We Predict the Browns & Falcons’ Starting QBs

We should start, I think, with the most relevant uh news here, and that is that we, we do have quarterback competitions going on.

Um, there are active quarterback competitions going on.

So, let's start in Cleveland, where I feel like, you know, I, I mean, this is sort of a strange situation.

It's a tough one.

Um, for Todd Monken in his first year, but I, I, I don't think that there's a way that you can say that Shado Sanders played better than Deshaun Watson.

Deshaun Watson was clearly the better quarterback in Cleveland on, uh, this weekend.

Yeah, and you know what I like to do is, in these situations is I'll talk to the, the team they were playing against, right, and ask like what it looked like on tape.

And I think talking to a couple of Bears people, it sounded like it was pretty clear on tape that Deshaun Watson is the Browns' best option right now, you know, and I, I, I, I take it a step further in that like there were questions about whether, and they sort of, it was interesting because they grouped Shaur not with DeSean, but Shaur with Dylan Gabriel saying like, yeah, I just don't know if the other two have it, you know, like, so I.

I think that this one, look, I think Todd Monken wants to make this as fair a competition as he possibly can, and his goal was to try to make, to, to, to see what's left with Deshaun Watson, right?

And I think it's like a logical thing.

If you're a new coach coming in, you don't have the history, you don't have the 4 years of Deshaun Watson in Cleveland weighing you down, right?

But you do know that your organization has sunk $230 million.

03 first-round picks for this guy .

And I've said this, I mean, I, you're, you're probably sick of me saying it to you, Connor, but what would be worse than just chalking up Deshaun Watson as a sunk cost after all that?

It would be throwing him and chaining him to the bench.

And then finding out next year somewhere that that that he can that that that he still has it while he's playing for another team, right so you wanna find out what he has and I think that's the approach that Todd Monken has taken coming in is if there's something still there from those unbelievable 4 years that he had in Houston, right, if there's something still there, we gotta dig in and find it and so like I know.

You know, Monken himself feels like his offense is a little more analogous to what DeSean was doing in Houston, where Bill O'Brien put more on the quarterback and gave the quarterback more control at the line of scrimmage, more creative control, more of an ability to adjust things on the fly.

And so, DeSean has that now , um, with Todd Monken Monken as the coach, and they're starting to see like that he's starting to move like himself again.

Now the biggest, biggest question for them is, can he do it consistently enough, right?

Is it just flashes of that guy we saw in Houston, or can he start to do that play after play after play?

And that's the big question, but I, I think all along, like the idea has been, you know, unless one of the young guys really blows us away and makes it clear, like, let's get a look at Deshaun Watson, um, because there's really no harm in doing that.

And if he shows to his teammates that he's the best option.

Then we should go forward with it because the reality is like you want to come out of this year with a clear idea of what you've got, but if, if we're stacking the investment that the team made in those three quarterbacks, it's not even close.

I mean, people talk about Shaor like, oh well, we need to find out he's a 5th round pick.

Dylan Gabriel is a 3rd round pick, you know what I mean?

Like, I mean, we're essentially talking about.

What we're talking about with this with with Shado Sanders, we're essentially talking about Drew Aller, right?

Yeah, and with Um, so, just so we, uh, kind of have the, the box score numbers out there.

So, Deshaun Watson, the Browns went 3 and out on Deshaun Watson's first drive, uh, but then Cleveland had a 10 play, 86 yard touchdown drive.

Casey Concepcion had the, uh, had a touchdown run.

On the 3 and out, it was interesting.

By the way, it, it looks like they really have something in him, just as in the side.

Yeah, I, and, and I think it was smart to.

Just kind of, I mean, you, you obviously had a glaring need at the wide receiver position, but to just sort of take a couple of cracks at that, um, at the end of the first and the beginning of this, I like that.

I like that.

The Browns have had two good drafts in a row.

It's, it's hard to argue that.

Um, but the, the 10 play, uh, 86 yard touchdown drive is kind of what everyone's basing the confidence on.

I believe the final two.

Drives were 3 and outs, and then there's also like a 4th-down strip sack in there for Deshaun Watson as well.

So, a, a, a mix of good and bad.

Shado Sanders didn't come in until the 3rd quarter.

He had a pick, a couple of overthrows, but he will be starting the next preseason game uh against Buffalo.

Uh, I mean, We saw Kevin O'Connell call it pretty early, uh, in the interest of giving the quarterback a little bit more time with this offense and giving the coaches some time to build it for him and giving some coaches time to build it for him, uh.

