{"id":749424,"date":"2026-02-13T14:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749424\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:21:18","slug":"he-has-the-it-factor-why-shedeur-sanders-has-a-chance-to-start-week-1-for-the-browns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749424\/","title":{"rendered":"He has the \u2018it factor\u2019: Why Shedeur Sanders has a chance to start Week 1 for the Browns"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 The Browns<\/a> quarterback competition is officially heating up, with Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot delivering the bombshell assessment that Deshaun Watson and rising star Shedeur Sanders are \u201cneck and neck\u201d in the race to start Week 1.<\/p>\n

In a revealing discussion on Orange and Brown Talk<\/a>, Cabot sent shockwaves through the Browns fanbase with her candid breakdown of the quarterback situation heading into 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asked on the radio this morning, what percent chance do I think Deshaun Watson has of starting the opener? And I said 40% right now,\u201d Cabot revealed. \u201cI think right now that it would probably be 40 for Shedeur, 40 for Deshaun and 20 for someone else. So I think those two guys heading into this whole thing are probably kind of running neck and neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assessment marks a dramatic shift in perception around Sanders, who began 2025 as a developmental prospect but ended the season having shown flashes of potential stardom in limited opportunities. What\u2019s particularly intriguing about Sanders\u2019 case for the starting job is his apparent possession of what new head coach Todd Monken values most in a quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think another thing that we haven\u2019t talked a bunch about yet is the fact that Todd Monken mentioned the \u2018it factor\u2019 when he is looking for traits in a quarterback,\u201d Cabot explained. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s one thing that Shedeur established last year. I think he showed that he has the \u2018it factor,\u2019 that he gets in the zone when the game is on the line and he\u2019s aggressive and he\u2019s accurate for the most part and he\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The podcast highlighted three specific games where Sanders demonstrated this clutch gene: his debut against Baltimore, where he nearly led a comeback despite early struggles; a near-miss against Tennessee where he was inexplicably removed for a critical two-point conversion; and the season finale victory over Cincinnati where he orchestrated the game-winning drive.<\/p>\n

Beyond his composure in big moments, Sanders brings one elite skill that makes him particularly compelling as a potential starter: his exceptional ball placement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut one of the things that he does really, really well is fit that ball into some really tight windows and put it on the money. And you can\u2019t always coach that in the NFL,\u201d Cabot emphasized. \u201cShedeur brings that with him into the pros. The uncanny accuracy, he already has that. And I\u2019ve heard some people say that they think it is the number one trait to have in a quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes this competition especially fascinating is the contrast between Sanders\u2019 proven accuracy and clutch performance versus the questions surrounding Watson\u2019s physical recovery from multiple injuries. After two Achilles surgeries, Watson\u2019s mobility \u2014 once a defining feature of his game \u2014 remains a significant unknown.<\/p>\n

The podcast also noted Sanders\u2019 surprising elusiveness, which exceeded pre-draft expectations. \u201cHe\u2019s so much more sneaky and elusive than I thought he was going to be. He\u2019s so much more elusive to be able to slide away from some of those sacks,\u201d Cabot observed, adding another dimension to Sanders\u2019 case for the starting role.<\/p>\n

Of course, Sanders will face new challenges in 2026 as defensive coordinators develop more comprehensive gameplans against him, but his natural instincts and ability to perform under pressure give him a legitimate shot at winning the job.<\/p>\n

Want to hear the full breakdown of this fascinating quarterback battle and why Sanders might be ready to take the reins of the Browns\u2019 offense? Listen to the complete episode of Orange and Brown Talk for Mary Kay and Dan\u2019s in-depth analysis of what promises to be one of the most compelling quarterback competitions in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest podcast:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Listen and subscribe to the Orange and Brown Talk podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial<\/a> of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com’s Browns reporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 The Browns quarterback competition is officially heating up, with Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,94863,85,54,94864,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-749424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-2025-2026","10":"tag-cleveland","11":"tag-cleveland-browns","12":"tag-cleveland-browns-2025-2026","13":"tag-clevelandbrowns","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116063770248716470","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}