Notre Dame Football: Cleveland Browns Are the Popular Pick to Land DeShone Kizer

Brady Quinn didn’t mince words when asked about one of fellow Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer’s potential NFL destinations.

Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

“If DeShone goes to Cleveland next year, he’ll get a first-hand experience of very poor ownership and, unfortunately, a poor long-term and short-term vision of how to build success,” said Quinn, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2007.

While the NFL Draft is still 56 days away, the consensus among analysts offering mock drafts is that Kizer is the probable choice for the Browns at No. 12.

I’ve looked at 63 analyses from acknowledged experts, such as Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, to self-proclaimed analysts writing for niche audiences at NFL Mocks, Pro Player Insider and MyNFLDraft.com.

In their pre-NFL Combine analysis, most writers are staking a plot in one of two camps: DeShone Kizer is going to go to the Cleveland Browns or the Arizona Cardinals, or he’s falling out of the first round.

This analysis, however, doesn’t take into consideration how mock drafts undergo transformations from week to week. Here’s a breakdown of Kizer’s position in mock drafts published solely within the last week:

This includes updated mock drafts from CBS Sports’ Dane Brugler who dropped Kizer from No. 3 to No. 12 on Monday, following colleague Jared Dubin’s lead from last Friday.

Meanwhile, two analysts went to the extreme - in complete opposite directions.

CBS Sports’ Will Brinson dropped Kizer from the No. 6 pick to out of the first round in a single week, while WalterFootball’s Charlie Campbell had Kizer at No. 45 to the Cardinals on Feb. 20 and bumped him all the way up to No. 13 by Monday.

It’s unknown yet if Kizer will throw Saturday at the Combine. It seems more certain that the performances of his peers - especially Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Pat Mahomes - may have an effect on the order of quarterbacks chosen April 27 in Philadelphia.

As Cowboys Wire’s Keith Mullins reminds us, mock drafts are “predictably inaccurate given the variables in play [but] remain an entertaining part of the NFL’s unmatched year-round appeal.”

Or, as the NFL.com’s Chad Reuter said about his mock draft: “Producing a four-round mock draft two weeks before the NFL Scouting Combine is done for one of two reasons: 1) You're certifiably insane. 2) You want a snapshot of how players are viewed going into an event many refer to as the ‘Underwear Olympics.’ I'll claim it was done for the latter reason, though most who know me will choose the former.”