Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders have been mostly alternating days running with the first team in Cleveland Browns training camp. New head coach Todd Monken is giving all his quarterbacks an extended look before he makes a decision, including Dillon Gabriel, who has been earning himself more looks and may be pushing to take backup QB duties.
Browns fans are itching to know who the starter is going to be, but a decision likely won’t come until at least after the second preseason game since Monken is going to give Sanders and Watson a start each to prove themselves. However, recent developments indicate that Monken may be tipping his hand as Saturday’s practice represented quite the turn of events.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot recently wrote about Saturday’s practice, and the most notable news was that Sanders was projected to get the first-team reps for the day. Things didn’t exactly unfold that way as Watson wound up taking all the first-team reps and Gabriel even ate into Sanders’ second-team reps.
“But Monken reversed field and gave all the starting reps to Watson, who’s gained momentum in the two-way battle over the past four days. It meant Watson has been QB1 for three of the last four practices,” Cabot wrote.
Watson has thrown a whole lot of interceptions in camp, but if things are headed this way, it’s tough to envision Sanders overtaking him since he has reportedly been outperforming Watson throughout most of camp. If that’s the case, there might not be anything he can do to win this job and the ultimate decision may come down to the fact that this team simply wants to give Watson one more chance to prove himself before moving on for good.
The Browns also recouped over $88 million this summer due to the insurance they have on Watson’s contract, and it sounds cynical, but if Watson gets hurt again, they can get out from even more of his money. The investment has been such an abject disaster that it’s tough to rule anything out at this point, but the Browns have nothing to lose at this point.
No explanation is off the table if he is truly being outperformed in camp yet is projected to start anyway. Ownership had a bizarre change of tune earlier in the offseason and put support behind Watson being the starter despite calling the trade a huge swing and a miss last offseason.
Watson taking more first-team reps in practice is a telling development, but a lot will likely come down to what happens in his preseason start.
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