As the offseason wears on, hype has been building for Cleveland Browns fifth-round pick and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Most of the reviews coming out of Browns practice have been positive for Sanders, and there have even been reports that he's outperforming fellow rookie and the Browns' third-round selection, Dillon Gabriel.
Former NFL wide receiver Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson added to that budding hype for Sanders on his "Nightcap" podcast, saying that Sanders "looks different" from the Browns' other candidates in the quarterback competition, which also include Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco.
“I talked to (cornerback) Denzel Ward," Johnson revealed. "Damn, I shouldn’t say his name. But anyway, I talked to ‘some people,’ and (Shedeur) looked different. There’s a difference when that young bull is out there spinning that ball, you hear me? He looks different from the rest of the competition. That’s what I heard.”
In the wake of Johnson's comment, ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi took Johnson to task on it, saying that Sanders isn't doing anything the rest of the quarterbacks aren't.
"Shedeur is doing fine, OK?" Grossi said. "But this is more the false hysteria that's being created. He's doing fine, but so is Dillon Gabriel. But you don't hear Chad Johnson saying anything about Dillon Gabriel."
One of the ESPN Cleveland hosts then asked if Sanders is winning his teammates over. Grossi offered a similar response.
"Well, I think they're all winning their teammates over," Grossi added. "I see the same thing with Gabriel. And, you talk about spinning the ball, no one out there spins it as well as Gabriel.
"I mean, actually mechanically spinning a spiral into a receiver's hands, he's better at that. So, I think it's just more false hysteria. Shedeur is doing fine, he is getting better, but he's not the only one getting better."
Sanders entered the offseason as the No. 4 option on the depth chart behind Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel, so he's really going to have to stand out to work his way up.
Based on what Grossi is saying, Sanders is moving in the right direction in his development, but it doesn't look like he's separating himself enough to start jumping his quarterback competitors on the depth chart.
His next opportunity to do so will come at training camp late next month.