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00:00It's the end of July, which means it's quarterback battle season for your Cleveland Browns.
00:07Deshaun Watson v. Shador Sanders commences, gets underway.
00:15So last week, Daryl, you were out, you were on vacation, finishing up the rest of that vacation.
00:20I was in with Coach Riz. I'll tell you this, dude.
00:24Coach Riz really tried to sell me on Dylan Gabriel.
00:30On all of these quarterbacks, on this competition, on a new coaching staff doing this competition their own way,
00:39you know, kind of looking at Watson with a fresh set of eyes, if you will, looking at Sanders through
00:45their own lens, too.
00:47Coach Riz did his best. It was a great sales pitch. It was.
00:52He tried to get me bought in and excited for this Cleveland Browns season.
00:56But what I was trying to tell him, dude, is like usually the Browns, to me, like a lot of
01:02our listeners in Northeast Ohio, it's a religion of sorts.
01:06You know, Sunday morning you wake up, you got your Browns songs, you listen to the pregame show with us,
01:12you do your running around.
01:14One o'clock comes around, even for preseason games.
01:18And you're sitting there on the edge of your seat.
01:21You know, you are excited each and every time the Cleveland Browns play football.
01:27Coming into this training camp, my excitement isn't there yet.
01:31My excitement isn't where it normally is yet.
01:35And I don't know if that's just me growing up as a fan.
01:38I don't know if that's just me growing deeper in my career, but I fear it's the fact that even
01:45though I should be excited about all this young talent, I'm excited to watch Fanoa at left tackle.
01:50I'm excited to watch Concepcion in Boston.
01:53I want to see how Fannin and Judkins and Sweatsinger and Graham, how all this young talent comes together and
01:59gels as a team.
02:00But I know that there's an elephant in the room, and it's a 5,000-pound elephant, and that elephant's
02:08been alive since 1999, and it's the quarterback.
02:13And until you've got one of those guys, you've got nothing.
02:17And maybe, hey, maybe we could live in this fairyland world where Watson reclaims what once was in Houston with
02:26Todd Munkin.
02:27It's a new coach.
02:28It's a variable that's changed.
02:30Maybe Shador can really turn some of those flashes, some of those sparks that he showed us in those seven
02:36starts with the Browns last season into a full-blown bonfire.
02:41And maybe he's our franchise quarterback, and you could use all these extra draft picks from two years of trading
02:46down in the first round and Myles Garrett and all this stuff to really just load up your team around
02:52Shador.
02:53But I feel like I'm not excited about this Browns season, dude, just because I've seen it before.
03:00And I know that there's going to be moments where, like, we're going to be excited because there is young
03:06talent, and that's good.
03:08But there are going to be a lot of moments where we're going to go, man, what would this team
03:13look like if they had a franchise quarterback?
03:15And we're going to get to November and December, and they're not going to have won a huge number of
03:23games, and the college football playoff will be getting closer to starting.
03:27And we're going to be debating and planting flags about which quarterback is worth selecting in the first round of
03:35April's class.
03:35So, like, I want to try to get more excited for this training camp week because I feel like I'm
03:42privileged, right?
03:43Like, I have this platform, like, we are speaking directly to Browns fans here, but I don't want to also
03:50misuse this platform and sell them on some sort of false hope that these quarterbacks can turn into something that
03:57I don't know that either of them are.
03:59And that's a long-term solution for the Browns to stop this ongoing QB search that they've been looking for
04:05once since 99.
04:06You know, so that's kind of where I'm at.
04:08I'm glad the training camp's here.
04:10I'm glad football's back.
04:11I was telling you during the break, Cam and I had a bonfire last night.
04:14It feels a little bit closer to football outside.
04:16Hey, you walk out early in the morning now, and it's cool.
04:20Yeah, and you take a nice, deep breath, and, oh, it definitely smells and feels like football weather.
04:30But then you remember that football weather, when Deshaun Watson's your quarterback, isn't always the most fun weather.
04:40You know, like, the last time that we did this, right, with Deshaun, and this is what Coach Riz and
04:46I were going back and forth about.
04:47He's like, you know, it's a new head coach, he's finally healthy, you heard Todd, you know, Riz was telling
04:53me, he's like, you were there.
04:54You know, Todd said he's open to a clean slate for Deshaun.
04:58That's all a player could want, any player, any position.
