QFT.
<controversial opinion warning>
I'll take that a step further and although I assume many will disagree, I think it is a point worthy of conversation. That point is regarding Jackson's handling of Kizer and the effect on Kizer's development. I've seen the opinion thrown around and pretty much accepted as truth that Hue Jackson somehow destroyed Kizer.
I can agree Hue could have handled Kizer much better and in a very different way. I would have preferred to see the offense more run based with a much more conservative passing game more suited for ball security which is Kizer's weakest point. For reasons beyond my comprehension Hue instead chose to stick fast to his vertical, risk taking pass reliant offense and that did expose Kizer more than a more conservative offense would have that was designed to minimize Kizer's weaknesses.
But for me it is far from a settled fact that Kizer is in some way ruined. For me the jury is out on this, and Kizer's ultimate destiny is up to him. I believe there is a decent chance that having gone through the fire this year, there is a decent possibility that this could ultimately accelerate Kizer's development. He lived through what could be considered a career's worth of failures and personal mistakes all in one season, and he was drinking from a fire hose for the bulk of the season before things appeared to slow down for him towards the very end of the season.
What effect all of this has on Kizer long term is really up to Kizer himself and how he processes what happened this season. Some of it might be beyond Kizer's control as far as what his true innate ceiling is when it comes to his ability to process things in real time. But whatever his ultimate ceiling is, Kizer now has a year's worth of game film and real life experience to process and improve upon. If he goes about it the right way I could see him reaching his maximum potential much sooner rather than later because of the past season, with him being tempered by fire in every way. My only question or doubt with Kizer is if he has the innate ability to process what he is seeing at the highest level and in the way necessary for him to ever become a truly good QB.
One thing I will say, I don't think Kizer was damaged psychologically the way so many people seem to assume he was. From everything I've seen coming out of this kid's mouth, he appears to be an extremely tough and resilient person right down to his core. IDK but maybe that's something Jackson saw in him that made Hue think he could subject kizer to force feeding that at times appeared to be coaching malpractice.
Only time will tell but I still think the kid could either end up being really good or he might never amount to anything. And if he ends up never being any good, he probably never had a chance due to his own innate shortcomings, not due to his mis-handling this year. I'd say in some ways he got a chance of a lifetime last season that he might have never gotten in another setting, for better or worse.
