Shedeur Sanders Appears to Get Boost in Browns' QB1 Race After Todd Monken Comments

As he maps out his offseason plan, Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken doesn't intend to take a hard-and-fast approach to splitting reps among his quarterbacks.

"I don't expect the reps to be divided equally," he told reporters Tuesday, adding that the split could fluctuate daily based on how the players are performing.

As the early favorite to start, Shedeur Sanders is seemingly in position to get a bigger share of looks than his peers. Monken said he has been spending more time at the team's facility than Dillon Gabriel.

The coach made it clear he hasn't decided who will tentatively be first in the depth chart to start workouts, though.

"I'm not ready to say that yet," he said. "I just said the reps can't be divided up even. There's no chance. At least on a daily basis."

The Browns have three quarterbacks on their roster: Gabriel, Sanders and Deshaun Watson. There isn't a clear standout candidate from that group.

Watson has been a disaster ever since his 2022 trade to Cleveland, and he's coming back from two Achilles tears. His last start was in October 2024, by which point his game was already declining in a big way.

Neither Sanders nor Gabriel excelled as rookies.

Sanders averaged 193.3 yards per game with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions in seven starts. He had a 72.9 passer rating during that stretch. Gabriel had a better QB rating (78.9) and fewer interceptions (two) in six starts, but averaged fewer yards per contest (153.0) and per attempt (5.1).

Unless the Browns add to their quarterback room between now and training camp, Sanders should get the first crack at being QB1. He arguably has a higher upside than Gabriel, and Watson is too much of a wild card.

Assuming that's how Monken goes, he will have already won over the fans who didn't like how former coach Kevin Stefanski handled the former Colorado star out of the gate.