DeShone Kizer Not Picked in 1st Round of 2017 NFL Draft; Possible Landing Spots

DeShone Kizer, who looked like a potential late first-round pick after quarterbacks went flying off the board early in Thursday's first round, will have to wait until (at least) Day 2 to hear his name called at the 2017 NFL draft.

Kizer was not among the 32 names called by Roger Goodell, which isn't much of a surprise given where he stood heading into the draft. Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes had established themselves as the clear top three quarterbacks in the draft.

However, the rapidity with which they came off the board likely gave Kizer some hope. Trubisky was a surprise selection at No. 2 to the Chicago Bears, while Mahomes went No. 10 to the Kansas City Chiefs and Watson to the Houston Texans at No. 12.

That led to some understandable speculation that Kizer would slide in at the end of Round 1. The San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns both passed on quarterbacks despite having an obvious need, and they even traded back into the late first round. 

Both still passed on Kizer. The Browns added Miami tight end David Njoku for that quarterback they're probably going to draft at some point, while the 49ers selected Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster in perhaps the day's best value play.

Kizer's absolute best-case scenario at this point appears to be the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 35, though that would send a clear message to incumbent starter Blake Bortles. The New York Jets are there at No. 39 and passed on a quarterback in Round 1, and the Arizona Cardinals sit at No. 45 with a need for a Carson Palmer successor.

It's tough to say whether any of those teams will take Kizer because they have needs elsewhere. Once the quarterbacks fall out of the first round, it's a clear indication that teams aren't sold on their long-term value.

Guys like Matt Barkley, Connor Cook and Bryce Petty have come into drafts in recent years with potential early second-round hype and wound up falling all the way into Round 4. Smart money is on one of those aforementioned teams hoping Kizer's physical skill set pans out, but it's really a roll of the dice at this point.