New Pete Prisco NFL Mock Draft Drops, Ty Simpson Joins Shedeur Sanders-Deshaun Watson QB1 Battle

The Cleveland Browns shook up their quarterback room in the newest mock draft from CBS Sports' Pete Prisco.

Prisco had the Browns select Alabama's Ty Simpson with the No. 24 overall pick, which is the second of their two first-rounders.

For now, the stage is set for a three-way battle between Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel. Coach Todd Monken isn't committing to a starter right now, and he told reporters he envisions a fluid situation with how practice reps are split:

"The number of reps a player gets doesn't eliminate competition. It's just in a given day, let's say for instance, you want to see a quarterback with the first group, the second group, the third group. Well, are you going to divide those reps up evenly? Are you going to divide up the reps everywhere evenly? I don't see it that way. That doesn't mean there's not competition. I just see it as in a given day, and it'll be daily in terms of who gets what reps and when, because we certainly want to allocate our reps to the players we feel like are going to give us the best chance to win."

Using a first-round pick on a quarterback would change the dynamic quite a bit. Even if Simpson didn't win the job by Week 1, the Browns would be signaling they expect him to move up the depth chart at some point in 2026 or 2027.

They'd be perceived as basically cutting bait on Sanders and Gabriel as well. A team doesn't invest that kind of asset in a young QB if it thinks it has a suitable long-term solution already.

One way or the other, the draft is likely the point when the Browns' internal opinion of their quarterback options becomes clear.

Aaron Rodgers is the only starting-caliber signal-caller who's still available in free agency, and the 42-year-old probably isn't signing on to spend the twilight of his career in Cleveland. If the Browns want to add another quarterback, it'll be through the draft.

Should the position go largely unaddressed by April 25, Monken and general manager Andrew Berry are clearly happy to ride it out with the status quo.