When the Cleveland Browns up line up on offense for the first time in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, it will likely be one of the team's two healthy veteran quarterbacks—Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett—under center. The quarterback battle also features the team's two 2025 draftees, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and both have the chance to make things very interesting this summer.
While Gabriel, a third-round pick, was the higher draft pick, all eyes have been on Sanders since his sldie from projected first-rounder to the fifth round. And according to Zac Jackson of The Athletic, it has been Sanders who threatens to make this summer's QB battle "intriguing" thanks to the "accuracy and decisiveness he’s shown this spring."
Pickett has previously been reported as the clubhouse leader to win the job, but Jackson says that the former Pittsburgh Steelers first-rounder has been "unremarkable," and that Flacco is the favorite to suit up for Week 1. Sanders, meanwhile, has shown more than enough to make the roster and could even work his way up the depth chart with a strong summer, according to Jackson:
From here, the belief is that Flacco is the clear favorite to win the first phase of that competition and the starting job. How the rest of it shakes out is anyone’s guess, but Sanders has been good enough this spring to make coaches believe he’s worthy of more chances this summer. I think he’s earned that, and based on what we’ve seen to this point, Sanders has positioned himself to make the roster and eventually make the folks in charge think about where he might belong on the depth chart.
Sanders's numbers in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills have been impressive. Coach Kevin Stefanski has stressed that the process is more important than the numbers themselves, but it sounds like Sanders is earning his spot in the conversation, at the very least.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Browns Insider Says Shedeur Sanders’s Spring Showing Could Lead to Big Move.
