.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Cleveland's quarterback picture turned murky this week, and the timing of that uncertainty works in the rookie's favor. Through the opening stretch of spring practices, the depth chart read cleanly enough: Deshaun Watson, the veteran with three Pro Bowl nods and a long NFL track record, sat in front of Shedeur Sanders heading into organized team activities.
That ranking came from reporting by Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Eight OTA sessions later, though, head coach Todd Monken says he still has no firm read on who should run his offense.
Here lies the strategic wrinkle that outsiders may be missing. Monken originally wanted his starter locked in once veteran minicamp wrapped next week, yet his recent comments suggest he's now willing to drag the evaluation deep into training camp.
For a first-year passer with only seven career starts, every extra week of indecision is a gift, because it buys Sanders more chances to close the experience gap on Watson.
"In a perfect world you'd love to have your starting quarterback, and you'd love to have your o-line set, I'm just not sure we'll be there," Monken said Wednesday.
The offensive line he referenced remains unsettled, which only compounds the holdup. Watson's reps, meanwhile, haven't separated him. Sanders flashed enough on Wednesday for Monken to praise him directly, and the coach reiterated that both arms are rotating through the same drills.
Watson's Stumbles Crack the Door Sanders Keeps Pushing Through
The most telling detail on Wednesday wasn't a stat line. It was a rep distribution. Sanders handled the bulk of first-team work and opened both 11-on-11 competitive periods, a role reversal that the Orange and Brown Talk crew of Cabot, Ashley Bastock, and host Dan Labbe flagged as significant after watching the eighth practice.
"I felt there was a paradigm shift today in this whole thing I did," Cabot said, adding that the day simply felt different from anything she'd seen before.
There's a structural reason this matters beyond one practice. Cleveland already telegraphed its priorities by dealing Myles Garrett for 25-year-old EDGE Jared Verse, a clear youth pivot.
Apply that same roster logic to the quarterback, and Sanders, more than six years younger than Watson, fits the timeline better. Watson, for his part, keeps undercutting his own case. He threw a red-zone interception to undrafted cornerback Michael Coats Jr. on Wednesday, the kind of giveaway Monken once called "embarrassing" in pass-rush-free settings.
"Shedeur has really come on, I thought he had a really good day today," Monken said.
Even so, Monken framed the competition as a wash, claiming Cleveland holds two starting-caliber options. He's also hinted he wants to see both in pads, perhaps against the Bills, before committing.
"Every day I kind of lean one way or the other," Monken said. "Each day that changes, it just does."
The clarity, if it comes, arrives at minicamp next week.
English (US)