4 days ago
Insiders Place Shedeur Sanders on Browns Depth Chart
Insiders Place Shedeur Sanders on Browns Depth Chart originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Cleveland Browns boast one of the top storylines of the NFL offseason this year with their quarterback room situation.
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With starter Deshaun Watson sidelined after two Achilles tears over the course of three months in October and January, the team signed veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and drafted third-rounder Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders.
All eyes are on Sanders after a historic fall in the draft after he was projected by some to be a top 5 selection, and the competition for Cleveland's starting quarterback is expected to go the distance through the preseason.
Some insiders close to the team gave their thoughts on where the competition stands early in the offseason and during voluntary OTAs.
"Orange and Brown Talk Podcast" host Dan Labbe suggested Sanders is starting at the bottom of the depth chart.
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"Today, at least, Shedeur Sanders very much looked like the fourth quarterback," Labbe directly said. "Dillon Gabriel was working his way up and down a little bit. Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco were trading things out pretty much all day. In everything we watched, Shedeur Sanders was, I don't want to say an afterthought, but he was definitely the last guy in the pecking order."
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic agrees to the point that he said Sanders' work may be cut out for him.
"Sanders is very clearly fourth on the depth chart," Browns insider Jason Lloyd of The Athletic wrote for a piece published Wednesday night. "...If Sanders is going to win [the starting job] or even a spot on the roster, he has some hurdling to do. Luckily for him, he has plenty of time."
The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner said that ultimately, Sanders should have an edge over Gabriel among the rookies.
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"If there's any Day 3 quarterback with a reasonable line to a starting job," Baumgardner added, "it's Sanders, who joins Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel in a fight to take Deshaun Watson's old job. Flacco is 40, Pickett is on his third team in four years and Gabriel, despite being selected higher in this year's draft than Sanders, is a 5-foot-11 QB with a lot of question marks."
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
