DeShone Kizer

Early years

Kizer attended Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio. Kizer was named the AP Ohio Division III co-offensive player of the year as a senior in 2013. A three-year starter, Kizer helped his team to a combined 34–6 overall record in 2011–13 (8–2 in playoff games), including 14–1 record and Ohio Division II state title in 2012. In his career, Kizer's totals included 5,684 passing yards and 56 TDs to go with 1,211 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated as the 9th best Dual-threat quarterback prospect of his class. On June 11, 2013, Kizer announced his commitment to play college football at the University of Notre Dame.

College career

Kizer redshirted his first year at Notre Dame in 2014 behind quarterbacks Everett Golson and Malik Zaire. He started 2015 as a backup to Zaire. During the second game of the season against Virginia, Kizer replaced an injured Zaire and helped Notre Dame to a victory. With 12 seconds left, Kizer completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller to give Notre Dame the lead. After it was announced that Zaire would miss the rest of the season, Kizer was named the starter. Against Pitt, Kizer accounted for all 6 touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing) helping Notre Dame to a 42–30 victory. Overall in 2015, Kizer finished his redshirt freshman year with 2,880 passing yards, 525 rushing yards, and 31 total touchdowns in 13 games. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, Kizer played 12 games with 2,925 passing yards, 472 rushing yards, and 34 total touchdowns. After the 2016 season, Kizer decided to forgo the remaining two years of eligibility and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.

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. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a first or second round pick. 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 ESPN and NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

The Cleveland Browns selected Kizer in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. 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. On August 27, 2017, following the team's third preseason game, the Browns named Kizer the starting quarterback to begin the 2017 regular season, beating out veteran trade acquisition Brock Osweiler and second-year quarterback Cody Kessler.

Making his first regular season appearance on September 10, 2017, Kizer finished with 222 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. In addition, he rushed for 17 yards and a one-yard rushing touchdown, but the Browns lost 21–18 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kizer's first career passing touchdown was a three-yard pass to wide receiver Corey Coleman in the fourth quarter.

Personal life

His father, Derek Kizer, played basketball at Bowling Green.