Andrew Buller-Russ
The Cleveland Browns are close to kicking off a new season, and they may have a new starting quarterback. Last year, Deshaun Watson didn’t play a single snap. His absence helped allow fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders to break through by making seven starts in his first season. Now, the two find themselves in a competition for the starting QB job in Cleveland.
While Watson is the seven-year veteran, both players are learning a new offensive system now that Todd Monken has taken over as head coach, so there’s no advantage there. Still, one would think that Watson, a three-time Pro Bowl QB, would have a head start. That may not be the case.
Recently, Browns general manager Andrew Berry took to 92.3 The Fan to rave about the 24-year-old Sanders, touting the “phenomenal growth” seen from the former Colorado QB since he arrived as the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“The past eight-to-10 weeks — and really, probably beyond that, probably the past six months, with as a rookie player in particular a quarterback, you learn a lot your first year. And especially if you don’t start a full season and you go through the year, adjustment going into the NFL, and then you get a chance to catch your breath and say, here are the things that we need to work on, here are the things I need to learn. And I think he did a phenomenal job this offseason. That really started in January and February. As we got into having real practices in May, his growth has been tremendous. So, we’re all very excited to see Shedeur’s fall camp, preseason, things of that nature when we get into padded situations, live situations, less scripted. But his growth has truly been phenomenal.”
That sounds like a general manager who’s more than impressed with his own draft selection. The question is, will coach Todd Monken have a mandate to start a specific quarterback, or will he be given a chance to control his own destiny? A true competition should play out on the field, in the meeting rooms, and in the locker room, not behind closed doors.
If Sanders has truly grown to the level that Berry suggests, there’s no reason why he couldn’t emerge as the Browns’ starting quarterback in time for Week 1. Does Monken feel the same way? And does he have control over which players are in the starting lineup, or are those decisions partially influenced by the general manager?
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