{"id":43682,"date":"2026-02-23T00:26:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43682"},"modified":"2026-02-23T00:26:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:26:29","slug":"browns-shedeur-sanders-facing-unfair-qb-hotseat-narrative-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43682","title":{"rendered":"Browns&#8217; Shedeur Sanders facing unfair QB hotseat narrative in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"article-body\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/library.sportingnews.com\/styles\/crop_style_16_9_desktop_webp\/s3\/2026-01\/Shedeur%20Sanders%20%285%29.jpg.webp?itok=VSbbgOul\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is set to enter what some are calling a defining offseason, despite it being just his second in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>After a rookie season that was largely uninspiring, Sanders will head for the offseason with a chance to win the job and be the leading guy for Todd Monken.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there are others in Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel who will be vying for the starting role, and that&#8217;s even before the Browns potentially decide to bring in another veteran.<\/p>\n<p>So, Sanders will have his work cut out, but for CBS Sports&#8217; Tyler Sullivan, he&#8217;s ranked the top 5 quarterbacks on the hotseat for 2026, and oddly names Sanders at No. 1, with J.J. McCarthy (2), Michael Penix Jr. (3), Bryce Young (4), and C.J. Stroud (5), behind him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sanders ended the 2025 season as Cleveland&#8217;s starting quarterback, but he has hardly established himself as the set-and-forget figure under center for the organization,&#8221; Sullivan wrote. &#8220;With Todd Monken now hired as head coach, Sanders&#8217; status as QB1 for 2026 is clouded. When asked about it during his introductory press conference, Monken told reporters that it&#8217;s &#8220;still to be determined.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That sets up Sanders to be fighting for his job the moment training camp begins later this summer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Sanders unfairly put at No. 1<\/h2>\n<p>Sanders, as a fifth-round pick, is entering his second offseason, so I&#8217;m not sure how he is under more pressure to deliver than Stroud or Young, even McCarthy, for that matter.<\/p>\n<p>So perhaps it is a little odd that Sanders is being put in this position, but he clearly feels he deserves the chance to be Cleveland&#8217;s starter, and he will have to prove it to Monken and the coaching staff throughout\u00a0training camp.<\/p>\n<p>But as the No. 1 quarterback on the hotseat in 2026? To me, that&#8217;s a little unfair, because if Sanders flames out this upcoming season, that won&#8217;t be nearly as big a story if Stroud, Young, or McCarthy do it.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, all eyes will be on Sanders as the offseason begins.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sanders will have it all to do this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Browns&#039; Shedeur Sanders facing unfair QB hotseat narrative in 2026 - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43682\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Browns&#039; 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