DeShone Kizer promoted to No. 2 QB role

DeShone Kizer has been elevated to the Raiders No. 2 QB role, usurping Mike Glennon, who will now transition into a reserve role as a glorified clip board holder.

It’s unclear at this point if Kizer earned his promotion with strong practices, or if Glennon simply lost his grip on the spot by playing poorly. Glennon was downright abysmal in his limited time taking over for Derek Carr late in the third quarter of the Raiders 34-3 loss to the Jets in Week 12.

He fumbled three snaps, losing one while going 4 of 7 passing for 20 yards. With the game well out of reach the following week against the Chiefs, it was telling that Glennon was not reinserted onto the field. Jon Gruden had likely seen enough.

It’s hard to believe, but Kizer is still only 23 years old and won’t turn 24 until next month. He may have grown a considerable amount since his last start with the Cleveland Browns in 2017, but his numbers across his young career are pretty damning.

Kizer had an 0-15 record as a the starter for a winless Browns team, completing 53.6 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Those aren’t exactly inspiring numbers, but the rest of his team didn’t do much to help him. In limited snaps with the Packers last season, he went 20 of 42 passing with zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

Kizer got things going with his feet in Cleveland, carrying the ball 77 times for 419 yards and 5 touchdowns. And Gruden previously expressed that Kizer was initially brought in mostly to be the scout team quarterback to emulate opposing running quarterbacks.

He’s been a healthy scratch every week thus far, but now will be called on in the event of a Derek Carr injury, benching, or another blowout.