The Cleveland Browns quarterback battle between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson is one of the more compelling position fights in NFL training camp.

 A week into camp, The Athletic has dropped a new ranking of 35 NFL quarterbacks into tiers, voted on by a panel of 50 voters from across the league, including general managers, executives, head coaches, coordinators, and assistant coaches. Sanders landed at the very bottom of the list, ranked 35th out of 35 quarterbacks.

The harsh assessments from NFL coaches paint a difficult picture for the second-year signal-caller. One NFL defensive coordinator offered a blunt take on Sanders.

“I’d sleep like a baby if I got to play him every week.”

Another defensive coordinator provided a more detailed breakdown of Sanders’ shortcomings.

“He’s not an on-time player. He can’t really read through the coverages, is a little bit heavy-footed. He is thicker and harder to tackle than expected, but you shouldn’t lose to him.”

Shedeur Sanders’ rookie struggles back up the criticism

Those are tough takes on a young quarterback who was drafted in the 5th round two NFL drafts ago and is still trying to find his footing at the professional level. Sanders’ rookie season came with real disappointment. He threw 10 interceptions to just seven touchdown passes, and the inability to take care of the football was a consistent problem across his seven starts.

Sanders went 3-4 as a starter, and the on-field product simply was not good quarterback play. Until he goes out and proves otherwise, his rookie tape is what evaluators across the league will remember.

What Shedeur Sanders needs to do to change the narrative

If Sanders is going to make it in the NFL, ball security has to be the area where he cleans up in a major way. The interception numbers from his first season cannot carry over into Year 2. He can use the comments from these coordinators as bulletin board material to fuel his preparation this summer.

Watson is still working his way back from the Achilles injury he suffered in 2024, which caused him to miss all of the 2025 season. Sanders started seven games for Cleveland last year and will be trying to prove he can be the team’s long-term answer at the position.

The coming weeks of training camp will be telling for both quarterbacks. For Sanders, the ranking and the anonymous criticism from coaches around the league only add to what he has to prove.