The Cleveland Browns are just four days into their latest, but far from greatest, quarterback training camp battle with no clear winner at the moment.
That is not completely unsurprising for those who have been following along as first-time head coach Todd Monken has to choose between a broken and ineffective quarterback whose last good season came in 2020, and a former fifth-round draft pick who posted one of the worst rookie seasons in the past 25 years.
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Monken is drawing out the decision as long as he possibly can, or, perhaps more accurately, delaying the public announcement until the team has a few more practices to confirm what he has already determined to be the correct course of action.
It may still be a while until Monken announces who the starter will be, as he explained on Saturday:
“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.”
On the one hand, it would be nice if Monken just announced a decision and everyone could move on to preparing for the season opener in Jacksonville. On the other hand, neither Deshaun Watson nor Shedeur Sanders is likely to be the answer beyond this season, so what is a few more days or weeks of waiting really going to hurt?
The fans and media are not the only ones watching the competition, of course, as the rest of the team is keeping tabs on what is happening on the practice field and forming their own opinions on what the right call would be.
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And the “word in the locker room” is that the best quarterback on the Browns right now is not named Watson or Sanders.
That is according to Breiden Fehoko, a former defensive lineman who played three years in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers and is now host of The Fehoko Show on X:
Fehoko does not reveal who dropped that word in his ear or who the locker room believes is the best quarterback at the moment. The only other choices are Taylen Green, a rookie sixth-round draft choice, or Dillon Gabriel, a second-year quarterback who just so happens to share a home state with Fehoko.
The Browns are off today and will have their first practice in pads on Monday, providing Monken with more to consider as he ponders the starting quarterback for the season.
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Whether or not his choice aligns with the locker room or Fehoko’s personal choice remains to be seen.
