Former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders is one of the league’s most scrutinized players, a trend that is set to continue during his sophomore season in Cleveland. Sanders is currently locked in one of the NFL’s closest QB1 battles with veteran Deshaun Watson, who is returning from a long-term injury.
Analyst Champions Shedeur Sanders as Browns’ QB1 over Deshaun Watson
During Tuesday’s segment of “The Ken Carman Show With Anthony Lima” on 92.3 The Fan, analyst Jason Lloyd revealed his preference for Browns coach Todd Monken to pick Sanders as his QB1 over Watson next season.
“If you’re gonna make me, if my options were Deshaun or Shedeur, I’ll take Shedeur every time,” Lloyd said. “I don’t see any path of any sort of future with Deshaun, so why even bother? But I don’t have a lot of faith in either of these guys. No, I don’t, and I’m in the class that thinks that they’ll probably draft a quarterback in 2027, and it’s up to Shedeur to prove everybody wrong on that. I don’t expect Todd Monken to say anything differently than what he’s already said.”
“I have no interest in watching Deshaun Watson take another snap for the Browns,” he added. “There’s too much history, there’s too many skeletons, there’s too much baggage. I thought they should’ve moved on from him. I don’t wanna hear that they couldn’t afford to move on with the cap; yes, they could have. If the Broncos could figure it out with Russell Wilson, there was a path. They chose not to take it.”
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Sanders has had a difficult path to the starting job after experiencing one of the most shocking slides in draft history, going from a potential top-10 pick to the No. 144 selection by the Browns last year.
“I have no interest in watching Deshaun Watson take another snap for the Browns. There’s too much baggage, I thought they should’ve moved on. If the Broncos could figure it out with Russel Wilson, there was a path. They chose not to take it.”
📞@ByJasonLloyd is completely out on… pic.twitter.com/JkL2q2N6po
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) July 28, 2026
The former Buffs star was buried in the QB depth chart behind Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel at the start of the season. His prospects improved after Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals and Gabriel was ruled out because of a concussion, handing him his first NFL start in Week 12.
Sanders earned the league’s second-worst PFN QB Impact score of 63.0 last season after tallying 1,400 passing yards on 56.6% completion, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
On the other hand, Watson has presented a unique conundrum to the Browns after signing a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract after being traded from the Houston Texans in 2022.
His stint in Cleveland has been a huge letdown, immediately missing 11 games of his debut season because of sexual harassment allegations.
In 2023, Watson missed 11 games after suffering a rotator cuff injury, and his absence was compounded in 2024 when he ruptured his Achilles tendon, forcing him to miss the last 10 games of the season. He missed the entire 2025 season after re-rupturing his Achilles tendon and has only played 19 games for the Browns.
