Heading into the 2026 NFL season, Todd Monken and the Cleveland Browns have one of the most interesting quarterback rooms with Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel.
There’s a lot of speculation about who the team’s starting quarterback will be, but Hall of Famer Michael Irvin believes Monken has helped Sanders regain his confidence.
Michael Irvin is Confident About Shedeur Sanders Under Todd Monken
Going into the 2025 NFL Draft, Sanders was widely predicted to be drafted early, but he ended up falling all the way to the 144th overall pick in the fifth round by the Browns. He didn’t win the starting job from the jump, but he eventually took over after the team traded Joe Flacco, and Gabriel struggled.
In eight games (Seven started), Sanders completed 56.6% of passes for 1,400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, all while adding 169 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on the ground. In PFSN’s NFL Quarterback Impact Metric, he ranked as the third-worst-qualified quarterback (46th) with an impact score of 56.9 and a letter grade of F.
In the offseason, the team fired former head coach Kevin Stefanski, who’s now with the Atlanta Falcons, and hired Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, Monken, as their new head coach.
There’s been speculation about who the team’s starting quarterback will be next season, but Sanders has gone to great lengths to praise the new coaching staff, which has helped him regain confidence.
This sentiment has also been shared by Irvin, who said the following about Sanders on the “All the Smoke” podcast:
“Shedeur right now feels like he’s the guy in Cleveland,” Irvin said. “You feel that even with Deshaun Watson and Todd Monken, who’s come over. You saw that first interview, and he said, ‘I tried to draft you to Baltimore.’ Do ya’ll know what it means to have your coach come to you and say something like that? That little statement could be the difference between having a career and not having one.”
In PFSN’s NFL Offensive Impact Metric, Cleveland also ranked as the worst offense in the entire league. With an impact score of 52.0 and a letter grade of F, there was little to no production on that side of the ball.
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However, the team is looking to change that, and it might just be with Sanders leading the charge at quarterback. The job-rumor starting point has the NFL world split, but former Brown Robert Griffin III believes it’s “His [Shedeur’s] job to lose.”
Monken, with his experience, could elevate Sanders to a new level. The young quarterback isn’t lacking any confidence, but does he really have the potential to be a quality starter?
