As Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders battle for the starting job, Todd Monken and Andrew Berry reveal the key traits they're looking for in the Cleveland Browns' QB1.
Eight days into training camp and the Cleveland Browns QB1 competition remains very much unsettled.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders continue to battle it out on the field, with some massive tests looming large between the three preseason games and a critical joint practice with the Buffalo Bills.
If the first couple of weeks are any indication, first-year head coach Todd Monken will have a tough decision on his hands. And while there are a number of key traits he wants his starting QB to display, there's one in particular that is a must for Watson and Sanders to exemplify in the coming weeks.
"Ultimately, they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have some semblance of a physical skill set, there is something that’s made them elite, whether it’s with their feet or the way they process. Some guys are more pocket throwers than other guys outside of it," he explained. "But definitely up there is mental toughness, the mental stamina to withstand the ups and downs of playing the position, because they’re the closest thing to being a coach."
There's a reason they say quarterback is the most important position in sports. Aside from the raw ability it takes to play the position, being mentally mature enough to handle constantly being under a microscope.
And in Cleveland, a town desperate for a franchise quarterback, the pressures of playing the position may be more heightened than in most cities.
"There’s no other position on the roster where they judge their win-loss record," Monken added. "A defensive tackle doesn’t get judged as 10-15 as a starter. Quarterbacks and starting pitchers in baseball, they get it. So, they need the mental stamina to withstand what comes with the position. The highs and lows, they run through them.
So that's where Monken stands in terms of one of the biggest things he's looking for. Andrew Berry has some thoughts on the matter as well.
In an exclusive sit-down interview with ESPN's Kevin Clark, Berry shared his thoughts on what he wants to see from whichever quarterback emerges as the starter in the coming weeks.
"I think the big thing is, operating and decision-making. When you think about quarterback, the balls gonna be in that player's hand – whether they throw it, run it, hand it off – call it 60 times a game. So there's a set of 60 decisions that players gonna make. And they're not gonna be right on all of them. But if they can do that at a high level, and we can play well around that individual, then I think we'll be in a good spot."
Turnovers are the ultimate sin for any quarterback, so it's no surprise that Berry wants someone who makes sound decisions leading the Browns' offense. Protecting the football is the bare minimum of what any team wants from its starting QB.
Now, the onus is on one of Sanders or Watson to prove they have the qualities Cleveland's brass is looking for to win the job and keep it. The weeks ahead will serve as a pivotal litmus test for Monken to make his final decision.
