The Cleveland Browns quarterback race between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders will be reaching the end sooner rather than later. Saturday’s preseason game against the Chicago Bears was the first test for both Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson. Watson passed the test (of some degree). Sanders didn’t fail the test completely, but he didn’t do enough to warrant a passing grade.
Sanders was already facing an uphill climb to win the starting job, but now he has no choice but to chase. As a second-year
player joining a new, complicated system, that isn’t a bad thing overall.
A look back at the first preseason performances:
Watson’s Bears performance
Before evaluating Watson’s performance, context is needed.
- The last time Watson played football, it was the 2024 season
- He’s coming off two Achilles tears
Watson looked like someone who is starting to get acclimated to live football. On paper, the numbers show Watson had an efficient day. The film? It tells a different story. Watson didn’t play poorly, but he did not play great. If a grade were to be given, Watson would be given a “C” for his performance.
One of the main things that head coach Todd Monken has emphasized from his quarterback room is “processing” and “pre-snap”. Watson played fast in terms of his processing, getting the ball out quickly, and overall operation of the offense. However, when things began to speed up, Watson looked indecisive and hesitant. People will claim it’s Watson shaking off the rust, while others will claim this is who Watson has been since he’s been in Cleveland.
Overall, Watson had a decent outing, but it wasn’t an earth-shattering performance.
Sander’s Bears performance
We’ve all experienced this before when we attended school. You know how you are given that one test and to pass you have to get a 70% or higher? Anything below 70% and it’s an automatic failure. In this case, Sanders scored a 62% on his test. Did Sanders play a terrible game? No, but he didn’t play well enough to shorten the gap.
Sanders had a nice throw early in the third quarter to wide receiver Luke Floriea, but outside of that, the performance was not impressive. The interception that Sanders threw was an overthrow, and having those mistakes can be costly when you are trying to win a quarterback battle. The concerns about Sanders in camp about him being a slow processor and not playing fast were valid on Saturday. The difference between how Watson and Sanders operated the offense was apparent. It seems as though Sanders isn’t processing quickly enough and is slow to get in and out of the huddle.
Overall, the performance was not bad, but it was not great.
The Browns looked like they belonged in the joint practice against the Buffalo Bills, with those on the opposing side opining that Watson looked better than Sanders.
People will make disingenuous statements about how Sanders and Watson looked last Saturday, but we have to be honest when it comes to evaluating these quarterbacks, especially after the second preseason game.
Considering how QB play has been the past few years, the bar for competent QB play is low. Watson has been away from football for a long time, but he operated the offense better than Sanders. Fans will scoff at his performance for “dinking and dunking,” but if Watson was playing aggressively and throwing the ball in harm’s way, the narrative would be different. Sanders took shots down the field, but at times his processing looked slow and he went through his progressions at a slower pace.
For Sanders, time is on his side in the big picture for his career. For who will start in Week 1 of the 2026 season, it is possible that time runs out on the youngster on Saturday versus Buffalo.
