Shedeur Sanders pulls back at the Browns OTA in Berea on May 27, 2026.

The Cleveland Browns are entering the franchise’s first season under new head coach Todd Monken after letting Kevin Stefanski go from the same role shortly into the offseason.

Now, Monken is tasked with determining who Cleveland’s starting quarterback will be heading into the season. The offseason battle for the job is widely viewed by fans, pundits, and analysts as a two-horse race between second-year QB Shedeur Sanders and veteran Deshaun Watson.

On Wednesday, both Sanders and Watson participated in 11v11 and 7v7 drills, and the younger Sanders made quite the statement, per numbers reported by ESPN Cleveland on X.

Kiper in his corner

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. stated earlier this offseason that he didn’t understand the hate and negative attention surrounding Sanders.

I don’t get, I really don’t understand what’s going on with Shedeur; I don’t understand why people want to keep hating and hating,” Kiper said on a call into The Really Big Show. 

“What the hell has he got to do? Are we going to get into this negativity again about Shedeur?” Kiper wondered. “I don’t know what else the kid needs to do. Josh Allen had haters in year three so if Josh Allen has haters in year two and three of his career, there’s no way Sheduer can avoid it.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Sanders can prove Kiper right.

About Qwame Skinner

Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.