Reporting on Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders since being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in April has been all over the place.
Many have christened Sanders the Browns’ quarterback of the future based on his performance at rookie OTAs.
His OTAs/mandatory minicamp performance has him behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel, though.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot was the reporter who tabbed Sanders QB4 on the Browns’ depth chart with Deshaun Watson on the shelf recovering from an Achilles tear. Cabot didn’t write off the possibility of Sanders winning the job despite being behind, though.
Cabot tabbed Sanders a potential starter on opening night, but only if he can “knock the socks off” Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski and Co.
“He’s still a longshot to start on opening day, but if he knocks the Browns’ socks off during the preseason, he’ll at least remain in the conversation. It’s more likely that he’d make his way onto the field later in the season, but no one has been ruled out yet in the four-man competition among veterans Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Sanders,” Cabot wrote.
Sanders was never going to be a priority in the Browns’ QB room after the franchise took Gabriel in the third round. At best, Shedeur’s value is similar to that of Pickett, whom the team landed using Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick.
Despite many overreacting to his performance, it’s important to note that he’s not even being trusted to run the same concepts the first-teamers are.
“In the case of Sanders, he excelled in spring practices from the snap until the end of the play, making good reads, releasing the ball quickly and delivering it with his trademark accuracy. At times, he looked smoother and more productive post-snap than Pickett and Gabriel, but those two were working on more difficult concepts and helping the coaching staff determine what works in the overhauled offense and what doesn’t,” Cabot wrote.
Sanders starting on opening night would be a bigger shock than his three-day, four-round draft slide.