The Cleveland Browns held a much-discussed quarterback competition throughout this spring and summer, with veteran Deshaun Watson and second-year man Shedeur Sanders battling for the starting job. Many felt that the team was more comfortable with Watson, even as he was coming back from two Achilles tendon injuries, because of his experience and ability to keep the offense organized. And, indeed, that was how things played out.
But that also meant that, going back to OTAs, through minicamp and into the five or so weeks of training camp and the preseason, Watson was only getting half the opportunities with the first team–Sanders was getting the other half. Even as that was unfolding, many cautioned that the Browns were hurting themselves by splitting reps, and that the quicker they could pick a starter, the better the operation would be because that starter would have more time to work with his teammates.
Browns Could Have Picked a Starter Earlier
Coach Todd Monken, though, kept the Browns competition going into mid-August, until after the second preseason game against Buffalo. He picked Watson in the end–as most suggested he would–and, predictably, the team has struggled in the early going with penalties and operational mistakes. Simply getting lined up, getting plays called, and making adjustments at the line have been an issue for this team.
On Monday, Monken conceded that the length of the team’s QB competition has had an affect. It did give Sanders good development opportunities. But it also set up Watson poorly for this NFL season.
‘That Benefited Shedeur Sanders’
Speaking to Browns media in a press conference after the Week 2 win, Monken spoke about Watson’s improvement over the course of the first two games. The team was hammered with penalties in the opening loss to the Jaguars, and were heading in the same direction early int he Tampa game.
But things got cleaner as the game went on, and the Browns finished with six penalties. Perhaps those things would have been cleaner from the get-go if not for Deshaun Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders all summer.
Said Monken: “While we were doing the quarterback competition, he split reps with the ones for a while, and that benefited Shedeur Sanders, but it maybe didn’t benefit the guy that ended up being the starter. There’s no way around that. I mean, that’s obvious, that you want to get the guys reps with the guys you’re playing with.
“And I was happy for Deshaun. He was our offensive player of the game. He made a number of plays with his legs, played with confidence, he let it rip. You could see the difference from week one to week two, and I think we’re just going to continue to grow together.”
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