The Cleveland Browns are still undecided on who will start the season as their quarterback, with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders battling directly for the job. While the public would be more interested to see Sanders, Watson’s experience is his biggest weapon in the battle, and this could be the difference.
On Wednesday, after another practice where both quarterbacks fought for the job, the reactions to Watson’s performance in training camp now have analysts believing he’ll get the job. Even if he struggles in the regular season and Todd Monken makes a quarterback change, the signs are promising for the veteran.
Browns Insider Believes Deshaun Watson Will Be the Starter in Week 1
Monken, who worked with Lamar Jackson for the past three seasons, knows the difference that an elite, efficient quarterback can make. He doesn’t want to waste time with Sanders learning things on the field, especially as a new head coach who wants to make an impression.
While Sanders is reportedly much improved in processing the game and in his progressions since the end of the 2025 season, Watson, for all his struggles, knows how to manage a game and lead a team.
And that’s why Browns analyst Mary Kay Cabot believes that he’ll get the nod when the season starts, as she explained on “The Ken Carman Show With Anthony Lima” on Thursday:
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“I really felt like yesterday turned the tide back towards Deshaun a little bit,” Cabot said. “You don’t want to overreact to one practice… He just looks the part of an NFL starting quarterback.”
“If the season started tomorrow, I think it would be Deshaun,” Cabot continued. “I still think it is a competition, and I don’t think Todd is going to call it yet, but I think he’s been dropping some breadcrumbs along the way here and there.
“He talks about you have to be elite at cadence if you want to be an elite offense. And which of those two guys is more elite at cadence? Deshaun showed yesterday in drawing Jared Verse offsides twice on fourth down that he’s elite at cadence… So there are certain things that he is ready to do right now that I think Shedeur is still learning.”
“I really felt like yesterday turned the tide back towards Deshaun a little bit…you don’t want to overreact to one practice. He just looks the part of an NFL starting QB. There are certain things that he is ready to do right now that I think Shedeur is still learning.”
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 6, 2026
Cabot also praised the second-year quarterback, noting that he “has come up the learning curve, phenomenally,” but she still thinks Monken will play the quarterback with the most experience in the league.
Dillon Gabriel, who has impressed in the training camp, is currently not considered to be a serious candidate in the battle to be the No. 1 quarterback.
Sanders will have to prove on the field that he can lead his team. In 2025, he threw for 1,400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, winning 3 out of 7 games as a starter. His performances were hardly impressive, and he was ranked as No. 37, second-worst in the league, in our PFN QB Impact Metric last season with a 63.0 impact score.
Watson missed the entire 2025 season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon and re-injuring his tendon during the recovery process. He’s in the final year of his fully guaranteed deal with the Browns, who, at this point, certainly regret the investment made in 2022.
