The Cleveland Browns are shaping up to be a team to watch as training camp progresses. The quarterback competition remains wide open, with no clear starter, and four players battling for the top spot. Speculation is swirling about who might ultimately win the job. However, it’s not believed that Shedeur Sanders will come out on top.
“I was told from somebody that’s in the building, that ain’t a player, it’s really coming down to Kenny Pickett or Dillon Gabriel,” TJ Houshmandzadeh said. “That’s what I was told.”
Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick also weighed in on the competition, giving the edge to the most experienced signal-caller on the roster.
“If I was a betting man, Joe Flacco is gonna go into the year as the starter,” Fitzpatrick said. “He has history there, he has success there, and I think it’s a great story. He’s a guy that’ll bring calm, he’s the guy that’s going to be able to get them off on the right foot,” Fitzpatrick said. “As the season goes along, when you draft guys early, and when you have young exciting guys, they’re excited for Gabriel, we could see him inserted into the lineup.”
However, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, Sanders may have played his way into serious contention with a strong finish to offseason workouts.
“The good news for Sanders, the Browns’ fifth-round pick out of Colorado, is that he performed so well over the final two weeks of spring ball that he’ll come back for training camp with a legitimate shot to compete for the starting job, at least in the early going,” Cabot wrote.
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This marks the biggest opportunity Sanders has had so far, and he’ll be looking to take full advantage of it. Even if he wins the job this season, it doesn’t necessarily mean the Browns view him as their long-term solution. Still, it’s a positive sign for Sanders, who now appears to be firmly in the mix to become QB1.