The Cleveland Browns have been building an excellent roster over the last few seasons. But with the Myles Garrett blockbuster trade, it became woefully clear that their focus has now shifted to the future to build out a perennial contender.
However, the most important position in the sport remains a question mark for them. With Deshaun Watson returning from injury, early reports indicated that he had a sizeable lead over all other candidates. But, as the offseason wears on, their starter coming out of last season, Shedeur Sanders, is inching closer to his level.
Shedeur Sanders Isn’t Out of the Running Against Deshaun Watson Yet
Last year, the injury to Watson, which kept him out for the entire season, left the Browns in flux. As a result, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Sanders all got extended runs at the starting quarterback spot.
None of the three were particularly impressive, but Sanders did just enough to earn some votes of approval. Starting the final seven games of the year, he averaged less than 200 passing yards per game with eight total touchdowns to his name.
As a result, he finished third-to-last on PFSN’s QB Impact Metric. Still, there remained some optimism about his growth, particularly in the long run, with no other alternative to consider. However, new head coach Todd Monken has been open to the possibility of Watson.
As a result, the scales were tilting in his favor. But the newest report from Mary Kay Cabot from their minicamp suggests that the hope for the second-generation star to take over the reins isn’t a lost cause yet.
“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 wrote.
Rather than having a set idea about his quarterbacks by the end of minicamp, there seems to be a shift in Monken’s thinking now. “By the final week of OTAs, Todd Monken hedged on having his quarterback depth chart set coming out of minicamp, and might hold off on naming or even determining his QB1 until sometime during training camp.”
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She explained the rationale from their new head coach, adding, “The thinking seems to be that with Sanders showing so much progress throughout OTAs, Monken might want to see how he fares when the pads come on in training camp, as well as in joint practices against the Bills and preseason games.”
It remains to be seen if the last few weeks and his natural progression from rookie to sophomore can cause a complete metamorphosis in Sanders. But, for the long-term outlook that the Browns are now adopting, he would be a far better option than Watson for the franchise.
“Sanders learns best by doing, and the more he took the playbook to the grass, the better he fared,” Cabot added. So far, that has directly translated to the results fans and the organization are seeing on the field.
The question for Monken remains whether that growth is sustainable and whether it could become the answer if it continues on that trajectory.
