Shedeur Sanders entered the NFL last year as a fifth-round pick with arguably the talent of a first-round selection. His slide in the 2025 NFL draft was widely analyzed, but after a promising end to his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, new head coach Todd Monken appears set to give Sanders the first crack at the Browns' starting quarterback job.

At Tuesday's first practice of the Browns' offseason training program, Sanders was taking first-team reps as the team began 11-on-11 drills. While small on the surface, Sanders rolling with the first team on day one signals a shift within the Browns brass: they are willing to give Sanders a fair shot at earning the starting job after giving him no first-team reps last offseason.

Sanders is competing for the job with Dillon Gabriel and veteran Deshaun Watson, who is coming off a major knee injury.

Shedeur Sanders is up first taking first-team reps as the Browns break into team drills pic.twitter.com/TiQ8lMOjU8

Monken said after that, the Browns structured practice so that both Sanders and Watson received first-team reps, with Sanders receiving the bulk of the opportunities.

The competition will be a fascinating development throughout the offseason as the Browns try to figure out who will start for them in Week 1.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Shedeur Sanders receives first-team reps in Browns' QB battle