The Cleveland Browns recently held a voluntary minicamp, which they were allowed to do under NFL rules because they have a new head coach. The extra three days of offseason workouts served as the informal opening to this preseason’s quarterback competition.
While it may have benefitted the team to get an early start, it also allowed the media to get off and running with speculation about how that competition is already playing out. It even generated the first off-field controversy, with Shedeur Sanders’ brother making harsh comments toward a reporter based on her observations of the participants.
With that in mind, analyst Garrett Bush said he isn’t buying a recent report about the Browns’ quarterbacks, which suggested that Deshaun Watson has emerged as the front-runner.
“There is nobody who has a head start, a lead, a pole position, an inside track, a QB1 today. Todd Monken is about winning football games and establishing a culture of trying to give yourself a chance to win games. He does not care about all this nonsense outside of the building,” Bush said.
Even though media access was limited at the minicamp, analyst Tony Rizzo said he heard that Watson looked “phenomenal” during one of the practices. Beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com suggested that the Browns should name Watson the starter so the offense can start to work together.
Another report stated that Dillon Gabriel struggled, while Watson and Sanders seemed to be on equal footing. Keep in mind that this was all emanating from an extra voluntary minicamp in April.
There are reasonable arguments to be made for giving either Watson or Sanders the job. If the veteran can rediscover his former level of play, he likely would give the Browns the best chance to win this season. Meanwhile, it might be better to fully evaluate the second-year player to see if there’s any chance he can truly be the QB of the future.
The Browns have a rookie minicamp that begins on May 8, where recent sixth-round draft pick quarterback Taylen Green is sure to be closely scrutinized. That will be followed by organized team activities (OTAs) on May 19-21, May 26-28, and June 2-5. A mandatory minicamp is scheduled to begin on June 9, with training camp set to open in July.
That will give quarterbacks and media alike plenty of time to adjust and react to every aspect of the competition, before preseason games even start in August.
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