Cody Kessler

Cody Kessler

refer to caption Kessler playing for USC in 2015
No. 5 Cleveland Browns
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1993-04-11) April 11, 1993
Place of birth:	Bakersfield, California
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Bakersfield (CA) Centennial
College:	Southern California
NFL draft:	2016 / Round: 3 / Pick: 93
Career history
Cleveland Browns (2016–present)
Roster status:	Unsigned draft pick
Career highlights and awards
USA Today High School All-American (2010) Las Vegas Bowl MVP (2013) 3× Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (2014)
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Cody Kessler (born May 11, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans. He was drafted by the Browns with the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft.

Early years

Kessler attended Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California. As a senior, he threw for 2,831 yards and 36 touchdowns. He was the California Gatorade Football Player of the Year. He was ranked as the second best pro-style quarterback recruit by Rivals.com.

College career

2011–2012

Kessler was redshirted in 2011. In 2012 he was a backup to Matt Barkley. He completed two passes for nine yards.

2013

In 2013 he competed with Max Wittek for the starting quarterback job. He ended up winning the job from Wittek. His first pass touchdown came in the season opener against Hawaii to Nelson Agholor for 19 yards on August 29, 2013. He was 25-for-37 for 288 yards and a touchdown in an upset win against Stanford to receive Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Kessler led USC to a 10–4 record, finishing the year 7–2 under interim head coaches Ed Orgeron and Clay Helton. Kessler was 22-for-30 for 345 yards with a career-best 4 touchdowns in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl rout over Fresno State, and received MVP honors. For the season he completed 236 of 361 passes for 2,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

2014

USC hired former USC assistant and University of Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian to replace interim head coach Ed Orgeron. Despite it being an open competition, Kessler beat out Max Browne and Jalen Greene for the quarterback spot. On August 30, 2014 Kessler threw for a career-high 394 yards and accounted for 4 total touchdowns against Fresno State, leading to his first of three designations as Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. On October 18, Kessler accounted for seven touchdowns against Colorado, the most ever by a USC quarterback, leading to his second designation as Offensive Player of the week. In the final game of the regular season, Kessler threw six touchdowns against the rival Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the most touchdowns thrown by a single quarterback against the Irish in the 127-year history of the program, leading one Los Angeles Times writer to label him a potential 2015 Heisman Trophy candidate. This achievement led to his third designation as Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, tying him with Marcus Mariota for the most designations for the 2014 season. He finished the season completing 315 of 452 passes for 3,826 yards with 39 touchdowns and five interceptions.

2015

As a senior he started all 14 games and completed 298 of 446 passes for 3,536 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He finished his career with 10,339 yards, 88 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
6 ft 1 in	220 lb	​32 5⁄8 in	​10 7⁄8 in	4.89 s				7.32 s	29.5 in	8 ft 8 in
All values from NFL Combine,

Kessler was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

External links

• USC Trojans bio Archive copy at the Wayback Machine