I guess it wasn't enough for Watson, for Monken to be like, listen, I'm gonna call it here.

Um, it's interesting that we're really, like, we're really letting this thing go to to the wire in Cleveland.

And again, it's another situation where it's a new offense, but we're seeing two coaches do two very different things.

Um, what is it about Shador do you think like, why is there an interest in, in pushing this thing another week?

Well, I think it's, it's out of fairness for one thing, and I think it's You know, you wanna make sure you have all the information and like for them the way it was explained to me was, so we have the benefit of the joint practice in between.

Um, If DeSean was the starting quarterback.

You'd probably play him in 2 of the 3 preseason games anyway, so you could double back in the 3rd game and get him a few more reps with the first team.

And so like you get the best apples for apples if you let one of them start 1 game, the other one start the other game, and you have the joint practice in between.

So it's set up to get them to like a nice neat clean conclusion.

And you know, so I think in this case it's like what are we talking about?

Like, so the joint practice they'll both get reps with the first team and then practices outside of that and then the game, right?

So I, I don't think it makes that big a difference and I think that there is, I mean, look, like I think there's this part of it too.

It's the fan base, you know what I mean?

Like, I mean, that's an underrated hard place to play.

It's an underrated hard place to coach.

It's one of the most intense football markets in the country.

Um, I'd say it's one of the most knowledgeable fan bases in the country, and it's one of the cities that's most weigh, weighed down by its previous failure, right?

There's just like a lot there, and I even would say it's interesting that they started DeSean on the road.

And here's the thing is if Shaddo somehow lit it up in that first game, can you imagine being Deshaun Watson coming back and playing in the second game in Cleveland?

Yeah, you know what I mean?

Like that would be, so it's just like I think there's all of these.

And, and, and you would say the veteran quarterbacks probably a little bit more comfortable playing away from home.

So, I, I think it's, I think all of it is like, I, I think all of it kind of sets up in a way where they can come to a conclusion and like the coaches can talk amongst themselves now too about like, OK, like here's what it's gonna look like if this thing goes the way that we think it's gonna go, which would be, I think with Deshaun Watson as the starting quarterback.

I mean, ultimately, um, I'm excited.

I'm, I'm like, I'm, maybe I'm raising my hand.

I'm the only one.

I'm excited to see what it looks like, you know, whether or not they can get anything out of this, you know, cause I mean, Watson was at points like I'd say right on the cusp of top 5 in the league.

I mean, at the end of his 3rd year they were up 24 to 0 on the Chiefs and Mahomes and Arrowhead, you know, you go around.

And I think at that point, like there was a real argument, who would you take DeSean or Mahomes.

Now we all know the way that went, right?

But, um, you know, I, I, I'm just, I would like to see what it looks like over 4 or 6 or 8 games of the regular season, like just because I do remember what it looked like, whatever, it's 6 years ago now, it's hard to believe.

I will say this though, right, like, there is no, uh, you know, there were a couple of plays where, like, Deshaun Watson had some guys wide open and, you know, Shadur Sanders, uh, you know, fumbling snaps, like we can talk about this, it's not good in general, right, right, right.

So I think, yeah, I wanted that to, to, I'm not telling you it's good, yeah, uh, you know, cause I think like competition, you know, I mean, it's probably not a great sign, no matter what.

This deep into the preseason, for you to have any sort of a for you to not be sure.

And it's even worse, I think, you know, when it's between these two , where DeSean, like, you know, I, I, I think scientists will go back and try to study what happened because, you know, even in that Bears game, there's a couple of instances where, you know, you got receivers down the field just being like, yo, like, throw me the ball.

And again, it's after a couple of weeks of practice and you have to give everybody that benefit of the doubt cause certainly, you know, I, I gave Fernando Mendoza the benefit of the doubt when I did a write-up on him on Friday and we can talk about that or Thursday.

But It doesn't, like, neither of them look good.

Right, like, I, I don't, I don't think like, I think that's an important thing to mention, where it's not like anyone's gonna be like, yes, the , the quarterback Cleveland is going to soar on the wings of a quarterback this year.

No, but I, I think like, the cool thing about where Cleveland is to me is, I think you have the makings of a team that's gonna be set up pretty well for a young quarterback in 2027 .

Sure, you know, I mean, Spencer Fano at left tackle, Concepcion in Boston and Judy at receiver, Judkins and Samson at, at, at, at running back, Fannon at tight end, you know , and then the defense has a nice core with Mason Graham, Jared Burse, and Carson Schlesinger in the front seven.