05:00Of course you want a clean slate with a new coaching staff.
05:03It's just like, dude, I personally feel like we did that in 2024.
05:08I know it wasn't a new coaching staff, but they were flipping coordinators every year.
05:13He was finally healthy.
05:15If we could just get back to the second half of that Ravens game, we spent a whole offseason trying
05:20to sell people on that.
05:22And it didn't come to fruition.
05:23Like, even when Deshaun was healthy, he was laughably bad in 2024.
05:29And I know you're not high on the whole quarterback competition either.
05:32I'm not.
05:33Things that I, shall I list all the things that I am looking forward to more than the Deshaun V.
05:45Shadour circus?
05:47I think we'd be, I think we'd run out of time on the Sunday show.
05:51I am looking forward to my annual checkup.
05:55I am looking forward to my next Root Canal.
05:59I am looking forward to sitting down and paying bills.
06:09Got any jury duty on the horizon?
06:11Yeah, sure.
06:12I'll take a week of jury duty right about now.
06:13Actually, I can't.
06:14I'll do it after the season.
06:17I always do that, by the way.
06:18I always get hit with it during Browns season.
06:24And then I respectfully ask the court for a delay until February, because I'm confident the Browns aren't playing in
06:34February.
06:35And then I do my civic duty.
06:39But they're very consistent.
06:40Every two years, I get the notice.
06:46Yeah, I would say I'm looking, I would look forward to jury duty more than I would look forward to
06:53yet another.
06:54And I think, and I'm just being honest with you.
06:57It's just the fatigue of it.
06:58And that's where I was coming from, too.
07:01It's like nothing.
07:02We've done so many of them.
07:04Yes, nothing good comes from these things.
07:07They never work out.
07:11And when you have a quarterback competition, yes, it is in some respects for you and I.
07:19It's good.
07:20It's conversation.
07:21It's something for fans to really hone in on during camp and pay attention to.
07:28But I'm here to tell you, quarterback competitions are bad.
07:35They are.
07:37And the reason they're bad is because you have to have them.
07:43Which means that you don't have a good quarterback solution.
07:48Right.
07:48It means you don't have a solution at the position.
07:51Now, I certainly hope that this quarterback competition goes better than the one Charlie Fry was in or the one
08:02that Brady Quinn was in or Derek Anderson was in or every other quarterback that's basically rolled through here, not
08:10named Deshaun Watson or not named Baker Mayfield.
08:14And actually, Baker, to a degree.
08:17Yeah, Baker was in his rookie year.
08:19Yeah, his rookie year.
08:21But that one ultimately ended up working out.
08:25Right.
08:25Baker started over 50 games consecutively, played well in stretches.
08:31And the one thing you could say, you knew he was going to show up every Sunday.
08:37He started more consecutive.
08:38You had to go all the way back to the late 70s, early 80s, Brian Sipe, for most consecutive games
08:45started by a Browns quarterback.
08:47That's Baker Mayfield.
08:51So, at least with him, we got to the, okay, he shows up every Sunday, but is he good enough?
08:57At least we got to that conversation.
09:00With many of these quarterback competitions that we have had in years past, we can't even get to that.
09:05We can't even get to that, can you show up for, now it's 17 weeks.
09:09It used to be 16 weeks, now it's 17 weeks.
09:11Can you be available for all 17 weeks?
09:14I'm going to tell you right now that neither Deshaun Watson nor Shador Sanders will be starting all 17 games
09:22for the Cleveland Browns.
09:24And look, that's not me sitting here trying to be negative by any stretch of the imagination.
09:31It is the reality that I see, okay?
09:35Well, in history, you have to acknowledge history.
09:39What is the saying?
09:40You have to acknowledge history or else it will repeat itself.
09:42Well, with the Browns, it always repeats itself.
09:44It's going to repeat itself.
09:45And you look at the history and understand that when they do these competitions, you need more than one quarterback,
09:52oftentimes more than two quarterbacks, sometimes three, four, five, up to six quarterbacks,
09:57literally just to hit the finish line on a season.
09:59What it is, okay, it's institutional knowledge.
10:05I've seen enough of this.
10:06I know how this movie goes.
10:08It doesn't end well.
10:11And that's not me hating on Deshaun.
10:13That's not me hating on Shador.
10:15Honestly, the best thing for the Browns would be for Shador to win the job, earn the job, win the
10:22job.
