Shedeur Sanders preseason debut: LeBron James, Deion Sanders and others were loving Browns QB's 2-TD performance

Yahoo

2 days ago

It was a very good night for Shedeur Sanders' cheering section.
With Joe Flacco resting and two other quarterbacks hurt, the Cleveland Browns rookie received a starting opportunity in Friday's preseason opener despite operating as QB4 in training camp. The results were encouraging, with 138 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-23 passing.
His first touchdown pass was particularly impressive, threading the needle to Kaden Davis to take advantage of a muffed punt from the Carolina Panthers.
Sanders entered training camp with as much as attention as we've ever seen for a fifth-round pick. He was last year's Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year at Colorado and was considered a likely first-round pick, but infamously fell to 144th overall. While there were later shots about his conduct in pre-draft interviews, many believed his performance on the field warranted a far higher selection.
One of those people was LeBron, who began taking a victory lap before halftime.
Sanders' father and former coach Deion was also quite happy, as you would expect.
Many current and former players were also ready to anoint Sanders as an NFL-ready starter.
And then there were media members who were impressed by what they were seeing, just maybe a little more reserved in their praise.
If there was a consensus loser on the Browns roster from the night, it might have been Dillon Gabriel. The former Oregon quarterback was taken two rounds before Sanders in the draft — which was a surprise in itself considering not many scouts saw starting potential for the 24-year-old — and was ahead of Sanders on the depth chart going into the game.
That may no longer be true between Sanders' performance on Friday and Gabriel's struggles in training camp. Gabriel has also been dealing with a hamstring injury since last weekend, but he suddenly might have some work to do to solidify his future in Cleveland.
Overreactions to preseason games are a time-honored tradition in the NFL. Maybe that's what happened Friday, but Sanders entered the game needing to look like a potential starter and that's what he did. It's hard to take away from that, especially when he made a few throws that wouldn't have looked out of place for the league's best.
At the very least, Sanders made the next week of Browns training camp a lot more interesting.