The Biggest Position Battle That Will Define Browns Minicamp

With the Cleveland Browns’ minicamp just around the block, it’s really no secret which position battle will end up defining the success or failure of the three-day event.

Actually, there’s a good chance that this position battle in particular gets drawn out all the way into training camp, even if head coach Todd Monken has admitted he would prefer to have it resolved before then.

We’re talking of course of the quarterbacks, with multiple reports throughout the voluntary portion of the offseason training program suggesting Deshaun Watson holds the lead, but with second-year passer Shedeur Sanders closing the gap in recent practices.

As of this moment, the Browns not only don’t know who their starting quarterback will be for Week 1 of the regular season, but it seems -- based on Monken’s comments -- the answer might not come at mandatory minicamp.

“In a perfect world you’d love to have your starting quarterback, and you’d love to have your o-line set, I’m just not sure we’ll be there,” Monken said at OTAs on Wednesday. 

Perhaps, a very optimistic interpretation of Monken’s words allows that the Browns actually do find out at mandatory minicamp who’ll be under center for the start of the season, in which case the team can actually move forward on offense and get the starter more reps with the 1s.

But for now, the coach is still split, admitting, “Every day I kind of lean one way or the other with quarterbacks.”

So, where do the Browns really stand at quarterback, heading into their mandatory minicamp?

If you’ve ever heard the expression "If you have two quarterbacks, you have none", often attributed to John Madden, you know exactly where the Browns stand. 

It’s understandable that Monken is trying to amp up his passers when he says “We’ve got two starting-level quarterbacks. We really do,” but the reality of it all is that Watson hasn’t distanced himself enough from Sanders, and Sanders hasn’t done enough to leapfrog the three-time Pro Bowler.

How do we know that? We would have already heard about it in no uncertain terms.