10:22Not be given it, but to earn it and win it from week one.
10:25And then he does play all 17 games and he plays well.
10:33He plays well and he changes the trajectory of the franchise.
10:36Okay?
10:37I can be positive here.
10:39Yep.
10:39That is the best outcome.
10:41This will shock people.
10:42I can be positive.
10:43That's the most positive outcome.
10:45It's not Deshaun winning it.
10:46It's not Deshaun playing just good enough.
10:50Okay?
10:51No.
10:52The best outcome for the Browns is Shador is more consistent and better than Deshaun and earns the job, wins
11:01the job, however you want to phrase it,
11:03and is your week one starter.
11:04And Shador Sanders starts all 17 games for the Cleveland Browns and plays every single snap this season.
11:10That is the absolute best case scenario for the Cleveland Browns and the outcome that they should hope to have
11:21happen.
11:22Now, do I think that's what's going to happen?
11:25No.
11:26I think that there's still some maturation in Shador's game that's going to be required here.
11:32And I do believe, before the Shador fans get on me, because, oh, here goes Daryl Ryder now, the latest
11:39to, you know, dump all over Shador.
11:42Everyone hates Shador.
11:43No.
11:44This is reality.
11:46Okay?
11:47He's a fifth-round pick.
11:49It's a progression for him.
11:50He showed some good things last year, enough to where I'm curious and I'm interested in what he can do.
11:56Okay?
11:58But I also have to acknowledge the not-so-good and the things that he needs to grow from and
12:04learn from and improve on.
12:06Okay?
12:08Just because I sit here and say that Shador needs to improve things in his game doesn't mean I'm sitting
12:12here hating on the kid.
12:13Straight ahead, I want to ask Daryl this question.
12:16Because I agree with you on literally all of that.
12:19But I want to ask you this question.
12:21With all of that in mind, the best outcome for the Browns is Shador succeeding, Shador starting, playing all 17
12:30games, looking good, doing so, and changing the trajectory of the Browns.
12:35Can he do it?
12:36Is it possible for Shador to win this week one starting job?
12:42I'm going to ask that question to you, Daryl Ryder, who's covered this team for decades.
12:50Can Shador catch up?
12:51That's the question that I wanted to ask Daryl before the break.
12:54That is the question that I now have the time to ask Daryl Ryder.
12:59Can Shador catch up in this thing, man?
13:01Because in my mind, if the answer to that is yes, okay, maybe I'm a smidge more excited.
13:07Because then at least, it's a real, genuine, honest competition.
13:12But Daryl, remember when we did this last year, it was the four-man quarterback competition, but you consistently said
13:19it really is a two-man quarterback competition.
13:21Actually, you know what?
13:23If Bill Veck were running the Browns, he'd probably start Dylan Gabriel.
13:26He had a thing for short fellas playing sports.
13:31Okay.
13:33He's not that short.
13:35He's my height.
13:37Please tell me you got that joke.
13:39I got that joke.
13:40You know what Bill Veck did, right?
13:41Yes, yes, yes.
13:43Leave Dylan alone.
13:46Leave Dylan alone and answer the question.
13:48I know what he did.
13:52Can Shador catch up?
13:57I feel like the longer that it's taking you to answer this question, it's stressing me out more and more.
14:03Yeah, I think so.
14:05Okay.
14:06I'm not writing him off.
14:07So you see a world where Shador really can be the weak one starting quarterback in Jacksonville.
14:12Yeah, I do.
14:13And again, just because I do have some critiques of Shador does not mean I'm hating on him, doesn't mean
14:20I'm punching down on him.
14:21Remember, like, if you say anything negative about Shador, his fan base comes after you, and you're like enemy number
14:29one.
14:30Look, he's not a finished product as a quarterback.
14:33I've said this time and time again, you know, what you have to do in the National Football League as
14:41a quarterback.
14:45is just so much more intense than what he has ever had to do at any level as a quarterback.
14:54It's so heightened.
14:55Yeah, and Todd Munkin's offense, and I've talked about this this offseason, Todd Munkin's offense is so detail-oriented and
15:03so intricate.
15:05There's a lot on the quarterback, okay, with this particular offense.
15:11There's a lot of responsibilities outside of getting the play, calling the play in the huddle, everybody lines up, snap
15:18the ball, you throw it, make the right decision on the field, make the right read, get the ball down.
