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Joe Thomas can add another name to the list of starting quarterbacks he’s blocked for. On Wednesday, Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson announced that second-year man Kevin Hogan will start this Sunday against the Houston Texans:
“I’ve made the decision to start Kevin this week. We’ve liked what Kevin has been able to do within our offense when he’s been in there and he will start on Sunday because that’s what we feel is best for our team at this point in time. This does not change the way we feel about DeShone going forward. He has worked extremely hard and still very much has a bright future. Right now, it’s better for him and his development to back up Kevin.”
It might disappoint some fans who were hoping for a battle between rookies DeShone Kizer and DeShaun Watson, but with the team being 0-5, there had not been enough progress with how slow Kizer was in making decisions. Despite it only being a 3-0 game, Kizer was benched this past Sunday at halftime in favor of Hogan, who led two touchdown drives.
In limited reps this season, Hogan is 26-of-38 (68.4%) for 377 yards (9.9 yards/attempt), 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions (104.8 QB rating). Kizer was 81-of-159 (50.9%) for 851 yards (5.4 yards/attempt), 3 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions (49.5 QB rating).
This will be the first time an opponent has a chance to gameplan for Hogan, so it’ll be a new test for him. But based on his preseason and spot duty this regular season, he is lightyears ahead of Kizer right now in terms of commanding the offense. He also gets the benefit of a Texans defense that just lost DE J.J. Watt and OLB Whitney Mercilus.
What do you think, Browns fans? Do you agree with the decision to start Hogan?