Browns QB Battle Is Wide Open | Top 5 Browns Camp Takeaways | Albert Breer

We got 5 takeaways from Browns camp.

Takeaway number 1, the quarterback competition here is a true competition.

This thing I would anticipate is going to last through the 2nd preseason game.

They're gonna have 1 quarterback start against the Bears this week.

The other quarterbacks start against the Bills next week.

They've got a set of joint practices with the Bills in between, and both quarterbacks have made progress now.

They've been perfect, no, but Deshaun Watson, um, has benefited from playing an offense that gives him more command at the line of scrimmage like Bill O'Brien's offense gave him.

In Houston, he looks more confident and really in the 2nd week of training camp he started to get his sea legs.

So now can you translate it over to the game field, play fast, play confident, start to look like himself?

That's the question with him.

And then with Shado Sanders, all of this stuff that you'd expect to come along in his 2nd year is starting to come along.

He's processing faster, his pocket movements faster , his command of the line of scrimmage has improved.

And really what they want him to work on now is situational football and eliminating the unforced errors, which is something that all young quarterbacks have to work on.

Again, I would expect a decision here probably after the 2nd preseason game.

The offense is gonna look slightly different.

I remember Todd Monken has worked with lots of different types of quarterback.

Backs you can go through his history going all the way back to Nick Mullins at Southern Miss, the guys he had in Tampa, Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick with Georgia, Stetson Bennett in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson.

So he'll be able to fit the offensive should do or, um, or Deshaun Watson, um, but it's gonna take a little time to do that.

So the, the decision likely comes after the 2 preseason game.

Uh, takeaway number 2, I was really impressed with the leadership and energy in the building here.

I think Todd Monken's staff, you know, the new coordinators , uh, Mike Rutenberg and, uh, and, and Travis Switzer have brought a lot of energy, um, to the building, and, and I think you see that also with the younger guys, the, the guys from the last two draft classes.

I mean, you can go right down the line.

Carson Schlesinger, Mason Graham, Quinshaw Judkins, Dylan Sampson, Harold Fannon, Spencer Fanno, Casey Concepcion, Denzel Boston, all those young guys are good fits for what.

They're trying to build here and have really helped raise the energy level.

And then a couple of the guys that have come in from the outside.

Quincy Williams was with Ruttenberg and and with the Jets, so he's been a guy who's immediately become a leader and even Jared Burke, who's only been here since June, came over in the Miles Garrett trade.

He's made a big impact in the locker room as well.

I takeaway number 3, the offensive rookies should make an immediate impact.

In fact, just this week, Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston, the two rookie receivers, started working exclusively.

With the first team and Spencer Fno became the permanent left tackle, meaning those guys have basically at this point won starting jobs.

They're going to be important pieces to the offense, of course.

Fanno's really, uh, really benefited from going up against first on a day to day basis.

Denzel Boston's shown a little bit more of an ability to separate than you normally see from a guy of his size, 6'4 and 250 pounds, 15 pounds, and Casey Concepcion, you see the elite explosion, and he's also shown really high football AQ.

Looks like he's gonna be able eventually to play all three receiver positions, and maybe Todd Monken can use him a little bit like he used Zay Flowers in Baltimore.

Take away number 4, the big question, of course, on the defensive side of the ball is how you're gonna replace perhaps the greatest pass rusher in the history.

The franchise, the best pass rusher of his generation, Miles Garrett.

Verse is an obvious piece of that, and Verse is a really good pass rusher in his own right, of course.

He drew internal comparisons to Terrell Suggs in LA, heavy-handed, tough, rugged pass rusher.

Um, so one side's taken care of.

On the other side, you're probably gonna see 5th year pro Alex Wright, who signed a 3-year extension last year.

I mean, he's just taken big steps over the course of this offseason, looks big, long, versatile, aggressive, both against the run and the pass, a good fit for what Ruttenberg wants to do.

And then of course pieces is gonna come from the interior and two young guys to watch on the inside.

Mason Graham, who's becoming a better pass rusher now.

He wasn't asked to do a lot of that at Michigan, but he's becoming more, more of a disruptive force as a guy who can get up the field.

And then Mike Hall is another guy with a ton of talent, just has to stay healthy.

And then finally take away number 5, if, if there's a strength to the defense, it's definitely on the back end, and that's good because Ruttenberg's scheme is aggressive and it's gonna put those guys in difficult positions where they're gonna have to rely on their talent, and there is talent on that back end at the linebacker level, it's Carson Schlesinger, Quincy Williams, two proven commodities at corner.

You got proven commodities in Denzel.

Ward and Tyson Campbell , and then Miles Harden has looked really solid at Nickel and the safety position is something they're really excited about with Grant Delpit looking like a battleship commander back there , Ronnie Hickman settling into his role as a starter, and then Emmanuel McNeil Warren is a name to watch.

He's a guy who looks like he can be really disruptive on that side of the ball, a super sized safety from Toledo.

I think the Browns are gonna give you a lot of 3 safety looks, a la what Seattle and some of the teams in that family.

Baltimore's done it with Kyle Hamilton, seen the Chargers do it with Derwin James.

I think you're gonna get a lot of 3 safety looks this year from the Browns' defense, and McNeil Warren's gonna be a key to that.

Appreciate you guys coming out.

We are in Buffalo next for a camp stop number 18 and the last stop of our first swing.