15:23They're setting guys in motion, they're moving around guys in the backfield.
15:26Yeah, you're checking in and out of protections, this, that, and it, like, you know, so, like, there's a lot
15:32on these quarterbacks' plates with Todd's system.
15:36And I'm not convinced that Shador is 100% there yet to meet those responsibilities of what Todd is asking
15:45yet.
15:46And again, that's not me hating on Shador.
15:48That's hard to do.
15:50That would be the reality of any fifth-round, second-year player, right?
15:54Like, if his name was Shador Michael, you would probably say the same thing, right?
15:59That's not you hating Shador.
16:00No, listen, I could sit in a meeting with Todd Munkin, and he could teach me his offense, and I'll
16:07think he's speaking a foreign language to me.
16:09I'd have a hard time picking it up, okay, because it's completely different from what I am accustomed to.
16:17I'll acknowledge that.
16:19I have no problem admitting that.
16:21I couldn't do that.
16:22I couldn't, like, hell, just reading a playoff would be tough for me, let alone to have an intimate understanding
16:30of, okay, I'm reading a protection in this play.
16:32I'm reading route trees in this play.
16:36I'm reading blocking assignments for the guys in the backfield on this play.
16:40I'm reading secondary options in this play.
16:44Like, there's so much that goes just—
16:46Not to mention, I was supposed to set Judkins in motion, and now KC's going to come around for a
16:51jet sweep.
16:51Like, there's a lot going on.
16:52Yeah, there's so much that happens in the span of 25 seconds to 30 seconds of getting the play, regurgitating
17:04the play in the huddle, whether it's you're just doing it off of the cuff or you're looking at the
17:10wristband, okay, to read off the right play.
17:14Then getting to the line of scrimmage, seeing how the defense is responding to how you lined up, making millisecond
17:22decisions pre-snap, making millisecond decisions post-snap.
17:27That's a lot of stuff, okay?
17:30So I'm not going to sit here and just, like, minimize or just talk about how easy this should come
17:37to Shador right now.
17:39No, it's hard.
17:41I know I couldn't do it.
17:43Hell, I can't even throw a ball.
17:44So, like, I know that.
17:46I'd probably get a fight.
17:48Rotator cuff is just completely shot.
17:50I've tried.
17:51It actually hurts me to throw, and that it hurts people to look at what I just threw as well.
17:58But, no, no, like, so I acknowledge the difficulty of the job, and I understand.
18:05And that's why, yeah, I haven't jumped all over Shador when he makes mistakes and whatnot because, like, he's doing
18:14some on-the-job training here.
18:15Yeah.
18:15This is a 24-year-old also.
18:17And I think that's important.
18:18And Deshaun, though, conversely with Deshaun, yeah, I'm hard on that guy because he's being paid $46 million a year.
18:23He's been in the league.
18:25Yeah, this should come natural and easy to him.
18:27I expect that of him.
18:30Now, do I expect that he's going to be that same player that the Browns gave all that money to
18:34and the Texans all those draft picks for?
18:36Absolutely not.
18:37I have no hope for any of that.
18:39And I'm not going to sit here and sell fans on that.
18:42Okay?
18:43Look, if it's Deshaun, I hope he proves me wrong.
18:47I hope he's able to go out there and perform at a level worthy of his salary and worthy of
18:52everything the Browns sacrificed,
18:53including their pride and principles, to bring him here.
18:58Okay?
18:59I hope that for Browns fan.
19:02Because Browns fan deserves that.
19:05Browns fan deserves a team that they can get excited about and rally behind.
19:092020 was a lot of fun, except for the part where only 6,000 fans were allowed in the stadium
19:16to watch it in person.
19:18Okay?
19:202023 was a lot of fun, even though they needed four or five quarterbacks to get through the season.
19:25The Joe Flacco story will be...
19:27That'll be a story I'll tell grandchildren about.
19:31Okay?
19:32And just how much fun that was.
19:34Well, that was up until the AFC wild card game.
19:38But, like, you know...
19:40So, yes.
19:41Do I believe Shadur could potentially catch up and win the job?
19:45Absolutely.
19:48I mean, would I be surprised by it?
19:51Absolutely not.
19:53This is as fair a quarterback competition as we have had here in a very, very long time.
20:00Todd Munkin does not have his thumb on the scale for either one of these guys.
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