback DeShone Kizer". Raiders.com. September 1, 2019.
- "Raiders announce undrafted free agent signings". Raiders.com. May 5, 2020.
- John Heisler. "North of Confident, South of Cocky: DeShone Kizer's rise from Toledo, Ohio, to one of the most visible and scrutinized positions in all of college football". UND.com. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- "Derek Kizer College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
External links
Media related to Deshone Kizer at Wikimedia Commons - Green Bay Packers bio
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio