Shedeur Sanders enters Year 2 in Cleveland rady to compete for the starting quarterback job against Deshaun Watson. The fifth-round pick made 7 starts as a rookie after beginning the season buried on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel. Now, he’s positioned to take control of a quarterback room defined by Watson’s absence and underperformance since the blockbuster 2022 trade.
Shedeur Sanders Predicted to Become Browns’ QB1
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, who covers the Browns, recently stated that Sanders is the leading candidate to become the team’s starting quarterback.
“I feel stronger than ever that Sanders, not Watson, is the favorite to win the starting job,” Jackson wrote. “Sanders is 24 and signed for three more seasons. He was never the team’s Plan A last season and might not be Plan A for the future, but giving Sanders every chance to win the job and make real progress is clearly the best option right now.”
“I think there will be a true competition,” Jackson added. “Based on the team’s history, it’s hard to predict much of anything… But I think the job is Sanders’ to lose, and we’ll all soon see what twists and turns are encountered here in Chapter 19 of the Browns’ perpetual quarterback competition.”
Sanders’ raw numbers weren’t pretty in his rookie season as he had a 56.6% completion rate, 1,400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 7 starts. But context matters. He didn’t get first-team reps until Gabriel suffered a concussion in Week 11, and his offensive line was among the worst in football.
According to PFSN’s Team OL Impact Metric, the Browns’ offensive line ranked last in the league with an impact score of 49.9 and was graded F.
Sanders’ breakout came in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans, when he threw for 364 yards with 3 passing touchdowns and a rushing score. That made him just the second rookie in the Super Bowl era to post 350-plus passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown in the same game, joining Joe Burrow.
He also became the first Browns quarterback since Derek Anderson in 2007 to record 3 passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a single contest. Sanders finished the season with 4 completions of 50-plus yards in his first 3 starts. Only Aaron Rodgers has matched that mark since 2000.
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The contrast with Watson couldn’t be starker. Since Cleveland traded three first-round picks and handed him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, he has played just 19 games out of a possible 68. He missed 11 games to suspension in 2022, 11 games to shoulder injuries in 2023, 10 games to an Achilles tear in 2024, and the entire 2025 season after re-rupturing the tendon.
When Watson has played, the results have been dismal. He posted a 9-10 record as Cleveland’s starter, and the offense failed to score more than 20 points in any of his 7 starts in 2024 before the injury.
According to PFSN’s QB Impact Metric, Watson was ranked 39th among quarterbacks for the 2024 NFL season with an impact score of 51.1.
Watson is entering the final year of his contract, but in the past, the ownership acknowledged the trade was a mistake. However, Jimmy Haslam had some positive remarks about Watson last week, and that could make the quarterback competition interesting.
