Browns reporter refutes coach's latest claim about Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson competition

Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Travis Switzer said while speaking with reporters on Wednesday that he didn't "know that we have somebody who’s ahead" in the competition for the starting quarterback job between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.

As has been the case throughout the spring, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggested there remains a clear leader in this particular battle. 

Shedeur Sanders not catching up to Deshaun Watson quite yet

"At the midpoint of Browns organized team activities," Cabot wrote, "Deshaun Watson still appears to have the edge over Shedeur Sanders, same as after voluntary minicamp last month. During OTA No. 5 on Wednesday, Watson won the day, just like he did on the one day open to the media during voluntary minicamp, and during the first week of OTAs last week." 

Of course, neither Switzer nor anybody else associated with the Browns has any reason to discourage either signal-caller by making proclamations about who is currently penciled-in as the club's QB1. That said, numerous reports have emerged since April claiming that Watson is solidly on track to get the nod for Cleveland's Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

It appears the situation hasn't changed as of the final week of May. 

"In the two-hour session," Cabot added, "Watson threw six touchdown passes against one interception — off a dropped ball by Jerry Jeudy in 7-on-7s — while Shedeur Sanders threw one touchdown pass and one interception off a deflected ball in 11-on-11s. Sanders’ pass bounced off receiver Kole Wilson’s hands and into those of Nate Evans. Watson also went 11-of-17 (64.7%) in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, while Sanders went 8-of-14 (57.1%)."

Shedeur Sanders gets one piece of good news

On Wednesday, Switzer praised Sanders' development when asked how the 2025 rookie has performed during springtime workouts. 

"I’ll only speak to what I’ve seen over the last couple weeks, and his progress has been impressive," Switzer said about Sanders. "Just his ability to move through progressions. His feet are getting more urgent, and he’s ready to throw when he needs to more consistently. We can continue to grow there, but his progress has been impressive."

Such comments seemingly don't change the fact that Sanders' progress may have to go from impressive to extraordinary for the 24-year-old to leapfrog Watson on the depth chart by the end of August. Then again, first-year Browns head coach Todd Monken presumably could name Watson the team's starter shortly after Cleveland's mandatory minicamp wraps up on June 11.