00:00Counting down the hours now until Saturday when the Browns take the field for the first time this season in
00:06Chicago
00:07for a little preseason action on the road in the Windy City.
00:11And of course you can listen to the game right here on 92.3 The Fan on the Browns Radio
00:15Network.
00:15Again, he is Jeff Phelps. I'm Andy Baskin, Mary Kay Cabot.
00:18Coming up in less than 40 minutes right here on the show if you want to hop in, 216-474
00:23-0092.
00:25Earlier today on the morning show, Zach Jackson was on the morning show.
00:32And Jeff, let's hop right in on this. He said, who's going to start on Saturday?
00:37He thinks he has an answer for that.
00:39I feel pretty strongly it's going to be Watson there.
00:41The other thing we haven't really talked about, even though we've talked about everything,
00:45is even if Shador was clearly ahead and he's not, Watson still has to play in the preseason.
00:51He hasn't played in two years.
00:52So if he's at all in the plans, at all in the possibilities, he has to play.
00:55So I just think the most sensible thing is you start Watson.
00:59He plays a couple of series.
01:01Then Shador comes in.
01:02You haven't scripted anything.
01:03You don't know what those opportunities will bring.
01:05He gets to watch the game early from the side.
01:08And then he comes in and plays a much longer period of time.
01:11And then you pencil him in as the starter and you see how next week goes.
01:14So we're 11 practices in.
01:16But in terms of the next 10 days or so, two preseason games and a joint practice,
01:21and now away from the installation stage, I really think it's just getting interesting.
01:26So I think the best stuff or the most important stuff is yet to come.
01:33Today it feels like it's a true competition.
01:36And I think Todd has gone out of his way to make sure that everybody knows that.
01:39He came back and talked about, you know, all the hullabaloo over the weekend about they switched things up
01:44and Sean was with the starters on Saturday rather than Shador.
01:48And, you know, everyone, like, the beat reporters who are out there are keeping score on everything.
01:53Everything.
01:54And so when they saw the notice and the change and who ended up starting on Saturday
02:01or taking reps with the first team and reverting back to, well, whoever's with the first team the most
02:06is probably going to be, you know, your guy who's going to be on the first team, which just makes
02:10sense.
02:12Does that sound right to you that Deshaun's your guy for starting on Saturday?
02:16Sure.
02:18It's as simple as that.
02:19Sure.
02:20Zach's real sensible and he's very realistic.
02:24Both when he's on our station and in his work, he's realistic.
02:30Todd's already said he's going to start both guys.
02:32So that sounds like a plan.
02:34Then he can switch the order and switch the amount of playing time in game number two if he so
02:38chooses.
02:41And I thought his rationale was pretty solid.
02:44I think most Bronx fans are – would you say most Bronx fans are expecting Watson to start on Saturday
02:49or not?
02:50What do you think?
02:51I think fans are – I think they want Shador to start.
02:53But I think it makes sense to start Watson.
02:57Does it really matter?
02:58I mean, he's already said –
02:59Again, you're with the ones.
03:00Like, I still think there's a difference.
03:01Okay, well, he said he's going to start both guys in, you know, the first two games.
03:05So I would assume he's going to do what he's done with all the practices, which is flip it, except
03:10for Saturday,
03:12where they did something out of the norm.
03:14And then came up with some reason for it yesterday that didn't make a ton of sense, but whatever.
03:18And then Zach went on to talk about Sanders and a bunch of things with him.
03:24Shador's going to start a lot of games at quarterback this year.
03:26I'm not sure that's going to be in September.
03:29I don't know how many.
03:30I don't know how it's going to go.
03:31But that seems like a wild, wild scenario to me to where he would be traded.
03:35Now, we have not begun the preseason except for one game, and I'm sure you wept during that game
03:40seeing how much better Carson Beck looked than what you see every day out of Berea.
03:43But I just don't really see a scenario where the Browns move on from Shador Sanders.
03:49So he doesn't see Shador getting traded, which is fine.
03:54I can understand the rationale behind that theory.
03:57I just expect the unexpected, though, from the Browns at this point.
04:01And last year was the reason I kind of hang my hat on that, because no one expected for them
04:08to be in the position where,
04:09first of all, where they drafted two quarterbacks, then when they brought in two veteran quarterbacks,
04:13then they let one veteran go, then they let another veteran go,
04:16then they decided to go with guys that had seen limited time in practice before that,
04:21and then this is the way things ended.
04:23So it was just the organizationally, structurally, because obviously your head coach isn't there,
04:29but the front office is still there.
