Week 2 of OTAs is off and running, and the Cleveland Browns still haven't announced who will start at quarterback. New head coach Todd Monken has been vocal about his desire to get this out of the way soon, but a decision isn't likely to come until after the team's mandatory minicamp in June.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders continue to go toe-to-toe and split first-team reps, though most reports seem to suggest that Watson might be slightly ahead. That's not an encouraging sign for a second-year quarterback who started Cleveland's final seven games last year.
While Sanders still has plenty of supporters, it seems like not everyone in the league is as optimistic about him as Browns fans would want. In fact, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms just ranked Sanders No. 41 in his list of the top 43 quarterbacks ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
"Sanders, one of the most polarizing players in the game, remains raw but has the ability to succeed," Simms wrote. "The presence of his family isn’t doing him any favors."
Chris Simms clearly isn’t buying the hype around Shedeur Sanders
For context, Simms only has Sanders ahead of rookies Carson Beck and Ty Simpson. He even doubled down by ranking Denver Broncos backup Jarrett Stidham ahead of Sanders.
Whether that's fair or not is up for debate, but in a narratives-based league, these things matter. For what it's worth, Simms had Deshaun Watson just a couple of spots above Sanders at No. 39, so it's not like the gap between the two is as wide as it would have been years ago.
The fact that Sanders isn't head and shoulders ahead of Watson, who's coming off a pair of Achilles surgeries, right now isn't a good look. He can still prove all the doubters wrong in training camp, but it feels like he should have been a bit further along in his development this spring.
The Browns' quarterback room has been a perennial talking point, and regardless of who wins the race, the narrative won't go away. Whoever gets the nod will be under immense pressure. In an ideal scenario, that will be enough to keep everyone on their toes and be at their best. History, however, has painted a far less optimistic picture.
This team should be better than it was in the final two years of the Kevin Stefanski era, and the promising rookies will give fans a reason to tune in every Sunday. That said, it will be tough to trust this team as a playoff-caliber outfit until they get some sort of clarity at quarterback, and that might not happen with the personnel on their current roster.
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