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New head coach Shedeur Sanders likes what he’s seen from the quarterback heading into his second NFL season with the Cleveland Browns.
Todd Monken has been peppered with questions about his quarterback depth chart since taking the Browns head coaching job that Kevin Stefanski previously held with the franchise.
Sanders, who the Browns selected in the fifth round of last year’s NFL draft, is usually in these questions as media and fans alike are curious about what’s in store for him after he closes out the 2025 campaign as the team’s starting quarterback. However, a new coach means new thinking about every position.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders reacts on the sideline during the first half of an NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers in Cleveland on November 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Monken, however, spoke about Sanders’ development on Wednesday, where he said he saw a player who had already “come a long way.”
“I think Shedeur has come a long way, in terms of progression, getting off the ball, understanding concepts. I think he’s really, really come a long way,” Monken told reporters via ESPN.
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After the Browns went with Joe Flacco to start the season and then Dillon Gabriel when Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, Sanders finally got a chance against the Las Vegas Raiders. He won his first ever NFL start and Stefanski named him the starter for the rest of the season.
But Sanders and Deshaun Watson, returning from injury before 2026, continued to take separate first-team reps during team drills during the Browns’ second OTA practice.
Head coach Todd Monken of the Cleveland Browns attends a voluntary veterans minicamp at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, Ohio on April 21, 2026. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Watson, whose tenure in Cleveland has been the exact opposite of what the team had hoped for when they traded him and signed him to a massive contract in 2022. It was a fully guaranteed $230 million over five years, but he tore his Achilles tendon in October 2024 and didn’t play at all in 2025.
Still, back on the field, Monken said Deshaun’s “athletic skills are showing.”
“Sure, he’s had that, but he’s had some injuries that set him back. I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise, but it’s exciting to see – it’s a weapon for him. It’s one of his superpowers, his athleticism.”
The Browns still have Gabriel, as well as rookie Taylen Green, on their depth chart heading into the season. But it’s clear the competition begins with Watson and Sanders with training camp scheduled for July.
Monken won’t rush to conclusions at the position, but he wants to name a starter by the start of training camp.
Cleveland Browns quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio on September 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
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“You’d like to have him at every position late in the spring, but you can’t guarantee it,” Monken said.
Until then, Sanders and the rest of the Browns team will be looking to impress their new coach.