04:31And I'm sure that they were in, a part of, or overseeing some of the stuff that was happening last
04:37season,
04:38that that's how you get to where you're at.
04:40So that's why I think anything could happen.
04:42And, you know, yesterday, again, bringing up the notion of trading either, you know,
04:48Deshaun or Shadour at some point, or Gabriel.
04:52I just don't know what their value is to the other teams.
04:56You've got to find a team that loses a quarterback in week one of the preseason
05:00that might need a quarterback before you're going to be able to trade anybody,
05:03if you haven't thought about it.
05:04But, and then, you know, Zach's saying he doesn't expect them to trade Sanders, at least.
05:11Or Gabriel.
05:12He thought all three would be there.
05:15So what does that do for your boy?
05:18Who, Talon?
05:19Yeah.
05:20Talon's a sixth-round pick.
05:21Hopefully they can keep him.
05:23To me, he's, you know, he's a sixth-round pick, Andy.
05:28I'm just intrigued by his physical skill set.
05:31But it'd be easy to say Shadour's just a fifth-round pick, too.
05:34Nobody, a lot of people don't want to hear.
05:35Yeah, I'm not as intrigued by his physical skill set.
05:37But nobody wants to, like, that doesn't play anymore.
05:40That's, did he lose?
05:41Well, once you're in the league, you're just a player.
05:44So, you know, he's a player.
05:45But I think it's easier to walk away from a fifth-round pick than it is.
05:48Not anymore.
05:49Right now, you've just got players.
05:53Honestly, if a guy can play, terrific.
05:57And if, you know, if you can't play, you're going to walk away from the guy
06:01even if he was a second-round pick or a third-round pick.
06:05Dan, you think it's on the table for either one of these guys
06:07or any one of the four to get traded?
06:09Absolutely.
06:10Okay, I do, too.
06:12Absolutely.
06:13This is the Cleveland Browns.
06:15The minute you think you have them figured out, it's like,
06:18nope, we're going a completely different direction on you.
06:21Hell, they traded two quarterbacks before the start of last season.
06:24I mean, they had two – Andy, they had two Pro Bowl quarterbacks
06:29on this roster, and they traded one of them.
06:32And now we have – well, Deshaun made the Pro Bowl.
06:35Yeah, so now we have two Pro Bowl quarterbacks now, too.
06:37Yeah.
06:41I think the biggest observation I have from this entire quarterback battle
06:45is more the fact that it sounded like Todd Munkin believed initially
06:49that this wasn't going to take as long as it has.
06:51You get that impression, too, don't you?
06:53Uh-huh.
06:54And I got a feeling even Todd Munkin is like, oh, oh, man.
06:59By the way, you have four Pro Bowls between your two guys battling it out.
07:03And the guys who have been out there and been watching everything
07:06think it's not much of a quarterback battle because nobody's looked really good.
07:11Everybody's had their moments, which they should.
07:13They're professional football players.
07:15But you know what my hope was, that somebody just flat out won the job
07:23and outdistanced himself from the competition.
07:25And that hasn't happened yet.
07:27And according to all the reports, it's not because they've all been so good.
07:33It's because they've all been so eh.
07:39Do you really think he's frustrated that he doesn't have his quarterback right now?
07:42Yes, because you can move on with your offense.
07:45But if he went into this thing thinking he was going to have a competition,
07:48he shouldn't be frustrated.
07:50When does the competition end, Andy?
07:51It already ended at left tackle.
07:53Well, but even Todd Munkin said it.
07:55No, I don't agree with that because he had said early on, Fano is the man.
08:02I mean, we knew that right away.
08:04He didn't.
08:04Andrew Barry did.
08:05But was definitive about it.
08:06Either one of those guys was definitive in the beginning saying he will play left tackle.
08:12And so it was...
08:13They didn't say he would start, but we all assumed that.
08:16I did.
08:16I think what changed people's minds was they were watching Jones at practice
08:20saying that he's playing well and that DeJuan looks like a new, you know,
08:26just refreshed and ready to roll.
08:28And I still think he's going to find his way into that line.
08:31I just don't know at what position.
08:33They're going to have to find something for him.
08:34He's too big to not have a...
08:36Not to be out there and protect one of these quarterbacks.
08:39So I'm sorry.
08:40I didn't mean to cut you off, Dan.
08:42I'm just...
08:43The only part of it that I would add in is the fact that we could hop in the wayback
08:48machine,
08:48at least if my memory serves me well,
08:50Todd Munkin initially when he got here said he wanted to get a starter figured out
08:54before this part of camp.
