There is not a quarterback battle more compelling in the build-up to the 2025 NFL season than that of the Cleveland Browns.
Entering the draft, the Browns already had two potentially viable starters, having brought in Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. They grabbed Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round, and then, after watching his draft stock fall for two days, picked up Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders as well.
Gabriel and Sanders got their first chance to make a true impression with the team earlier this month at rookie minicamp.
Speaking with ESPN Cleveland, head coach Kevin Stefanski said that he likes what he’s seen out of Sanders and the rest of the team’s rookie class thus far.
“He’s a great, great kid. He’s working like crazy, just like all the guys,” Stefanski said of Sanders. “These rookies, my office is downstairs. They’ve gotta walk by my office as they come in, and they come in early. Shedeur, like all those guys, he’s in there early. He’s getting his work done. He’s working really, really hard. I llke everything there is about Shedeur.“
"He's in there early, he's getting his work done, he's working really, really hard. I like everything there is about Shedeur," - @Browns HC Kevin Stefanski on Shedeur Sanders. pic.twitter.com/qEZa3jTa4T
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 23, 2025
Sanders's fall from projected first-round pick was the biggest story to come out of the draft this year, with plenty of different explanations being offered for how pre-draft projections came in so far away from reality.
However he got there, Sanders is now in Cleveland with the Browns, and looks to be making the most of his opportunity.
As things stand, it appears that Pickett has the inside line to the top of the depth chart to start the season, but anything can happen between now and Week 1, and the NFL world will be watching the drama play out.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kevin Stefanski Gives Honest Take on Shedeur Sanders's Work Ethic.
