Shedeur Sanders: Everything you need to know

Shedeur and Deshaun Watson split first-team reps for most of Wednesday's practice, but Watson then took all the reps at the end in a simulated hurry-up drill, Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com reports. Reports from Cleveland beat writers are slightly conflicting, but there seems to be agreement that Watson went first through the rotation in early practice periods, before Sanders took the first snap in full-team drills. Watson then handled the special period at the end of practice. It sounds like Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green didn't get much first-team work, if any, but the rotation could look different as soon as the next practice. Head coach Todd Monken has mentioned his preference for naming a starting QB before the start of training camp, though he eased off his prior statements Wednesday, telling reporters, "we'll have it set for [Week 1 at Jacksonville]," per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com.

Coach Todd Monken hopes to identify the Browns' starting QB by the end of the team's minicamp June 9-11, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Sanders and Deshaun Watson are considered the top two candidates to land the job. Per Cabot, Watson reportedly emerged from the team's voluntary minicamp last week with an edge over Sanders, which may give the veteran signal caller the inside track to the assignment, but Sanders does have time to make up ground before Monken makes the call. Also in Cleveland's QB mix are 2025 third-rounder Dillon Gabriel and 2026 sixth-rounder Taylen Green, but Cabot suggests that they will largely be vying for the developmental third spot on the roster. In any case, this is a job competition worth closely monitoring in the coming weeks/months, with the Browns slated to approach the coming campaign with an intriguing group of pass-catchers that includes returning WRs Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman and Isaiah Bond, along with TE Harold Fannin, as well as a pair of talented rookie wideouts in KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.

Sanders started Cleveland's first 11-on-11 team period at voluntary minicamp Tuesday, though he rotated reps with fellow QBs Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel, Kelsey Russo of the Browns' official site reports. Sanders is firmly in the mix in Cleveland's quarterback competition, though there isn't necessarily much information to glean from the chronology of team drills at this stage in the offseason. That said, new head coach Todd Monken did note that "[t]he plan was to have [Sanders] have a few more reps, but to let Deshaun [Watson] and [Sanders] both have reps with the ones." Monken's comments essentially confirm assumptions that Sanders is entering spring workouts as the favorite for No. 1 QB reps over Watson, while Gabriel ranks closer to No. 3 on the depth chart, though things stand to be fluid given the ongoing nature of this positional competition. Across eight regular-season appearances (seven starts) as a rookie, Sanders completed 57 percent of his pass attempts for 1,400 yards, seven TDs and 10 INTs.