Cleveland Browns receiver Diontae Johnson doesn’t see Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders or fellow 2025 NFL draft pick Dillon Gabriel getting the reins to the offense this fall.
Instead, Johnson predicts the veterans of the group, 27-year-old Kenny Pickett or 40-year-old Joe Flacco, trading stints starting under center.
“I think I'm going to roll with Kenny for right now. I'm really seeing Kenny going on like right now with the ones, but then Joe will come in. I think they're probably going to roll with him. Just like to see, like just coming off the season, he was with Philly and having a Super Bowl,” Johnson said on a recent episode of “The Comeback.”
“So I'd rather see, I think they're going to stick with him through preseason and then, you know, they can live with what Joe comes and brings to the table.”
Colin Cowherd believes Sanders lost QB1 confidence after he was cited for speeding twice in June.
“Mike Tomlin often says two is a trend—I'm not sure if I need two times when you're a young quarterback," Cowherd said. “I now have two times in the last couple of months that have really turned me off from Shedeur Sanders, whom I have championed. That cringe, awful, 'legendary' draft room—I had more than one GM say 'total turn-off.' It's not the end of the world, but it's a bad look. Now this. All you fanboys—Manziel, Baker, Watson—defend it to the hilltops on your Reddit account. Don't minimize, don't pander.”
It was always a long shot for either Sanders or Gabriel to ascend to Cleveland’s starting quarterback spot. Pickett cost two assets via trade, and Flacco is two years removed from a best-case scenario result with the Browns during a playoff-caliber campaign.
With his off-field issues, though, Sanders made things tougher for himself in the QB competition.