Todd Monken sees “elite playmaking” in Shedeur Sanders, but does he see a starting quarterback?
Monken said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that the Browns will have an open quarterback competition between Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel during the spring.
In the first-year head coach’s ideal world, a starter would emerge from the mostly voluntary portion of the offseason and the Browns will go into training camp distributing the reps based on the depth chart.
Watson, who is in the final year of a disastrous five-year, $250 million fully guaranteed contract, missed all of last season due to injury.
Gabriel was a 2025 third-round pick who went 1-5 while throwing seven touchdowns and two interceptions as a rookie.
Sanders was a 2025 fifth-round pick who went 3-4 while throwing seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a rookie.
The Ravens, with Monken as their offensive coordinator, wanted to draft Sanders to backup two-time MVP Lamar Jackson before the Browns selected him, but Sanders let it be known that he only wanted to play somewhere that he had a chance to be the starter.
“I think what you see is elite playmaking ability,” Monken said. “That’s in him. You’ve seen it, we’ve seen it, you saw it in college, you saw it on tape last year. Sure there’s a ways to go, but what rookie isn’t? What first-year player doesn’t have a long way to go? I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
Why is Watson still worth considering in the mix? Since his last of three straight Pro Bowls in 2020, Watson has played in just 17 games due to a variety of suspensions and injuries.
“Any time you have a player that at one time has exhibited the skill set at an elite level, I think you are always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow we might be able to get that out of them again,” Monken said. “I think that’s how you should look at every player. I’m going to let it play out.
“I think it would be completely unfair – just like it would be in any classroom setting, if you have a history exam and all the students walk in and before they are actually given them the exam you give them a grade. How would you give them a grade? Based on male, female, race, how they look, how they are dressed? Now you are going to have some preconceived notions because we have prior evidence, but I don’t decide who plays. The players decide who plays.”