Browns insider gives Shedeur Sanders fans good news amid Deshaun Watson reports

On the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Dan Labbe of the Cleveland Plain Dealer echoed previous reports and said that it "looks like" veteran Deshaun Watson is on track to emerge as the Cleveland Browns' 2026 Week 1 starting quarterback over 2025 rookie Shedeur Sanders.

During a Thursday morning appearance on Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan, Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer was asked if the club's quarterback competition is basically already over. Cabot shared good news for Cleveland fans who are hoping that Sanders will be able to leapfrog Watson on the depth chart at some point before September arrives. 

Is Shedeur Sanders still getting "important" reps amid competition versus Deshaun Watson?

"It looked to me [Wednesday] like Deshaun did get more of the reps with the starters," Cabot said about what happened during a portion of OTA workouts that were open to media members. "So, if you just added up the reps where he was actually working with the ones, Deshaun got more of those. But then, when it came to an important period later in the practice, Shedeur got a really nice choice drill where he was able to be the first man up in an 11-on-11 full-speed period. So I thought that was a good sign for Shedeur in the competition."

Recent stories have hinted that first-year Browns head coach Todd Monken could name Watson Cleveland's QB1 as soon as before the team's mandatory minicamp wraps up on June 11. While Monken said on Wednesday he's embracing "a clean slate" mentality regarding Watson, Monken added that he "can’t guarantee" he'll declare a winner of the competition next month. 

Shedeur Sanders still "has an opportunity" to beat Deshaun Watson?

"It wasn't like we looked out there, and it was like, 'Oh, Deshaun's getting everything,'" Cabot continued. "It wasn't that. Shedeur came back and was able to do that 11-on-11. So, they're still running a competition. Shedeur still has an opportunity to come from behind and try to take this thing over. But I would say that just from the sheer optics of it, it looks, right now, like Deshaun is ahead."

One would think that Sanders having a true opportunity to win the competition would involve the two signal-callers playing in at least one preseason game. It remains to be seen if Monken will wait until August to name his starter for the Week 1 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.