Shedeur Sanders already off to bad start compared to Deshaun Watson at Browns OTA's

Normally, OTAs aren't a massive deal, especially when it comes to player performances. But, in the case of the Cleveland Browns, they are very important.

This year, the Browns are having a serious quarterback competition with Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel for the starting job in 2026 under Todd Monken.

Unfortunately for Sanders, according to ESPN Cleveland, the 2025 draft pick is off to a worse start to OTAs than Watson, as he looks to be a bit behind the veteran in the QB competition after the second day of OTAs.

Browns' OTA QB tracker has Sanders behind Watson

"Deshaun Watson and Sheduer Sanders are the only QBs that took reps in 11v11 drills," ESPN Cleveland reported. They then shared each quarterbacks statline from Wednesday's OTAs that were open to the media.

Sanders went 8-for-14 with one touchdown and one interception. Watson went 11-for-17 with six touchdowns and one interception. Gabriel went 1-for-3 with no touchdowns and one interception. Taylen Green didn't get any reps per this report.

Looking at the statistical profile of this OTA session won't instantly determine who the starter will be for Cleveland, but it does show who might have the leg up on the competition, which, so far, is clearly Watson.

Unfortunately for Sanders, he had a worse completion percentage and five fewer touchdowns than Watson during Wednesday's OTAs.

MORE: Taylen Green has a much higher ceiling for Browns than Shedeur Sanders

Watson has the advantage at the moment, with Sanders behind him strictly based on this OTA quarterback tracker.

Gabriel, meanwhile, looks to be firmly the third quarterback on the roster, with Watson and Sanders getting significantly more reps than him, despite Gabriel being a third-round pick from just one year ago.

There's still plenty of time for Sanders to outperform Watson, but after this OTA performance, it appears as if Sanders is a step behind Watson for the Browns' 2026 quarterback competition.

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