DeShone Kizer was thrilled to see his patience rewarded after he was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

Notre Dame quarterback Kizer was left to wait in the green room during Thursday's first round as he was the only one of the consensus top-four passers not to be taken.

He did not attend day two of the draft in Philadelphia but saw his slide ended at pick number 52 by a team close to home.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Kizer will not have a long journey to join up with his new team and said the end result made him less concerned about dropping out of the opening round.

"The wait was well worth it now that I'm going to be able to stay at home and call myself a Cleveland Brown," Kizer said.

He is now focused on fine-tuning aspects of his game that need improvement, adding: "I believe there is a lot of potential. I believe there is a lot of room for growth.

"I think coaches like [head] coach [Hue] Jackson and [quarterbacks] coach [David] Lee will be able to make some of these things a little more consistent."

Jackson, meanwhile, said: "He's a big, strong quarterback who can make all of the throws that I think anybody needs to make in the National Football League.

"He's intelligent. He has the characteristics that we’re looking for."