Kizer's climb

Former second-round pick on third team in three years

Long after practice has ended and players have wrapped up their meetings and gone home for the night, DeShone Kizer can usually be found sitting by himself in a room watching videos of practice and games.

Having been picked up off waivers from Green Bay in early September, Kizer didn’t have the luxury of learning Jon Gruden’s offense in the offseason or training camp. And because most of his time in practice with the Raiders had been spent running the scout team, the former second-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns has had to take it upon himself to play catch-up with the rest of the team.

“He’s a football junkie,” Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “He’s spent a lot of time by himself down in the quarterback room learning the offense.” It paid off, too. Kizer was elevated to the backup job behind starter Derek Carr for Oakland’s Week 14 game against the Tennessee Titans. Kizer didn’t get into the game — he spent most of the afternoon wearing a baseball cap standing on the sidelines — but it was a significant moment nonetheless for a player who has had very few of those since entering the NFL with high hopes two years ago.