Browns head coach Hue Jackson announced via a statement Monday that Brock Osweiler would start the team's first preseason game over Cody Kessler and rookie DeShone Kizer:
"A lot goes into our evaluation but it’s always going to be about efficiently and effectively running the offense," Jackson said. "You want your starter to be able to do that despite any circumstance. Brock hasn’t really gotten any first team reps and this will give him that chance. We look forward to seeing what he can do with this opportunity throughout the week and against the Saints."
Related players: Isaiah Crowell, Kenny Britt, Corey Coleman
It's notable that Jackson admits Osweiler hasn't gotten any first team reps in training camp. That should be all you need to hear that this is still clearly an open competition. The first preseason game is generally the easiest for a quarterback with defenses playing vanilla schemes and starters barely playing. If Osweiler plays poorly, you can probably eliminate him from this competition.