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The Cleveland Browns have a new look with Todd Monken as their new head coach, and now the former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator is trying to figure out who his starting quarterback is going to be in Week 1.
Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson are battling it out this offseason for the starting job, and with mandatory minicamp in the rearview mirror, the battle still isn’t settled. Monken has said that the competition will last into training camp.
While Watson is the presumed favorite after returning from multiple Achilles injuries, Sanders had a very strong minicamp and is making a real push for the job, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
"Deshaun Watson went into the spring as the clear favorite, and then Shedeur Sanders has bridged the gap at least somewhat."@JFowlerESPN believes the Browns' QB battle will go into the preseason pic.twitter.com/R1G21GO09u
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) June 18, 2026
“This is a true heated battle and this one’s only gonna heat up in training camp,” Fowler said. “Deshaun Watson went into the spring as the clear favorite, and then Shedeur Sanders has bridged the gap at least somewhat. I still believe Deshaun Watson is in a good position. I’m told he was moving like a major athlete again coming off those Achilles tears. He’s moving well, he’s fluid, looks like the athlete of old to the most extent.
“But Shedeur was decisive, I was told he’s got a presence about him that the new coaching staff noticed that they might’ve underestimated a little bit. I expect this to go into preseason games.”
Sanders got some starts last season and showed some flashes of potential, including in a game against the Tennessee Titans. However, it was mostly poor from Sanders during his rocky rookie season, leaving the door open for Watson to take the job back when he got healthy.
It still seems likely that Watson will be the starter to begin the season, but he is clearly going to have to improve from what he did in 2023 and 2024 before the injury. If he continues to play poorly like he did before he was sidelined, it won’t be too long into the regular season before Sanders gets a chance to show what he can do in Monken’s offense.
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