And, um, you know, some older guys obviously in the secondary, you know, Del Pitt's a really good player.

Obviously, Ward, we know what he is, but I mean you have the, the makings of a, of a really good young roster and oh by the way they've got 2 1st round picks next year and then 2 2nd round picks the year after that and then 2 3rd round picks the year after that so they're actually set up if this class hits the way that last year's class hit.

Um, and they're set up nicely, and really nicely put in specifically for a young quarterback to come in and play.

Um, yeah, I mean, I think that's the , the, the, the strangeness of it, right?

It's like, ultimately, does it end up mattering in any way, shape or form who the quarterback is as long as they're bad enough for Cleveland to get one next year.

Yeah, I guess it would be an abject disaster if they get like slightly above quarter average quarterback play, you know.

Well, cause they have, they have how many, let's see here, hold on.

Um, The Browns have.

The 2 1st round picks.

With the Rams, and we're assuming the Rams is gonna be in the, in the 30s, but the Jets would be the best suited to survive a strangely good season, right?

Cause the Jets have 31st round picks, and I think 3 higher 1st round draft picks.

Um.

So, I, I, that is a calculus and we'll obviously kind of monitor that throughout the season cause a lot of teams are gonna have to decide whether it's , you know, worth it to keep grinding here or pull the rip cord and tanking is hard and, you know, we can get into that later on.

But I want to pivot to Michael Pennox and, and Tua, um.

Strange meme Uh, which I always love where, and I'd love to get to the bottom of, you know, why Pennick just like pointed to him and been like, this guy, uh, on the sidelines, I think that was kind of the most memorable moment, um, of this offseason, but what were your takeaways from the Pennix and Tua, a quarterback competition?

So I mean, I, I guess the, the first thing is that it hasn't really been a competition at all to this point because Penn hasn't been cleared for 11 on 11 yet, which is understandable.

He tore his ACL in was it December, I think, right?

I shouldn't have had had that ready to go for the podcast, but I think it was December, yes, his ACL, um, it was late in the year that he tore his ACL, so it's not crazy that he hasn't been cleared for , for 11 on 11 yet.

Um, you know, he, he has looked good throwing it in 7 on 7.

I would say Tua did not look good against the Broncos, um, and I mean, to be fair, you know, again, this is another one where I talked to some people on the other side, talked to some Broncos people, but, um, What I heard was the entire team really didn't look comfortable out there, the, the Falcons' entire team didn't look comfortable out there.

And just checking with Falcons people, they said, well, it's not how Tua played wasn't really indicative of the camp that he's had.

And he has shown the instincts and the accuracy and all the stuff you'd expect from Tua, the stuff that were his strengths in Miami when he was playing his best.

Um, I just think, like this is another one where you've got a first-year head coach, you know, you have a first year GM there, you have a first-year executive in Matt Ryan.

And I kind of think like, you know what Tua is.

And you don't know what Michael Pennox is.

And just talking to the people that have coached him his first two years in the league, they'll all say there's something there.

He sees it really fast.

He's got a cannon for an arm, um, you know, the old staff, like the comp for the old staff, which just sounds wild considering the 1st 2 years he's had with Stafford, which I mean, like, because just based on the way the ball comes out of his hands, the way he sees it, the way he feels the game.

So there's a lot of like good there.

But there's also this, which is like, this is not an isolated problem, him tearing the ACL.

It goes back to college, he can't stay on the field.

And, you know, I, I just think they have to find out on Michael Pennox by the end of the year.

And it sucks talking about teams before we've even started the season in that way, where it's like we're already looking at 2027, but it is the reality for some of them.

And if they're, if we are looking at a draft class that's got Call it 4 or 5 high first round quarterbacks, right?

Right.

And then you also have within that class.

Jeremiah Smith and Colin Simmons and, and, and , and Leonard Myers and like all these like high-end prospects at other positions, you know what I mean like and I, I'd say you have to get a read on who Pennox is, you know, and like, so if, if it's close now you can't lie to your team if you're Kevin Stefansky, you can't lie to your team and throw the worst player out there, but if it's close, I think you have to go with Pennox.

The problem is now we're getting to the point.

Where it's almost.

If Penn can't get back on the field soon, you have to start the season with Tua, and that's I think the balance.

This was a big weekend for the uh Tungavioa family though, Albert, did you know this?

What happened?

Tua's brother, um, Talia, who played quarterback at Maryland, quarterbacked American Samoa in a flag football victory over the United States.

