The Browns’ quarterback race is already taking on a familiar shape: plenty of attention, no obvious answer, and a head coach in Todd Monken who isn’t rushing to hand out a label.
Four days into camp, Cleveland still doesn’t have a clear front-runner. That’s not exactly a shock when the competition is between a quarterback who has been broken and ineffective, with his last good season coming in 2020, and a former fifth-round pick who turned in one of the roughest rookie seasons in the last 25 years.
Monken is keeping the decision close to the vest for now, or at least holding off on a public announcement until he has a few more practices to confirm what he already believes is the right direction. He said Saturday that the full picture won’t come into focus until more of the offense is installed.
“I don’t think you’re really going to know until you get through all the installs, because we’re not game planning against our own defense. Each day has been a different part of the pass game, so it’s hard to really [tell]. And one day you go with the ones, the other day you go with the twos; certainly that matchup is going to be different depending on who you’re going against.
“I think the most important thing is, from a process standpoint, how are we operating at the line of scrimmage, where are their eyes, have they taken command of the huddle, and then cadence, and then understanding the concepts. I think they’re all doing well; they’re all fine. All of our players are working through mistakes and fighting like hell to get better.”
For now, the wait continues. Fans would probably love a decision so everybody can move on toward the season opener in Jacksonville, but there’s also the reality that neither Deshaun Watson nor Shedeur Sanders looks like the long-term answer past this season anyway.
And it’s not just the outside world watching. The rest of the roster is paying attention too, and opinions are forming inside the locker room about who should be running the offense.
According to Breiden Fehoko, a former NFL defensive lineman who spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and now hosts The Fehoko Show on X, the best quarterback in Browns camp right now isn’t Watson or Sanders.
Fehoko didn’t say who told him that or identify which quarterback the locker room had in mind. The other names in the mix are Taylen Green, a rookie sixth-round pick, and Dillon Gabriel, a second-year quarterback who also shares a home state with Fehoko.
The Browns are off today and will return to the field Monday for their first padded practice, giving Monken another chance to evaluate the competition before he settles on a starter for the season.
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