BEREA, Ohio -- Cody Kessler is the man to beat in an open quarterback competition 'and they've got to take it from him,' Hue Jackson said Saturday.

He said Kessler will be his starting quarterback in organized team activities and that Brock Osweiler, Kevin Hogan and rookie DeShone Kizer will have to beat him out.

"Obviously Cody will start this out,'' said Jackson. "He deserves the opportunity to.''

He stressed that "this thing's open, it really is'' but that it's Kessler's job to lose.

He said the starter for the mandatory minicamp in June will be determined when the time comes, but for now, it's Kessler's job.

"Cody has done a great job and that's the reason why I brought his name up first,'' said Jackson. "He's really improved, he's worked his tail off and he deserves the right and the opportunity to walk in this building and walk out there first. And they've got to take it from him. You know, they better take it from him because I know him and he's not going to give it up.

"So it'll be fun. That's what competition's all about. So until someone takes something from someone and shows that they can do it at a high level play in and play out we've got to keep going in the direction we're traveling.''

Jackson noted that "they'll all get reps. Brock is here and Kevin too. But this young man [Kizer] is going to get reps. The only way he's going to get better is to get reps, so I'll find a way. I've been through this before a few times. so we'll get these guys reps and he has to take some, cause I've got to continue to evaluate him."

Jackson said Osweiler, acquired in a trade with the Texans during the free agency frenzy largely so the Browns could add the extra second-round pick, has a chance to compete just like the others.

"He's here, and as I said from the beginning, if a guy's in our locker room we're going to treat him like any of our other players,'' said Jackson. "In this league we all know you can't have enough good quarterbacks, enough guys to train at the position. You never know how it's going to unfold and things do happen. But he's competing, he's done a good job, he's been great in the room with the guys. He's been as good a person in the building.''

That doesn't mean, however, that Osweiler is No. 2 behind Kessler by virtue of his experience. In fact, Osweiler, 26, is the only quarterback on the roster who's won a game. He went 8-6 last season in Houston and 5-2 the year before in Denver.

"I don't look at it that way,'' said Jackson. "Brock is learning our system, learning the things that we do at the position. The other guys have done it, they've been through the process with me and understand how to play. That doesn't mean that he can't have an opportunity to exceed or succeed anybody.''

He noted that Kessler's starting status begins in OTAs later this month and that they'll evaluate it from there. The mandatory minicamp is June 13-15.

"We'll let the mandatory minicamp show itself when it's time to get there,'' Jackson said. "We have a lot of work as a football team, as an offensive unit, as a quarterback room to get to the minicamp. We're just going to let it all sort itself out, but give guys opportunities to showcase their talent and ability.''

Jackson put a ton on Kizer's plate during this rookie camp to see how he'd handle it, and the rookie rose to the occasion. Kizer completed some nice passes, especially to first-round tight end David Njoku, but also misfired some balls and was picked off a few times. All in all, though, he got dozens of reps and began to learn the complex terminology of Jackson's playbook.

"He takes coaching well,'' said Jackson. "I'm not babying him - that's for sure - because the other teams won't baby him, either. He just has to get used to it, and I think he has. He's been outstanding that way. He gets it. He knows that my charge for him is a consistency level at a high level all of the time, and that is not going to happen in two days. I don't expect it to happen in two days. How long is it going to take? I don't know that, but I know we are going to do everything we can to get him there."

In the meantime, Kessler, who went 0-8 last season behind a battered offensive line, will have a chance to build on his promising rookie year. He posted 100-plus ratings in three games, and finished with a 92.3 mark. He also completed 65.6 percent of his passes with six TDs and only two interceptions. What's more, he worked on his biggest weakness, the long ball.

"I definitely spent countless hours in the weight room and out on the field and really, really emphasized pushing the ball down field and different things with my mechanics - obviously, it has to transition over when the bullets start flying - that have helped me out a ton,'' Kessler said at the start of the offseason program last month.