It's like, it's like the first time the US team has lost in like 5 years.

This was like a USSR , uh, uh, US Lake Placid style upset, so.

Maybe he should hop into Talia is not from, well, Talia can play for Americanmo because of his descent then because he's Hawaiian, but he's chosen to play, OK.

I don't know what the rules are on that because I've seen those rules are flexible in soccer.

I was gonna say, yeah, it's pretty much the World Cup.

Because there's a guy, uh, he's like one of my , my son's favorite players, Elise, I think is his name, Michael Elise, right?

Who is like one of the best players in the world, and my 10-year-old, now, he just turned 10, happy birthday, Drew, is, um, he, he was explaining to me how Elise is actually British, but plays for the French team and also plays for PSG.

And it's like, he's got like an uncle who lives in Paris or something like that.

So I, I, I don't know what the exact, I'm probably messing that up, but I guess they've got similar rules here then.

Oh you didn't want the USA.

I'm still grasping the NFL preseason, so digging in on the legalities of, uh, NFL flag football heritage and descendancy is probably not on my bingo card today, but are we gonna have guys like, cause Talia is a pretty good college player, like you would think maybe he'd be trying to, I, I wanna figure out, did he have opportunities to go to training camp, and now he's just pivoted the flag.

Oh, I would.

I mean, honestly, interesting question though, right?

So we gotta check out like what are Diego Pavia's uh potential here, right, like you got 2 years to the Olympics, so would like Diego because I bet you, dude, I bet you he would be a really good flag player, right?

What I bet you Diego Pavia would be a really good flag player based on his play style.

Yes, um, I mean, maybe, right?

He's creative, he can move, like, I don't know.

I think you have to be stunningly accurate, and I will say, uh, uh, as I get this conversation back on the rails that like, you almost certainly have to.

Two positions.

That's why the US is so good.

Like, our quarterback can do five other things, and I, I think this is probably just a very stunning, uh, upset where, I mean, American Samoa quarterback weighs like 165 pounds, right?

Like, but he can, he's so slithering and kind of slide between bodies and all of that.

There's that, there's the ability to, you know, flag avoidance, all, all that kind of stuff, like, can you secretly guard your flag from getting taken, all that kind of stuff.

So, yes , I mean, I think that there's, uh, there's layers to it, but, uh, just saying it wasn't all bad for, for the two.

Tua was very hard on himself after this, by the way.

Um I'm just saying after the year that you've had, when it comes to predicting things happening in, in flag football, I'm listening to you on this subject and you alone, you're my authority.

Thank you.

Um, uh, uh, it would be, it would surprise you to know that the internet mafia was not correct in this particular case, that you can't just walk off an NFL football field and be good at flag football.

I, I'm with you though.

I, I have a feeling that Michael Pennox comes out.

And just takes this thing when he's able to.

Again, it's 7 on 7 reps versus 11 on 11 reps, um, but all indications are that he's really taken to the under center suite, uh, of plays that have been rolled out um by Tommy Reese in this offense.

By the way, I, Tommy Reese is a good offensive coordinator.

Um, Tommy Reese is gonna be a head coach in the NFL.

That's a Kevin Stefansky has there too.

I mean, having Ulbricht on the defensive side and having Jeff Ulbricht back, um, but one of the things that I think I don't want people to overlook when it comes to Reese being in the mix on this is, and this is from a Notre Dame fan, right?

When Reese was uh the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, there were a series of very underwhelming options at the quarterback position, and these players were coached out of their minds.

Uh, Ian Book wound up being that was the name I was searching for in my head.

Ian Book wound up being, I think, the most prolific quarterback in Notre Dame history.

And, you know, if you look at it from a skills perspective, pretty limited guy, uh, but Tommy was like that too, as a quarterback, and so I think that he understands that.

I think he comes at it from that perspective and from that because he like has like a real feel for what he can get out of whoever's playing quarterback at a given time.

Yeah, and I, I think, I mean, just watching him.

And Pennox together, um, in the clips that I've seen from camp talking to some people, I, I, I think that that's gonna be a pair that works.

It's, it's about health.

I mean, Pennox is a really smart guy.

He can download any offense, um, you know, he's gotten really good at watching and dissecting film on his own.

I, I think that once he gets in there, I think we're gonna start to see some separators.

That's the thing, and that's the thing is I, I just think that organization this year.

And again, I don't want to make their whole season about this, but they have to gather information on Penn, and they have to have a good idea of what they have, you know, I just think it's kind of a non-negotiable, yeah.