Before the 2025 NFL Draft, when scouts were analyzing the player tapes, one frequent debate around Sanders was ball security. After the quarterback’s Pro day at Colorado, New York Jets safety Andre Cisco even called him out on social media and told Shedeur to “stop patting that ball.” Later, when he was picked by the Cleveland Browns, Sanders showed flashes during his rookie season, but ball security emerged as one of the biggest concerns, leading to 10 interceptions in his rookie season. And when Shedeur’s brother, Shilo Sanders, reviewed the quarterback’s OTA performance, he pointed to that same concern.

“I don’t like that. You got to get that. You got to get that receiver. I don’t like seeing whenever that be happening. I think that he happening too much, and that be reflected on his interceptions too much,” Shilo Sanders said during his YouTube live.

Shilo was reacting to a couple of Shedeur’s plays from the second week of OTAs. On one play, Shedeur connected with a receiver on a deep pass, and Shilo quickly praised the throw. But moments later, when the quarterback took another snap and fired a quick pass, the ball fell incomplete.

That is why Shilo believes his brother needs to complete those throws. Otherwise, they can eventually turn into interceptions. And that was evident during the second week of OTAs, where Deshaun Watson appeared to maintain a consistent edge over Sanders.

On Day 5 of OTAs, Watson opened 11-on-11 drills with the first-team offense. Sanders, on the other hand, took the opening set of 7-on-7 reps. He later worked in 11-on-11 periods, but Watson ultimately had a winning day. Watson threw 6 touchdown passes against one pick.

Shedeur, meanwhile, threw one touchdown and one interception that resulted from a deflected pass during 11-on-11 drills. Overall, Watson went 11-of-17 (64.7%) across 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work, while Sanders went 8-of-14 (57.1%).

However, the ball-security concerns followed a familiar script.

While he delivered a 364-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans in his rookie season, Sanders finished the season with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, while leading the Browns to a 3-4 record in 7 starts. That is why, despite ending last year as a starter, his hold on the QB1 role remains uncertain.

To put that into perspective, when the Browns opened voluntary minicamp in April, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reported that Watson held an edge over Sanders. And after the second week of OTAs, Watson appears to be maintaining that advantage. At the same time, however, Browns offensive coordinator Travis Switzer has insisted that no quarterback currently has a clear lead.

“I don’t know that we have somebody who’s ahead,” the OC said. “We’re pleased with both their progress, and all the guys are doing a nice job…I think that both of those guys and really all of our guys are progressing very well. Very pleased in what we’ve seen in the growth. Like I said, a lot of is the familiarity with the system — getting a little more comfortable as we move on. But their progression, just in the short time that we’ve been so far is very encouraging, and we’re excited about that.”

For now, the Browns have clearly not decided on their starting quarterback. What they have made clear, however, is that the best quarterback throughout the offseason will earn the job for the 2026 season. Besides Shedeur Sanders and Watson, Cleveland also has second-year quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Still, Watson appears to be leading the quarterback depth chart at the moment.

Shedeur Sanders received bad news amid QB1 uncertainty

The Browns are heading into the 2026 season with new head coach Todd Monken, who has made it clear that he wants to identify a starting quarterback before training camp begins. And while the quarterback competition remains ongoing, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes there is one reason Deshaun Watson could be the favorite to start in Week 1.

“Deshaun Watson has a leg up in the quarterback competition, but the Browns have not made any kind of firm determination yet,” Fowler said. “But the Browns like Deshaun Watson’s experience. Watson believes that Todd Monken’s offense — which has some concepts to the air raid out of college, which he’s run in the past and has some room to freelance a little bit out of the pocket — he likes that and feels like it’s a fit.

“But he’s got to go win the job. He hasn’t done it yet. Shedeur Sanders has had his moments this spring. He’ll have a chance. They hope to have a QB No. 1 on the depth chart by training camp. We’ll see how it shakes out.”

Watson is entering the final year of his deal and has yet to take a professional snap since the 2024 season. So, it won’t be wrong to say that the veteran signal-caller is heading into a make-or-break year for his NFL career. How would that eventually unfold is something that we shall find out in the 2026 season.