00:00You said that there's one thing, you know, for Shador Sanders to kind of lock down this starting quarterback job
00:07as we are a couple days out from training camp starting.
00:11So I keep getting asked, people keep asking me, like, what does Shador Sanders have to do to win the
00:15job?
00:16We were at the Austin Carr golf outing on Monday, which is a great time, really good event.
00:23And, you know, people that were in my golf group were kind of asking me, like, oh, what do you
00:26think about the quarterback competition?
00:27So it's like I get these questions all the time.
00:30And the more and more I've thought about it, we've all kind of laid, when you get asked that question,
00:34it's easy to lay out the things like, well, if he does this or, you know, if he keeps making
00:39improvements or he shows that his, he can read a defense, like, whatever.
00:42Those are the easy answers to go to.
00:45But I'll be honest, like, the more and more I thought about this, the more I've thought that Shador doesn't
00:52have to do anything extraordinary to me to win this job.
00:56Because, as you know, I don't have a lot of confidence that Deshaun is going to be this good quarterback
01:05ever again.
01:07And I don't have a lot of confidence in him being the starting quarterback for this team.
01:10And so, in thinking about that, in thinking about how the spring looked, where it was like, Deshaun probably had
01:15more, like, wow throws, but for every wow throw, he then had a throw that was, like, in the dirt
01:20or behind a guy or picked off.
01:21And Shador just felt more steady throughout the spring, where it was like, he might have not had all the
01:25big eye-popping throws, but he was leading the offense, he was completing the passes, he was making the plays
01:30necessary.
01:31And he had a couple bad days in there, everybody does.
01:34But, I've thought about it more and more, and I'm like, I think it's less about Shador having to come
01:38out and do anything other than what he's done to this point, in terms of, like, proving that he's developed,
01:43proving that he's seen things clear, you know, and executing the plays.
01:47I think it's more about what Deshaun has to do.
01:50Because Deshaun has to convince everybody that, like, he's truly the better of the two quarterbacks.
01:55And by the way, the fact that Todd Munkin wasn't ready to make a decision at the end of minicamp,
02:01I think it's telling because he wanted to.
02:03And I think in his mind, he probably thought, like, by the end of minicamp, Deshaun will have cemented himself
02:08and pulled away, that I'll be able to name him the starter.
02:10And that didn't happen.
02:11So what does that say?
02:12That tells you, like, yeah, Shador put in the work and closed the gap.
02:16But it also tells you that, like, Deshaun isn't probably performing to the level that they thought he was going
02:20to perform to.
02:21So to me, it's like, I think Shador just keeps doing what he's doing.
02:25I think that could be enough to win the job because, and I don't think he has to do anything
02:29exceptional or extraordinary because I don't think Deshaun is just going to, like, run away with this thing.
02:33And if it comes down to that, like, yeah, you might lean Shador in that scenario.
02:37So I think it's more about Deshaun having to do something extraordinary, improving, like, my experience, my running ability, my
02:44passing is back and my shoulder's fine.
02:47And I can make more of these incredible plays than Shador can for him to win the job than it
02:52is for Shador to do anything crazy special.
02:54I really do feel that way.
02:56Yeah, I can get with that program because it's more about stacking good practices and being consistent versus having those
03:05one or two wild moments that might make it to social media.
03:09And then people make the choice to critique one way or another.
03:13One of the things we talked about before the show, and I looked it up, so the quarterbacks were there.
03:19Yeah, I forgot to, I was going to tell you during the break, I realized it was the quarterbacks and
03:24the rookies who showed up this week, yes.
03:25Yeah, so they are already, they're getting some early work in.
03:29I mean, I'm right there with you.
03:30All Shador has to do is just be consistent, stack good practices, and show that he's picking up what Todd
03:36Monk and is putting down.
03:37You know, I think that Deshaun Watson is going to be motivated.
03:41I think at this point I sound like a broken record.
03:44He's going to be motivated.
03:45I think he's going to do everything that he possibly can to win his starting job because he sees his
03:51NFL mortality right in front of him.
03:54And this is the best opportunity for him to revitalize his career, whether it be here or elsewhere long term,
04:01because he might want to still play again.
04:03I just question being off of your job for 693 days plus when you know the speed of the game
04:11is a real thing.
04:13For sure.
04:13I'm not sure if you're going to be able to overcome that in a significant amount of time to where
04:19it's not impacting the season when we know we got to get a real good look at Shador Sanders before
04:25this season ends.
04:26So, yeah, that's the way I kind of look at that.
04:28Also, as far as the biggest non-QB story for me, I think it's going to be the Browns defense
04:37because you have so many people with mixed opinions and feelings about the departure of Myles Garrett and Jim Schwartz.
04:46And I think that Jared Verst, to no fault of his own, is going to have a hard time separating
04:56himself so people can just see him as Jared Verst.
05:00But I'm really, really interested to see what Mike Rutenberg puts together, what his philosophy is like, how those players
05:07respond to him, how those assistant coaches that was here under Jim Schwartz respond to him as well.
05:14Yo, Myles Garrett was the face of this organization, the face of this defense, the best overall player that's not
05:20a quarterback in the NFL.
05:23But he's still one player.
05:25And it was more than just Myles Garrett that made that defense good and dominant at times.
05:31And so, to me...
05:32We're going to learn that.
05:33For sure.
05:33There's going to be something that I'm paying attention to on all three levels.
05:37You know, how good is this defensive line without Myles Garrett?
05:41Right?
05:41Who's going to step up and be that guy to really anchor that front outside of Jared Verst?
05:49Is this the year that Alex Wright really flipped that switch?
05:52What is Mason Graham going to look like in year two?
05:55When I think about the second level, man, I think Carson Schlesinger is a star already.
06:01I think he's one of the best players at his position already.
06:05So, what does year two look like for him?
06:08And then, especially playing next to a Quincy Williams, what does the three safety look look like?
06:12I think it's so many storylines with inside the Browns defense itself that I'm going to be paying attention to
06:18that outside of the QBs.
06:19No, that's a good answer.
06:20What I would say, too, is I don't know if people...
06:23I think people do.
06:24There's a lot of people that are football fans, like, understand how it works.
06:27But Myles' impact went beyond just, like, rushing the passer in the defensive line.
06:35And so, that's kind of the interesting thing here is, like, Myles drew so much attention.
06:40He was double-teamed, second most of all defensive ends in football last year.
06:45Like, that impacts the next level because, hey, if Myles has two guys blocking him,
06:51that takes away a guy that's trying to get to the next level to block Carson Schlesinger so he can't
06:55make a play.
06:57That also, because of Myles' presence, the clock on quarterbacks is shorter,
07:01which means the secondary guys don't have to cover as long.
07:05Like, his impact really did extend to all three levels of the defense.
07:09And so, I look at it as Jared Verse has a lot to prove, filling in for taking over that
07:14role.
07:15And the rest of the defensive line has something to prove in terms of trying to, like, meet him halfway
07:19on,
07:20yeah, we know you're not Myles Garrett, so we're going to sort of pick up the slack in our own
07:24way
07:24and add some sacks to our resume and some pressures to our resume and all those things.
07:28But then also, like, what does it mean if there's an extra guy getting, an extra blocker getting on the
07:33field
07:33trying to block Carson Schlesinger?
07:35Can he still shed those things and make those plays?
07:37Can the secondary cover maybe a little longer to keep guys from scoring or whatever?
07:41So there's a lot to consider there.
Comments