On paper, the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback competition had only just begun when the pads went on at training camp. But so far, second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been outplaying his counterpart, 30-year-old veteran Deshaun Watson, every step of the way. For all the people banking on No. 4 to start for the Browns this season, the early camp results have painted a grim picture, and former Browns linebacker Emmanuel Acho has just said what’s on everyone’s mind: Watson is losing his job at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea.

“He’s currently playing himself out of a starting job,” Acho said on the Speakeasy podcast. “If you’re Deshaun Watson, you got 48 to 60 million reasons why the Browns have to start you. They will start you unless you go out there, and you have a 2-to-1 interception-to-touchdown ratio, not touchdowns-interception, interception-to-touchdown ratio in practice. Myles Garrett’s not even out there right now. So for me, Deshaun, it’s your job to lose. You are snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.

“What are we doing right now? The coach all but said before the season that it was your job. There were reports saying it’s your job. Everybody was saying it’s your job, but you are playing yourself out of a starting job. So, to me, Deshaun doesn’t have that job, so sold up to five that Shedeur can’t come and take it. And then we also know Shedeur got a little ‘IT’ to him; Shedeur got a little moxy to him… So Deshaun, if you mess around, Shedeur will come take this job. Your job is to keep the foot on the starting job’s net and don’t relent. So, I’m sad for what Deshaun got going right now.”

The numbers back Acho’s take more than anything else. Through the first week of training camp, Sanders went 64 of 91, completing 70.3% of his passes, and throwing four touchdowns against a single interception. Watson, meanwhile, struggled with accuracy, going 58 of 90 with a 64.4% completion rate, throwing 3 touchdowns against 6 interceptions, hence Acho’s 2:1 INT: TD ratio.

Even Dillon Gabriel, sitting third on the depth chart, had a better camp by himself, posting a 71.7% completion rate alongside 3 touchdowns and three picks. With both second-year QBs outperforming the veteran, things don’t look too good for Watson.

Now, on the same podcast, LeSean McCoy made the case that Watson will still be the starter for the Browns come Week 1, but only because he accounts for a $40.9M cap hit in his last contract year. The 19 starts he has given Cleveland since 2022 haven’t been anywhere near enough to make up for the massive $230M contract the Browns gambled and lost on him. This is the last year for him to give the Browns some returns on that deal. Now, if Watson’s camp struggles spill over into the regular season, McCoy believes Shedeur could start “real early.”

Shedeur Sanders’ dad, the legendary Deion ‘Coach Prime’ Sanders, also met with head coach Todd Monken recently to talk about all things football and how to get the best out of Shedeur. The 24-year-old has handled outside noise, as well as the heated QB competition inside, with such intensity that the battle, which looked decided earlier in the offseason, has now blown wide open. That’s exactly where Emmanuel Acho’s warning fits.

“It’s not even that I’m surprised, I’m disappointed,” Acho said. “Deshaun, you got another opportunity. Like, the owner [last] offseason said we made a mistake with the Deshaun Watson contract, yet you still on the roster. You still taking reps with the ones. You still supposed to be the first-teamer, and you’re going to squander this opportunity? You don’t have that luxury.”

There’s still a lot of camp left, giving Watson ample opportunities to turn things around. But if Shedeur Sanders continues to turn up the heat as he has all offseason, the QB1 battle might be over sooner than anyone expected.