08:56And yet here we are.
08:57He was hoping to have it before training camp.
08:59He was hoping to have it before training camp even started.
09:00Yeah, I just think once it was, what was it, two weeks ago, a week and a half ago,
09:04when he committed to...
09:06And that story broke that he said, well, he took some liberties with,
09:09that he was going to start each guy in the first two games.
09:13At that point, there was no turning back on that.
09:15The only way you're not is if somebody gets hurt.
09:18You can turn back on anything.
09:19You know why?
09:20Because you're the head coach?
09:21He said it yesterday.
09:22Yeah.
09:23I'm the head coach.
09:23I can do what I want.
09:24He said it yesterday.
09:26And he's right.
09:28I mean, we want him to do that.
09:31We want him to do that.
09:33We need him to do that.
09:34I don't think the stink is that big if that's your door.
09:38No, I'm sorry.
09:39Sorry.
09:40No, I didn't.
09:40Did you order it?
09:41I got carried away.
09:42Was it a Coke or a Code Red?
09:43I can't remember.
09:44It was a Code Red.
09:44Okay.
09:46I think if it was Sanders, it wouldn't be that big a deal.
09:48You'd be like, nope, Sanders is starting.
09:50We're good.
09:51And I don't think anyone.
09:52But if he goes with Deshaun, then every Sanders fan's going to be like,
09:56you've got to trade him.
09:57You've got to get him out of here.
09:58He should be able to go pull somewhere where he should be able to play.
10:00That's what we would have heard.
10:02And it is.
10:04Zach Jackson talked about it this morning as well.
10:07It's all just kind of madness at the quarterback spot.
10:11It was strange for sure.
10:12I'm not going to make too much of it.
10:14I still don't get why they messaged it that way on Saturday or Monday.
10:17But I'm not going to make too much of it because it's all madness.
10:19It just really is.
10:20So why he would expect anyone, media member or not,
10:24to believe the way he said it yesterday, I don't know.
10:26But it's his right.
10:27It's his quarterback competition.
10:29It's a root canal.
10:30And he chose to do it.
10:31But it's all madness.
10:32Like, they're about to put Deshaun Watson back on the football field in 2026.
10:36It's all madness.
10:37It might be something we look back on, but I really don't think it is.
10:41I really think it was an unexpected twist that they just didn't want to talk about.
10:45And, you know, it's back to things at hand.
10:48I do think he was going to make his starting announcement yesterday before that happened.
10:52But, again, I'm guessing.
10:53I don't know.
10:54Just really strange, but another day in the life out there.
11:01He's right.
11:01It's pure chaos.
11:04And until you have a quarterback, I don't know how you can have any strong, positive feelings on where they're
11:11going.
11:11Like, I think people are excited about Concepcion.
11:13I think people are excited about Boston.
11:15I think people will be excited about Judkins and maybe Samson and Fannin.
11:22I don't think people are excited about – well, I take that back.
11:27Shador Sanders' hardcore fans are super excited about the opportunity he has here.
11:32Again, it's an opportunity that no other team was going to give him based on last year, four times over,
11:36at least four times over, right?
11:39Well, in theory, yes.
11:40So, you know, again, once you get in and once you put on the helmet and the pads and you're
11:47out there, you're a football player.
11:51And if you look better than everybody else, they're not going to worry about where you were drafted.
11:56Yeah, but it's a label that's stuck with you until you can make him shake it.
11:59Well, it's stuck with Tom Brady, but, you know, then it was just kind of like, ha, ha, he was
12:03a sixth-round pick.
12:04You know what I mean?
12:05I mean, I think it's six with a lot of – if you're a first-round pick, you're expected to
12:08do something, right?
12:08Yeah, I know.
12:09If you're a sixth-round pick, you're like, oh, he made the team.
12:11But teams don't for long keep a guy on the bench because he was a late-round pick if he's
12:19better than other guys.
12:21And, you know, the Niners didn't.
12:23Depending on the politics of the situation, yeah, I agree.
12:25And if you're a first-round pick and can't play, well, you're not going to get – you know, if
12:30you're getting outplayed, you're going to not be on the field.
12:34I'll buy it.
12:35And Todd Munkin's certainly in that situation here.
12:37He's got to win.
12:39Mary Kay Cabot's going to join us at 11.
12:41We're going to get her take on – and she is right in the mix when it comes to Breon
12:45asking tough questions sometimes,
12:47especially about Shadour and what they're doing at the quarterback situation.
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