The Monken Method: Why Cleveland's Patient QB Audition Could Define the Browns' Entire Season

There is something refreshingly honest about Todd Monken's approach to solving the quarterback question in Cleveland, and it deserves deeper examination than it might initially receive. In an era of NFL coaching where decisiveness is prized above almost all other virtues, where the pressure to name your guy comes faster than the training camp joints start creaking, the Browns head coach has chosen instead a methodical path forward. He will let Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders each start one preseason game, observe them under genuine competitive circumstances, and then make his decision before the third exhibition contest. On the surface, this sounds like classic NFL fence-sitting, the kind of thing a coach might say when he has not yet made up his mind. But if you think deeper about what Monken is actually doing here, you begin to understand that this is not indecision at all. This is architecture. This is a man building a decision on a foundation of evidence rather than assumption, and that foundation matters enormously for what comes next in Cleveland.

Let us start with the obvious context, because it colors everything. Deshaun Watson signed a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract with the Browns in 2022, one of the most consequential free agent deals in franchise history. The expectations that came with Watson were championship-caliber, an immediate elevation of Cleveland's status in the AFC North. Yet Watson has played in just six games for the Browns across the last two seasons due to a combination of legal suspension and injury. When a franchise makes that kind of investment, when it restructures its entire salary cap around a player, the assumption is always that said player will be your franchise quarterback going forward. There is a script, and Watson is supposed to follow it. But Shedeur Sanders, the son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, arrives as the number two overall pick in the 2024 draft, a young arm with elite athletic tools and massive upside if he can translate his college success to the professional level. Sanders represents the future, the possibility of resetting the clock on this franchise's quarterback timeline. For the first time in a long time, Cleveland genuinely has to choose between its present and its future, between the proven commodity and the prospect. That choice cannot be made in a vacuum or in the controlled environment of a practice field.

This is precisely why Monken's plan makes genuine football sense. The preseason serves a specific purpose in the modern NFL, and it is often undervalued in discussions about quarterback evaluation. Yes, defensive schemes are vanilla, yes the competition level is not what you will see in September and October, but there is something authentic about a preseason game that a practice session can never fully replicate. When Watson or Sanders takes the field in earnest, when they can actually be hit and tackled, when the pocket collapses in ways that cannot be choreographed, when they have to make real reads against opposing defensive schemes, even if those schemes are not at full intensity, something true emerges. You see how a quarterback handles adversity. You see if he panics when the play breaks down. You see if he has the poise to step through mistakes and stay connected to his teammates. The preseason is imperfect, absolutely, but it is the closest thing to the real thing before the real thing begins. Monken is not being wishy-washy by taking this approach. He is being smart.

Consider the historical precedent for quarterback battles decided in preseason, and you find a remarkably instructive pattern. When the San Francisco 49ers needed to decide between Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick in 2011, Jim Harbaugh used training camp competition and preseason performance as the crucible that revealed Kaepernick's potential. That decision, made partly on what Harbaugh saw in live action, reshaped the franchise's trajectory for years to come. When Aaron Rodgers had to prove his worth in Green Bay during 2005, the late Brett Favre was still the starter, and everything rode on what Rodgers could demonstrate in limited circumstances. The great coaches have always understood that there is a difference between what a quarterback can do in controlled situations and what he can actually accomplish when the hits are real and the consequences matter. Preseason games, while not perfect, are the bridge between theory and practice. Monken is walking that bridge deliberately.

Now consider what each of these quarterbacks brings to the table from a purely football standpoint. Watson, when healthy, is a craftsman in the pocket with rare mobility for his position. He has made a career of extending plays, of creating out of structure, of putting defenses in impossible positions because he can improvise so effectively. His best football, as demonstrated in Houston, is genuinely elite. He can execute a sophisticated passing attack, he can move through progressions with intelligence, and he has the arm strength to place balls in tight windows. The issue is not his talent. The issue is his availability and, frankly, his reintegration into a system after such an extended absence. When you miss significant time in the NFL, particularly at the quarterback position, rust is not just a metaphor. It is a physical and psychological reality. You lose timing with receivers. You lose the feel for how quickly your offensive line can provide clean pockets. You lose the rhythm that comes from playing football at the highest level week after week. Watson has not played meaningful snaps since early 2023. That absence creates a legitimate question mark that cannot simply be wished away because of his contract.

Shedeur Sanders, conversely, represents something different entirely. He comes from Colorado with a resume that includes significant wins against Power Five competition, a proven ability to make off-platform throws, and the kind of athletic profile that translates well to the modern NFL. He has the physical tools that scouts absolutely covet: arm strength, mobility, size, and competitiveness. What remains to be proven at the professional level is his decision-making under extreme duress, his ability to process information at NFL speed, and his capacity to function within a sophisticated offense where receivers are not always running wide open routes. College football can mask a multitude of quarterbacking sins, and sometimes what looks elite in Boulder looks considerably different in the NFL. Sanders needs reps in real conditions to show whether his college success was a function of his talent or a function of playing in a less competitive environment. The preseason will provide those reps against actual NFL defensive schemes, even if those schemes are not at full complexity.

What Monken is implicitly saying by staging this audition is that he has not made an irrevocable decision based on contract size or draft pedigree. He is saying that both quarterbacks will be evaluated on merit, on what they actually do when they have an opportunity to play. That is not weakness in a coach. That is actually profound integrity. Too many NFL franchises cling to failed investments because of the sunk cost fallacy, because it is emotionally difficult to admit that a massive gamble did not pay off as planned. They stick with a quarterback longer than they should because changing course feels like failure. Monken is creating a structure where he can make the right decision rather than simply the predetermined decision. If Watson looks sharp and Sanders looks like a prospect who needs time, the choice becomes obvious. If Sanders looks ready and Watson looks rusty, that is also a decision, and it is one that Monken will have earned the right to make with actual evidence behind it.

The other element worth considering is what this plan says about Monken's confidence in his ability to develop quarterbacks. Monken spent years as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach before becoming the Browns head coach. He has worked with elite offensive talent. He has also been fired before, which means he understands the stakes involved in these decisions. He is not going to throw his career away on a foolish choice. The fact that he is willing to hold a genuine competition tells you that he believes he can evaluate talent in action. He is not afraid of what he might see. That is actually a mark of a coach who knows his job security depends on making smart decisions, and he is willing to gather real information to make those decisions wisely.

From a structural standpoint, this approach also buys Monken time to let his team gel around either choice. If Watson starts the final preseason game, it signals confidence in his readiness and gives the receiving corps an opportunity to build timing and chemistry with him during the regular season. If Sanders gets the nod, it suggests the franchise has made a definitive choice to move forward with its young prospect and build around him. Either way, the decision will have been made with purpose and evidence, not hope and speculation. The Browns' success this season will depend heavily on quarterback play, and Monken is taking the only responsible path toward ensuring his team has the right quarterback for this moment.

The preseason matters more in this case than it typically does because the decision genuinely remains open. Monken has created a process that honors both Watson's investment and Sanders' potential while refusing to make a decision until he has real information in hand. That is not indecision. That is wisdom.