Watson, Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green populate the Cleveland quarterback room


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It's not even May yet, but the Browns and new head coach Todd Monken have an early leader in their quarterback competition. According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, Deshaun Watson has the upper hand over Shedeur Sanders -- and the inside track to the starting job -- after the team's first voluntary minicamp in which the embattled veteran got the lion's share of first-team reps.

Sanders did get a share of first-team reps, but his chances paled in comparison to Watson's. Dillon Gabriel, who was picked two rounds before Sanders in last year's draft, did not get any first-team reps. The team also selected Taylen Green, an extremely athletic but raw quarterback prospect, in the sixth round this year.

Monken wants to name his starter by the end of the team's June 9-11 minicamp.

Watson, 30, has been a major disappointment in Cleveland ever since the Browns acquired him from the Texans and then gave him an unprecedented fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal. Watson, who was facing several civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, didn't play at all for Houston in 2021 and was later suspended the first 11 games of 2022. He had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2023, tore his Achilles midway through the 2024 season and retore it a few months later.

When he has been on the field, Watson has been awful. Among 48 quarterbacks with at least 500 dropbacks from 2022-24, Watson ranked ...

o 47th in net yards per attempt
o 47th in expected points added per play
o 47th in explosive plays per dropback
o 47th in sack rate
o 46th in negative play rate

But with the slate seemingly wiped clean, Browns owner Jimmy Haslem endorsed Watson earlier this offseason.

"Deshaun has a great chance, fresh start, offensive-minded coach, who has in his past been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful," Haslam said, per ESPN.

Cabot cited Watson's experience, past success in schemes similar to Monken's and impressive display in the brief media-viewing window as reasons he's in the lead.

Monken has complimented Sanders for his "elite playmaking ability" but also emphasized many times that it would be an open competition at quarterback. Nothing is set in stone, but for now, Sanders appears to have ground to make up.

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