In an ideal world, Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken would have found his QB1 by now. However, that has not been the case, as the new HC is still assessing the two talented options he has on his roster. The answer to the Browns QB conundrum was first addressed early in the offseason without a definitive answer, but now that even the mandatory veteran minicamp is done, the decision between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders will move into training camp.

“We’ll alternate those guys,” Todd Monken said when asked who gets the first-team reps at training camp.

Reporters then asked him whether he’d have the quarterback depth chart sorted by Week 2 of training camp, and Monken still left it up in the air.

“That’d be great,” Monken said. “I don’t know if I will. I’d love to have it now. We just don’t.”

At the start of these mandatory minicamps, Monken had made it clear there was no favorite between Shedeur and Watson for the starting job. For the head coach, both quarterbacks had “played well enough to earn the right to compete to start” heading into the minicamp. But the Browns did notice a shift right away.

Sanders took all the first-team reps on Tuesday, the first day of the mandatory minicamp. Watson took the bulk of the reps on Day 2. But what was an “inside track” to QB1 for Watson is now an uphill climb because of the progress Sanders has shown this offseason. When asked about what Monken saw from Sanders in this minicamp, the coach seemed impressed, even as he gave a clear message on what Sanders still has to improve.

“Doing a better job, I think he’s being more decisive,” Monken said. “Now, it’s easy to say we’re not in pads. It just feels like he’s making quicker decisions. The ball’s coming out of his hands, which he’s gonna have to do. Not that he doesn’t have playmaking ability, cause he does. But his ability to process quicker and get the ball out of his hands and eliminate lost yards is gonna be huge for us to be able to stack plays and score, which is ultimately the number one thing.”

In Colorado, Sanders tended to hold on to the ball too long and absorbed a lot of punishment in return. Those woes followed him to the NFL. Across the eight games he appeared in last season, he threw 10 picks, got sacked 23 times, and completed just 56.6% of his passes. Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers gave us the clearest example of this when Sanders averaged a 3.37-second throwing time – the longest any Browns quarterback had taken to get rid of the ball in three years. But he’s had a whole offseason to work on those flaws, and the coaches are liking what they see.

“In the past 10 or 12 weeks or whatever it’s been,” quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian said about Sanders, “he’s done a great job of defining his footwork, playing with a base, learning the offense, working his bu** off to really master his craft, and it has been fun to watch. – He’s getting through progressions faster, and his feet are matching that mindset.”

But while Shedeur Sanders is making progress, Deshaun Watson isn’t waiting around either. The veteran quarterback knows what’s at stake and has been clear about how he’s handling the pressure from the Dawg Pound, as well as the quarterback competition itself.

Deshaun Watson blocking outside noise

On Wednesday, Watson was asked how he feels about competing against Shedeur and what kind of relationship they have developed so far. Watson spoke about his ties to the Sanders family and then leveled the playing field.

“I mean, it’s been good,” Watson said, per the Browns’ official website. “I think from the time he got drafted, the relationships and conversations have been growing, even during the pre-draft. And I’ve known the Sanders family – I’ve known his brother all the way back when he was at SMU. Coach Chad Morris was there. I used to go out there and hang out with the team, and his brother was one of the players.”

“So, me and his family got a good relationship, and we always just try to pull for each other,” Watson continued. “So, we both have the opportunity to go out there and put out the best product for the team and let Monken and the organization choose who goes out there, and we’re going to support each other.”

Then there’s the matter of the fanbase itself. Legal troubles in 2022 landed him an 11-week suspension from the league. He broke a bone in his throwing shoulder the next season and got sidelined. By 2024, he’d already lost the Dawg Pound. Cleveland was so disappointed with its $230 million investment that when Watson tore his Achilles and got carted off, the Dawg Pound actually cheered.

Watson knows he cannot erase that from Cleveland’s history. Moreover, the city has been in Shedeur Sanders’ corner since last season. Watson has a chance at redemption this year, but can he shake off a whole season’s worth of rust and sway the voices screaming Shedeur’s name?

“I can’t control what the fans [do] and how they approach me or approach any other person that walks out there,” Watson said. “At the end of the day, when I step in between the lines, I gotta lock in on the task at hand. And that’s just winning and being successful. So, my mentality is in between the lines – block out the good or the bad, whatever comes with it, and just go out there and execute and play at a high level and try my best to win the game for us.”

Deshaun Watson came into this offseason with a clear road to QB1, but Shedeur Sanders has closed that gap significantly during minicamp. Todd Monken’s message about processing speed is the exact barrier Sanders must clear at training camp. If he doesn’t, this battle might be his to lose now.