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One of the best and most comprehensive features we offer every year is our Footballguys Preseason Updates. Every week this month, Dave Kluge, Clayton Gray, and their team of Footballguys Staffers cover every player that matters from every NFL team. It's 32-plus pages of some of the most comprehensive coverage you'll find. It's probably worth the Footballguys Premium Subscription by itself.
Updates from Week 1
Preseason Updates: Quarterbacks
HC Todd Monken's first camp opens with the least settled quarterback situation in the league. Deshaun Watson, healthy after two 2025 Achilles surgeries but with only 19 games played since 2022, has been splitting first-team reps with Shedeur Sanders, the 2025 fifth-round pick who started seven games as a rookie. For most of camp, the two alternated. That changed on Aug. 8, when Watson took every starting rep in team drills, and Sanders split what was left with Dillon Gabriel, a shift Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com flagged as significant because it broke the every-other-day pattern and could provide a real clue which way Monken is leaning. Cabot called the Saturday switchup a "soft launch" of Watson as the starter. Watson struggled early in camp, throwing eight interceptions over the first nine practices, but has closed the past week with three straight strong sessions. In the Saturday practice that may have marked a shift toward Watson receiving the majority of first-team snaps, he completed 23 of 34 passes for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Sanders has been the better operator in situational work, leading successful two-minute drills on back-to-back days and playing well in the red zone. Monken has been public in his praise: "I've been highly impressed. He's only going to continue to get better." Monken has framed the evaluation around consistency rather than highlights. "It's really about how many plays in a row can we stack?" he said. Cabot's read is that Watson starts the preseason opener at Chicago with Sanders getting the home game against Buffalo on Aug. 22, meaning the split should clarify quickly. Gabriel is the QB3, and sixth-round rookie Taylen Green is getting limited work.
Preseason Updates: Running Backs
Quinshon Judkins is the centerpiece of what Monken is building. He led the Browns with 827 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns as a rookie before a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula ended his season in Week 16, and he is fully back. "He worked his ass off," running backs coach Duce Staley said of the recovery, adding the line that matters most: "I think that Q can play all three downs." The scheme fit is ideal. Monken is installing the same run-heavy offense he used in Baltimore, and at 221 pounds Judkins is built for it. "Quinshon's just a bull, man," Monken said. "He's a downhill, powerful man. He's hard to bring down, and he's got something inside of him from a competitive standpoint that's fun to watch." Dylan Sampson is the change-of-pace and passing-down back and has been banged up in camp. Monken compared his role to that of Justice Hill in Baltimore last season. With Jerome Ford gone to Washington, Sampson is the clear RB2 and would inherit a substantial workload if Judkins missed time, though he is not a true handcuff. He split time during Judkins' absence last season. Raheim Sanders is the primary competition for the third spot and has had fumble problems in two-minute work.