Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson get update on Browns QB1 job

Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson get update on Browns QB1 job originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Cleveland Browns have one of the more interesting decisions to make in all of the NFL over the next few months. With Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson on the roster, both capable of being the QB1 for this organization, we figured to get a quarterback battle, and what will be one of the more talked-about battles in the NFL this offseason.

There seemed to have been an assumption that Watson was going to win the job, but according to the latest report from Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, there’s no guarantee that’s the case any longer. 

Cabot reported that, given how Sanders has grasped the offense recently, there’s now a sense he could be QB1, or at least give Todd Monken some time to make his final decision.

“While it appeared for much of the offseason program that Deshaun Watson had the edge over Sanders based on his superior athleticism and experience, Sanders seemed to have narrowed the gap the past couple of weeks with his grasp of the playbook and increased efficiency in practice,” Cabot said. 

“By the final week of OTAs, coach Todd Monken had hedged on having his quarterback depth chart set coming out of minicamp, and might hold off on naming or even determining his QB1 unit sometime during training camp.”

There’s probably no right or wrong answer here for the Browns. On the one hand, starting Watson because of how much money he makes may be the better idea. 

On the other hand, because Sanders might have more potential at this stage of Watson’s career, starting the soon-to-be second-year quarterback might be more favorable from the fan base. Regardless, that’s something Monken has to decide on, and it’s not going to be an easy choice right now.

More NFL news: