Cleveland Browns finished the 2025 season with a 5-12 record and finished fourth in the AFC North. With Deshaun Watson missing the entire season after re-rupturing his Achilles tendon, the Browns turned to Dillon Gabriel and eventually Shedeur Sanders, who stepped into the starting role after Gabriel suffered a concussion against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Browns' offense struggled to get going. The key reasons behind the struggle were their heavy reliance on youth, the rookie quarterbacks and pass protection issue. While Shedeur Sanders did show some moments of magic during the last seven games of the season, there were still some serious doubts about his ability to lead the offense.
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It's a new season but Todd Monken and the Browns' search for their QB1 between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson continues. Todd Monken is yet to announce who will lead the Browns to start the 2026 season, which means there is still everything to play for between Sanders and Watson.
While Deshaun Watson seems to have completely recovered from his season-ending injury, there was a report claiming that Shedeur Sanders was dealing with blisters on his throwing hand, which was making it difficult for the former Colorado quarterback to throw.
In his latest press conference, Shedeur Sanders, addressing the report, said, "No that happened this past offseason getting back into it, just from throwing a lot. "
"Honestly, that's where it came from. And it's all healed up now. But that was a thing, I would say, at the start of training camp and everything that we just had to work through and be able to figure out," he added.
Shedeur Sanders has made a strong case for himself in the QB1 battle but it's still early to say that he has the edge over Deshaun Watson. The preseason games will be important in determining who leads the Browns into the 2026 regular season.
