Will Shedeur Sanders be the Week 1 starter for the Cleveland Browns? Expect to hear that question asked a million times between now and September.
Sanders, the 144th overall pick from last year's draft, finished completed 56.6% of his passes as a rookie for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Although it wasn't a transcendent season by any means, he expressed a ton of confidence heading into the offseason.
“I think I did what I was able to do, and I definitely grew from a lot of things, and I got experience now,” Sanders said. “So, I’m always the same, confidence-wise, I’m there. But like, that’s not in my hands. Like, that’s not my decision. I can’t speak on what other people feel.”
Browns head coach Todd Monken has already said he won't name a Week 1 starter anytime soon. That being said, his way-too-early depth chart may have been leaked this Tuesday.
Yahoo Sports reporter Jori Epstein shared footage of Sanders taking first-team reps at the start of voluntary veteran minicamp. Deshaun Watson, meanwhile, was taking second-team reps.
As of now, it seems like Sanders has the early lead in this battle for the starting job. Of course, it's also possible the first-team reps go to Watson next time he steps on the field.
“The number of reps a player gets doesn’t eliminate competition. It’s just in a given day, let’s say for instance, you want to see a quarterback with the first group, the second group, the third group. Well, are you going to divide those reps up evenly? Are you going to divide up the reps everywhere evenly? I don’t see it that way,” Monken previously said. “That doesn’t mean there’s not competition. I just see it as in a given day, and it’ll be daily in terms of who gets what reps and when, because we certainly want to allocate our reps to the players we feel like are going to give us the best chance to win."
Making a strong impression on Cleveland's new coaching staff.
During the NFL's annual league meeting in late March, Monken revealed that Sanders has been at the Browns facility “a bunch” over the past few months. Interestingly enough, Dillon Gabriel didn't make a huge effort to get on the same page with Monken's staff.
If Sanders shows a bit more consistency under center, there's a chance he'll be the full-time starter for the Browns.
On the other hand, the Browns could completely throw a wrench in Sanders' plans by drafting a quarterback later this week.
