A former Browns quarterback thinks the team’s signal-caller decision should be a no-brainer.
The Browns are set to head into camp with a three-man battle between Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel for the starting quarterback job. Robert Griffin III thinks Sanders is the clear answer for Cleveland.
“If I was in the decision-making chair, who should be my starter? When we start in OTAs and we go to our first mandatory minicamp, I’m starting Shedeur Sanders,” Griffin said. “What they did with him at quarterback was they won games.
“When you step into the huddle, do you believe that you have a chance to win with the guy that is in the huddle with you at quarterback? The Cleveland Browns’ locker room believes they can win with Shedeur Sanders. They don’t believe they can win with Deshaun Watson. They don’t believe that they can win with Dillon Gabriel.”
Shedeur Sanders’ Playmaking Ability Sets Him Apart
Sanders enters Year 2 coming off a rookie campaign that showed flashes of upside, along with expected growing pains. He earned a Pro Bowl nod as a replacement — the first Browns quarterback to do so since Derek Anderson in 2007. He completed 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He went 3-4 in his starts.
New Browns head coach Todd Monken has been very complimentary toward Sanders since taking over, highlighting his ability to make plays.
“I think you see playmaking ability. I think you see a player who is confident in his skillset,” Monken told Kevin Clark of ESPN. “When you see that, playmaking ability and inner confidence, you say, OK there is something to work with there. That’s the thing that excites you. I said this morning, 15 or 20 years ago, they would have said that Shedeur Sanders is athletic. They would have said he could escape. But the game has changed so much that now they say he is not a mobile quarterback.”
Browns May Still Draft Another QB
The Browns’ quarterback room might not be in its final form. Cleveland could still add a passer in the draft, with Ty Simpson being a frequently mentioned target.
“We’ve enjoyed the time that we’ve spent with Ty,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “Son of a coach, really smart, very driven. He’s physically talented. He has a very unique college journey in terms of coming in as a five star and then really having to wait his turn behind two pretty talented quarterbacks in Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before getting his chance under center, and he did a great job maximizing it. So we’ve really enjoyed our time with Ty.”
However, drafting Simpson isn’t necessarily a final blow to Sanders, Watson, or Gabriel.
“I’d say I don’t love dealing in hypotheticals,” Berry said. “I guess I’d say this, if we add a quarterback, we have a lot of love for the quarterbacks that are in the room. That’s probably the first thing. So that decision would be made independently of anything that we add to the room.”
Cleveland could also target a quarterback in the later rounds, but that move would be more about depth — potentially putting pressure on Gabriel’s roster spot — than shaking up the starting competition.
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