With training camp starting in less than four weeks for the Cleveland Browns, it’s time to kick off our annual positional previews leading up to the season. We will go through each position, starting with quarterback, to give a high-level overview of who is competing for a roster spot and what their expectations or odds of making the roster are.
Last year, we were evaluating Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as the team’s top two quarterback options leading into training camp. This year, it’s Deshaun Watson
and Shedeur Sanders.
1. Deshaun Watson – Veteran QB
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 223 lbs | Age: 30
Experience: 10 years | College: Clemson
As I was putting together this piece and comparing it to last year, it was pretty funny how I thought “age 30” and “10 years of experience” for Deshaun Watson made him older, until I saw it was “age 40” and “19 years of experience” for Joe Flacco last season. In that sense, Watson is still a spring chicken.
There was a time a year or two ago when we thought Watson’s days of playing with the Browns were finished for good. Now, he is the frontrunner for the team’s starting quarterback job, assisted by the team having a new head coach in Todd Monken, but mostly by the fact that the rest of the talent at the position is unproven.
It’s crazy to think that the last time Watson played a full season with productive results was back in 2020. In his first couple of years with the Browns, I attributed much of his struggles to a combination of rust and being in his own head. I’m still a strong believer that going from “being a good guy and beloved” to being the face of negativity and ridicule (for his off-the-field actions) played a big role in his performance downfall. He was paid a record amount at the time he joined the Browns, and all Cleveland has gotten out of it is maybe a solid half or two of football before he suffered an Achilles injury.
Enough time has passed to where this is as clean of a slate as Watson can ask for at this stage of his career. He will no doubt look like the best quarterback in training camp sessions, but what happens during the preseason games? Will he thrive or falter? I think more than ever, the preseason performances will dictate who gets the starting job for Cleveland this season.
Final Roster Odds: 99%
2. Shedeur Sanders – Popular QB
Height: 6-2 | Weight: 212 lbs | Age: 24
Experience: 2 years | College: Colorado
We got excited for Shedeur Sanders last year. He started the Browns’ final 7 games and compiled a 3-4 record, which looks great considering the team’s 4-12 overall record. However, those final two games were also led heavily by the team’s defense if you read between the record. For the season, Sanders threw for 1,400 yards (56.6% completion), 7 TD, 10 INT, and ran 21 times for 169 yards and 1 TD.
When he first came into camp last year, Kevin Stefanski and company were so delicate with his reps and what he was given that he never saw any action with the first-team offense, even amidst a competition. The feeling was that he was a developmental player who the team liked, but did not want to rush into action, despite all of the hype surrounding him. When Flacco was traded and Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion against the Ravens, though, he was thrust into action against the Las Vegas Raiders. By that point, Gabriel had been struggling and the team was done from contention, so it was sort of a, “Well, let’s see what we have with Sanders now.”
The results were encouraging. There is a presence about Sanders that you can’t deny, and he made some great throws at times, and started to show some nice escapability and evasiveness. The results were still largely inconsistent, though, and his worst habit remained backpedaling in the face of pressure. To be fair, though, all of the Browns’ quarterbacks were basically working with one of the worst offensive lines last year and a bottom-tier performing group of receivers.
I think Sanders shines more during live game action than he does in practice, which might hurt him in the competition early on. If Monken is encouraged by what he sees as camp goes on, the potential to let Sanders grow throughout the year might out-weigh the stagnant nature of what we’ve seen from Watson. The other possibility is that if Watson wins the job, some wonder if Sanders will get traded — because if Cleveland goes all-in for a quarterback next year, then this is probably the point in which you get the most value (albeit not much) for him.
Final Roster Odds: 100%
3. Dillion Gabriel – Backup QB
Height: 5-11 | Weight: 205 lbs | Age: 25
Experience: 2 years | College: Oregon
Dillon Gabriel looked sharp in training camp and the preseason last year, and was given the starting job in Week 5 after Flacco was traded away. It should have been a solid first win for Gabriel, but Minnesota pulled off a stunning game-winning drive. Still, Gabriel was an impressive 19-of-30 for 190 yards and 2 TD in that game.
For the season, Gabriel completed 59.5% of his passes with 7 TD and 2 INT. The issue as games went along is everyone started realizing that Cleveland really could not push the ball down the field when he was at quarterback. Those quick hitter, well-timed passes that succeeded in the preseason and his first start were being keyed in on by defenders who felt no threat of having to guard deeper action.
Like I mentioned with Sanders, though, Gabriel, too, could benefit from the improved offensive line and group of wide receivers this year. It’s possible that everyone — from protection, to receivers, to quarterbacks, to coaching — were abysmal last year, but it’s also possible that a subset of those contributed to the quarterbacks having no chance to succeed. I still like what Gabriel can offer in a well-protected offense, but I view him as coming in as a backup due to that lack of arm strength.
Final Roster Odds: 95%
4. Taylen Green – Rookie QB
Height: 6-6 | Weight: 230 lbs | Age: 23
Experience: Rookie | College: Arkansas
Last, but not least, we have Taylen Green. If Stefanski had the luxury of two developmental quarterbacks last year, then Monken gets his own developmental prospect this year. Taken in the sixth round, no one expects Green to vault up the depth chart to compete for a starting job. However, would anyone be surprised if he gets a start by the end of the year, given the history of the team?
Green being on the roster, and a draft pick of Andrew Berry, makes for an interesting decision. If the team is struggling to determine who should start, is it practical to hold four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster? That could be another factor that leads to a dealing of Sanders or Gabriel.
Green has great size and speed, which makes him an interesting candidate to incorporate into some type of package offensively. Maybe we’ll get an inkling of whether Monken wants to do that during camp. Throughout the offseason, DBN has had a few feature pieces on Green’s potential:
- NFL Draft Profile: Taylen Green (Thomas Moore)
- Browns rookie QB Taylen Green could be a hidden gem in a full QB room (Curtiss Brown)
- Browns QB Taylen Green: Everything you need to know from childhood to NFL draft (Barry Shuck)
Final Roster Odds: 80%
In our poll question below, we’re asking which quarterback you think will not be on the 53-man roster by the end of training camp.
